7 Informal Fallacies - An Introduction

Question 1

What is critical thinking?

Answer 1

Imagine you’re trying to decide if a magic trick is real. Critical thinking is like being a detective and looking for clues and evidence to figure out the truth! It’s about asking questions, thinking carefully, and not just believing everything you see or hear.

Question 2

What is an argument?

Answer 2

Imagine trying to convince your friend to share their toys. You might say, “You have lots of toys, and I don’t have any, so you should share with me!” That’s an argument. It’s giving reasons to support an idea.

Question 3

What is the difference between formal and informal logic?

Answer 3

Formal logic is like following a recipe exactly. If you use the right ingredients and steps, the cake must turn out correctly! Informal logic is like trying to understand a joke. You need to think about the meaning and context to get it.

Question 4

What is a fallacy?

Answer 4

Imagine someone says, “This toy is popular, so it must be the best toy!” That might not be true. A fallacy is a mistake in thinking that can make an argument weak or misleading.

Question 5

What is a non sequitur?

Answer 5

Imagine someone says, “The sky is blue, so elephants can fly!” That doesn’t make sense! A non sequitur is an argument where the conclusion doesn’t follow logically from the reasons given.

Question 6

What are formal fallacies?

Answer 6

Imagine trying to build a tower with blocks, but the blocks are different shapes and don’t fit together. Formal fallacies are mistakes in the structure of an argument, like using the wrong kind of logic or making incorrect connections between ideas.

Question 7

What are informal fallacies?

Answer 7

Imagine someone says, “This candy bar is healthy because it’s made with natural ingredients!” But some natural ingredients, like sugar, aren’t always healthy. Informal fallacies are mistakes in arguments because of unclear meanings, irrelevant information, or unsupported assumptions.

Question 8

What are the three main categories of informal fallacies?

Answer 8

Imagine sorting your toys into three boxes: one for broken toys, one for toys you don’t play with anymore, and one for toys you love! The three main categories of informal fallacies are fallacies of ambiguity (unclear meanings), fallacies of relevance (irrelevant information), and fallacies of presumption (unsupported assumptions).

Question 9

What are fallacies of ambiguity?

Answer 9

Imagine someone says, “I saw a bat in the garden!” Did they see a baseball bat or an animal? Fallacies of ambiguity are mistakes in arguments that happen when words or phrases have more than one meaning and cause confusion.

Question 10

What are fallacies of relevance?

Answer 10

Imagine someone says, “You shouldn’t listen to your friend’s advice because they’re wearing a silly hat!” That’s not a good reason to ignore their advice. Fallacies of relevance are mistakes in arguments that use information that has nothing to do with the conclusion.

Question 11

What are the three subtypes of fallacies of relevance?

Answer 11

Imagine trying to put together a puzzle, but some pieces don’t belong! The three subtypes of fallacies of relevance are: * Attacking the source: Like saying a puzzle piece is wrong because you don’t like the person who gave it to you. * Appealing to emotion: Like saying a puzzle piece is right because it makes you feel happy. * Distracting: Like talking about a different puzzle to avoid finishing the one you’re working on.

Question 12

What is attacking the source (ad hominem)?

Answer 12

Imagine someone says, “You shouldn’t listen to your friend’s idea because they have messy hair!” That’s not a good reason to ignore their idea. Attacking the source is a fallacy where you criticize the person giving the argument instead of the argument itself.

Question 13

What is appealing to emotion?

Answer 13

Imagine a commercial showing a sad puppy to make you feel sorry for it and buy their dog food. That’s appealing to emotion! It’s trying to convince you with feelings instead of facts and logic.

Question 14

What is distracting?

Answer 14

Imagine you’re arguing about what game to play, and your friend starts talking about what snacks you have. That’s distracting! It’s changing the subject to avoid the real issue.

Question 15

What are fallacies of presumption?

Answer 15

Imagine building a tower with blocks, but you assume the blocks are glued together when they’re not. The tower might fall down! Fallacies of presumption are mistakes in arguments that rely on hidden or unsupported assumptions.

Question 16

What are the two subtypes of fallacies of presumption?

Answer 16

Imagine having two kinds of assumptions: * General unsupported assumptions: Like assuming all superheroes can fly, even though some have different powers. * Assumptions about inductive reasoning: Like assuming that because you saw three red birds, all birds must be red.

Question 17

What is inductive reasoning?

Answer 17

Imagine noticing that every time you eat ice cream, you get a brain freeze. You might conclude that ice cream always causes brain freezes. That’s inductive reasoning! It’s using observations and experiences to make general conclusions.

Question 18

What is a causal fallacy?

Answer 18

Imagine saying that because you wore your lucky socks and your team won the game, your socks caused them to win. That might not be true! Causal fallacies are mistakes in arguments that incorrectly assume one thing causes another.

Question 19

What is a non-causal fallacy?

Answer 19

Imagine saying that because everyone else is jumping on the trampoline, you should too. That might not be a good reason! Non-causal fallacies are mistakes in arguments that don’t involve cause and effect, but still rely on unsupported assumptions.