Book of bad arguments WK4

Question 1

argument from consequences

Answer 1

speaking for or against the truth of a statement by appealing to the consequences of accepting or rejecting it

Question 2

Straw man

Answer 2

Intentionally caricaturing a person’s argument with the aim of attacking the caricature rather than the actual argument

Question 3

equivocation

Answer 3

exploits the ambiguity of language by changing the meaning of a word during the course of an argument and using the different meanings to support some conclusion

Question 4

false dilemma

Answer 4

an argument that presents a set of two possible categories and assumes that everything in the scope of that which is being discussed, must be an element of that set

Question 5

appeal to fear

Answer 5

plays on the fears of the audience by imagining a scary future that would be of their making if some proposition was accepted

Question 6

Hasty generalization

Answer 6

when one generalises from a sample that is either too small or too special to be representative pf a population

Question 7

Appeal to ignorance

Answer 7

Such an argument assumes a proposition to be true simply because there is no evidence proving that it is not

Question 8

Not a cause for a cause

Answer 8

assumes a cause for an event where there is no evidence that one exists- may occur due to two events correlating on accident or at random

Question 9

Appeal to irrelevant authority

Answer 9

an appeal to ones sense of modesty that they feel others are more knowledgeable

Question 10

Circular reasoning

Answer 10

where one explicitly or implicitly assumes the conclusion is in one or more of the premises

Question 11

AD Hominem

Answer 11

one that attacks the persons character as opposed to the argument

Question 12

Appeal to the bandwagon

Answer 12

uses the fact that a sizeable amount of people believe in something, as evidence that it must be true

Question 13

Slippery slope

Answer 13

attempts to discredit a proposition by arguing that its acceptance will undoubtedly lead to a sequence of one or more events that are undesirable

Question 14

Appeal to hypocrisy

Answer 14

countering a charge with a charge- rather than addressing the issue being raised, they instead divert attention away from the original argument

Question 15

Affirming the consequent

Answer 15

the mode of affirming- 2 premises one conclusion- antecedent and consequence

Question 16

Guilt by association

Answer 16

discrediting an argument for proposing an idea that is shared by some socially demonised individual or group

Question 17

Genetic fallacy

Answer 17

when an argument is either devalued or defended solely because of it’s history

Question 18

No true scotsman

Answer 18

A general claim may sometimes be made about a category of things. when faced with evidence-challenging that claim, rather than accepting or rejecting the evidence, such an argument counters the challenge by arbitrarily redefining the criteria for membership into that category

Question 19

composition by division

Answer 19

inferring that a whole must have a particular attribute because it’s parts happen to have that attribute

Question 20

Proposition

Answer 20

a statement that is either true or false but not both

Question 21

Premiss

Answer 21

a proposition that provides support to an arguments conclusion

Question 22

Argument

Answer 22

a set of propositions that aim at persuading through reasoning

Question 23

Deductive argument

Answer 23

an argument in which if the premises are true then the conclusion must be true- conclusion follows with logical nessecity

Question 24

Inductive argument

Answer 24

an argument in which if the premises are true then the conclusion is probably also true. Conclusion does not follow with logical nessecity

Question 25

Soundness

Answer 25

a deductive argument is sound if it is valid and it’s premises are true

Question 26

Strength

Answer 26

an inductive argument is strong if in the case that it’s premises are true, the it is highly probable that its conclusion is also true

Question 27

Cogency

Answer 27

an inductive argument is cogent if it is strong and the premises are actually true- if not it is said to be uncogent

Question 28

Falsifiability

Answer 28

an attribute of a proposition or argument that allows it to be refuted, or disproved through observation or experiment

Question 29

Logical fallacy

Answer 29

an error in reasoning that results in an invalid argument

Question 30

Formal fallacy

Answer 30

a logical falllacy who’s form does not conform to the grammar and rules of inference of a logical calculus

Question 31

Validity

Answer 31

a deductive argument is valid if it’s conclusion logically follows from it’s premisses