Chap 3: fallacies Flashcards
what is a fallacy ?
its a defect in an argument that consists in something other than merely false premises
when is a fallacy committed?
- when there is a mistake in reasoning
- when there is a creation of some illusion that makes a bad argument sound good
what is a formal fallacy ?
it is a fallacy that can be identified by examining the form or structure of an argument.
what is an informal fallacy?
it is a fallacy that can be detected only by examining the content of the argument.
what are the 5 categories of informal fallacies ?
- the fallacies of relevance
- the fallacies of weak induction
- the fallacies of presumption
- the fallacies of ambiguity
- the fallacies of grammatical analogy
what is appeal to force?
its imposing a conclusion on someone by threatening their well being if they do not accept the conclusion.
what is appeal to pity
it occurs when an arguer attempts to support a conclusion by merely evoking pity from the reader or listener.
what is appeal to the people?
it uses desires such as being loved esteemed , admired valued etc.. to get the reader or listener to accept a conclusion.
what is the direct approach of appeal to the people?
it occurs when an arguer addressing a large group of people , excites the emotions and enthusiasm of the crowd to win acceptance for his or her conclusion.
the objective is to arouse a kind of mob mentality.
what’s the indirect approach of appeal to the people?
the arguer aims his or her appeal at one or more individuals separately, focusing on some aspect of their relationship to the crowd.
it includes specific forms such as the bandwagon argument, the appeal to vanity and the appeal to snobbery.
what is argument against the person?
it involves 2 arguers. when one advances an argument, the other then responds by directing their attention not the first person’s argument but to the first person himself.
it occurs in 3 forms:
- ad hominem abusive: the second person responds to the argument by verbally abusing the first person
-ad hominem circumstantial : the 2nd person attempts to discredit the opponent’s argument by alluding to certain circumstances that affect the opponent.
- tu quoque : the 2nd person attempts to make the the 1st person appear hypocritical
what is the fallacy of accident?
its committed when a general rule is applied to a specific case it was not intended to cover.
One or more accidental features of the specific case make it an exception to the rule.
what is the straw man fallacy?
it is committed when an arguer distorts an opponent’s argument for the purpose of more easily attacking it. he demolishes it and then concludes that the opponent’s argument has been demolished.
what is the fallacy of missing the point?
it occurs when the premises of an argument support one particular conclusion but then a different conclusion often vaguely related to the correct conclusion is drawn.
what is the fallacy of red herring?
it occurs when the arguer diverts attention of the reader or listener by changing the subject to a different but sometimes subtly related one and drawing a conclusion about that instead.
what are fallacies of weak induction?
they occur because the connection between premises and conclusion is not strong enough to support the conclusion.
what is appeal to unqualified authority ?
it occurs when the cited authority or witness lacks credibility.
what is appeal to ignorance?
it occurs when the premises of argument states that nothing has been proved one way or the other about something and then the conclusion makes a definite assertion about that thing
what is hasty generalization?
it occurs when there is a reasonable likelihood that the sample is not the representative of the group.
what is the fallacy of false cause?
it occurs whenever the link between premises and conclusion depends on some imagined casual connection that probably does not exist.
there are varieties of this fallacy:
- preproter hoc (“after this, there on account of this”)
- (“not the cause for the cause”) : when the cause is not the actual cause
-oversimplified cause: when there is multiple causes responsible for the effect but the arguer selects just one of these causes and makes it the sole cause.
what is the fallacy of slippery slope?
it a variety of the false cause fallacy. it occurs when the conclusion of an argument rests upon an alleged chain reaction and there is not sufficient reason to think that the chain reaction will actually take place.
what is the fallacy of weak analogy?
it occurs when the analogy is not strong enough to support the conclusion that is drawn.
what are fallacies of presumption?
they occur when the premises presume what they support to prove.
what is begging the question?
it presumes that the premises provide adequate support for the conclusion when in fact they do not. this could happen either by leaving out a possibly false key premise, by restating a possibly false premise as the conclusion or by reasoning in a circle.
what is the fallacy of complex question?
it presumes that a question can be answered by a simple yes or no or other brief answer when a more sophisticated answer is needed.
what is the fallacy of false dichotomy?
it presumes that an “either… or..” (disjunctive) statement presents the only alternatives available and the arguer then eliminates the undesirable alternative, leaving only the desirable one as the conclusion.
what is the fallacy of suppressed evidence ?
it presumes that no important evidence has been overlooked by the premises when in fast it has.
in other words it ignores stronger evidence that supports a different conclusion.
what are the fallacies of ambiguity ?
they include equivocation and amphiboly and they arise from the occurrence of some form of ambiguity in either the premises or the conclusion or both
what is the fallacy of equivocation?
it occurs when the conclusion of an argument depends on that a word or phrase is used in 2 different senses in the argument.
what is the fallacy of amphiboly?
it occurs when the arguer misinterprets an ambiguous statement and then draws a conclusion based on this faulty interpretation. the ambiguity is usually due to a mistake in grammar or punctuation.
what is the fallacy of composition?
it occurs when the conclusion of an argument depends on the erroneous transference of an attribute from the parts of something onto the whole
what is the fallacy of division?
it occurs when the conclusion of an argument depends on the erroneous transference of an attribute from a whole(class) onto its parts(members)
