chapter 3.1 vocab

Question 1

when the arguer takes advantage of most people’s desire to “fit in” by going along with what others do, say or believe; also similar to the bandwagon fallacy, which is an appeal to new ideas held by the masses

Answer 1

ad populum

Question 2

jumping too quickly to conclusions before considering all the facts; usually happen when the writer uses the word “all” or “everyone” in the statement, which leaves no room for error

Answer 2

hasty generalisation

Question 3

presenting a series of events where one thing leads to another until the final step leads a particular outcome; if the final outcome is unlikely to be caused by the first step, then the error is present

Answer 3

slippery slope

Question 4

appealing only to the audience’s emotions as the main premise for the argument

Answer 4

appeal to emotion (ethos)

Question 5

attempting to compare 2 things that are too dissimilar in nature as the basis of your point

Answer 5

false analogy, faulty comparison

Question 6

leading the audience to believe there are only 2 choices- either this or that

Answer 6

false dichotomy

Question 7

using a “big name” (famous person) to persuade the audience to accept your beliefs, even though the “big name” is not an authority on the issue

Answer 7

appeal to authority

Question 8

the assumption that because B came after A, A must have cause B; hastily drawing a casual conclusion without properly identifying the link between the 2

Answer 8

post hoc

Question 9

suggesting that a new idea is best because of it’s popularity, but without regard to it’s validity; this fallacy is very similar to ad populum

Answer 9

ad hominem

Question 10

oversimplifying someone else’s point so that it is easy to reject it; this attempts to make your own argument look stronger

Answer 10

straw man

Question 11

this fallacy is named after a strong-smelling fish that can lead someone along a false trail; in a similar way, the fallacy distracts the audience away from the main point with an idea that is not relevant

Answer 11

red herring

Question 12

to make progress by starting with one idea and arriving at a new conclusion. if you beg the question, the conclusion you arrive at is the same idea you started with, so no progress is made. essentially, it asks the audience to believe a reason without offering evidence to support it

Answer 12

begging the question

Question 13

intentionally omitting or ignoring relevant information to make your argument appear stronger

Answer 13

cherry-picking the evidence