Chapter 7 - Assessing Relevance Flashcards
When is a premise relevant?
When it helps to make it reasonable to accept the conclusion.
What is the traditional term used to describe arguments with irrelevant premises?
Non sequitir
What is an appeal to force?
The premise of an argument threatens the use of force as a reason for accepting the conclusion.
When can an appeal to force be relevant?
When it is used in an attempt to get someone to do something, rather than to accept a truth-claim. Example, the law.
What is the appeal to popularity?
When an argument uses the popularity of a belief as a reason for holding that the belief is true, when its popularity is irrelevant to its truth or falsity.
What is a case where the appeal to popularity would be relevant?
Cases where the conclusion makes a claim that depends upon the popularity (rather than the truth) of some belief.
What is an appeal to authority?
An argument claiming that the mere fact that so-and-so says something is a good reason for us to accept it as true.
What conditions have to be met for an appeal to authority to be relevant?
- We lack information of experience that is needed to make a reasonable decision, and it is difficult or impossible to obtain it directly for ourselves
- The authority appealed to is entitled to authoritative status
What is the ad hominem fallacy?
When an argument substitutes irrelevant or circumstantial information discrediting the author of a statement for genuine evidence that the statement is false.
When can ad hominem be relevant?
When the author has been proven to be untrustworthy or has a conflict of interest.
What is the tu quoque fallacy?
When the conclusion of an argument claims that an accusation is unwarranted and supports it by claiming that the accuser is also open to a similar accusation.
Give an example of a tu quoque fallacy.
I don’t see why our company should be singled out by the city just because of some leakage problems at our chemical storage facility. The city should focus on the more serious pollution occurring at its landfill site.
What is the straw man fallacy?
When someone attacks a position that appears similar to, but is actually different from, an opponent’s position, and concludes that the opponent’s real position has thereby been refuted.
Give an example of a straw man fallacy.
What I object to most about those who oppose capital punishment is that they believe that the lives of convicted murderers are more important than the lives of the policemen and prison guards who protect us.
