D265 Critical Thinking Flashcards
Making a decision or argument based only on easily accessible information.
Availability Bias
Argue a position is true as justification to claim a threat on the listener.
Appeal to Force
Attempt to interpret another’s argument or reasoning in the best light.
Principle of Charity
Making judgements about a group of people, things, or events without enough evidence or too small a sample size.
Hasty Generalization
Deciding what group an individual belongs to based on characteristics reminiscent of that group.
Representativeness Bias
Using the fact that a fallacy was committed to justify rejecting the conclusion.
Fallacy Fallacy
List the Fallacies of Presumption. (3)
- Begging the Question
- False Dilemma (False Dichotomy / Black or White Fallacy)
- Shifting the Burden of Proof
Using the same word in two different senses or meanings within the same argument.
Equivocation
A flawed argument due to its content, not its structure.
Informal Fallacy
Tendencies to deviate from rational belief-forming practices.
Cognitive Biases
List the different cognitive biases. (6)
- Confirmation Bias
- Availability Bias
- Representativeness Bias
- Selection Bias
- Anchoring Bias
- Alief
List the Fallacies of Weak Induction. (5)
- Appeal to Ignorance
- Slippery Slope
- Texas Sharpshooter (Fallacy of Cherry-Picking)
- Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc (False Cause)
- Hasty Generalization
A general rule, strategy, or shortcut gets us where we need to survive, but does not always work in all situations.
Heuristic
When evaluating a deductive argument, what are the four possible descriptors? Which two evaluate the argument structure, and which two evaluate the content of the argument?
- Valid (structure)
- Invalid (structure)
- Sound (content)
- Unsound (content)
List the subtypes of the Ad Hominem fallacy. (4)
- Abusive
- Circumstantial
- Tu Quoque
- Guilty by Association
Attack the arguer instead of the argument.
Ad Hominem Fallacy
Argument where the premises intend to guarantee or necessitate the conclusion.
Deductive inference
Reason the truth or reasonableness of an idea based on the possible results of accepting the idea.
Appeal to Consequences
Appeal to the popularity of a conclusion as a basis that the conclusion is true.
Ad Populum (Appeal to the People)
Deciding something about a group based on some example from that group that is unlikely to reflect the whole.
Selection Bias
Argument where the premises intend to make the conclusion probable.
Inductive inference
Change the subject to avoid the real issue at hand.
Red Herring Fallacy
An argument with a flawed structure.
Formal Fallacy
Trust an expert on one subject to speak on another subject about which they have no expertise.
Appeal to Unqualified/Fake Authority
Willfully or mistakenly misinterpret someone else’s argument usually to make it less defensible.
Straw Figure Fallacy (Straw Man)
The natural tendency to seek out evidence supporting our existing beliefs and ignoring evidence that undermines our beliefs.
Confirmation Bias
Everything seems to be taking place in my area right now, even when it is not.
Context Collapse
List the valid deductive argument forms. (2)
Hint: Often named in Latin.
- Modus Ponens (Affirming the antecedent)
- Modus Tollens (Denying the consequent)
List the formal fallacies. (2)
- Denying the antecedent.
- Affirming the consequent.
When evaluating an inductive argument, what are the four possible descriptors? Which two evaluate the argument structure, and which two evaluate the content of the argument?
- Strong (structure)
- Weak (structure)
- Cogent (content)
- Uncogent (content)
Assuming that there are fewer options (usually two) than there really are.
False Dilemma (False Dichotomy / Black or White Fallacy)
Making an estimation based on a wrong idea of what is normal because of a recent example.
Anchoring Bias
Acting on something that you know isn’t true as if it were true.
Alief
Determining something happened just because another thing happened before it.
Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc (False Cause)
Using the desired conclusion to determine which evidence to take into account.
Texas Sharpshoot (Cherry-Picking)
Presenting an argument and deciding that another must provide evidence whether it is true or false.
Shifting the Burden of Proof
Using lack of proof against a claim to justify believing that claim.
Appeal to Ignorance
Tying one event to another (usually disastrous) event via a chain of intermediary events.
Slippery Slope
Critique the origin of a claim rather than the claim itself.
Genetic Fallacy
Inference to the best explanation.
Abduction
A curated and selected set of inputs, usually on the internet or social media.
Algorithm bubble
List the types of Irrelevant Appeal. (4)
- Appeal to (Unqualified/Fake) Authority
- Appeal to Force
- Ad Populum (Appeal to the People)
- Appeal to Consequences
List the Fallacies of Relevance. (6)
- Ad Hominem
- Genetic
- Straw Figure
- Red Herring
- Irrelevant Appeals
- Equivocation
Any kind of appeal to a factor, consideration, or reason that doesn’t apply to the argument at hand.
Irrelevant Appeals Fallacy
Assuming the thing that is supposed to be proven.
Begging the Question
