Evaluating Arguments (and Fallacies in Arguments)

Question 1

“Ad hominen” arguments

Answer 1

criticizing the arguer personally rather than the argument

Question 2

“appeal to motive” arguments

Answer 2

criticizing the arguer’s motivations rather than the argument

Question 3

An argument can be correct even if it being argued by someone who is HOWEVER when do you have to be careful believing arguer’s claims

Answer 3

may be correct even if being argued by someone who is:
- deeply flawed
- someone who has a conflict of interest
HOWEVER:
- if someone making an argument has made deceptive or fradualant claims in the past
OR
- if someone has a CLEAR financial or political or personal “conflict of interest”
THEN IT IS GOOD TO BE CAREFUL IN EVALUATING THEIR ARGUMENTS

Question 4

Is it an “ad hominen’ argument if the argument is itself about a person’s character?
e.g., saying “person x is evil”

Answer 4

saying “person x is evil” is not considered an ad hominen because the argument itself is about a person’s character
it is only ad hominen to dismiss an argument from someone on the grounds that they are a bad person

Question 5

“appeal to authority” argument

Answer 5

accepting an arguement simply because the arguer has a higher status
e.g., some famous scientists believed that smoking didnt cause cancer

Question 6

“appeal to popularity” argument

Answer 6

accepting an argument simply because many or most people believe it
e.g.,. in the past many people believed in witchcraft

Question 7

“Straw man” arguments:

Answer 7

making up an argument that’s different from (and weaker than) that of the arguer (distorting the opponents position) and THEN criticizing the wrong argument instead of the right one
ALWAYS criticize the strongest argument

Question 8

“appeal to force” argument:

Answer 8

• suppressing an argument by harming, threatening or intimidating the people who make or accept the argument
  e.g., trying to get professors fired etc.

Question 9

Two types of “fraud” arguments:

Answer 9

• some people base arguments on strictly made up information
• faked or falsified data or data reported in a way intended to mislead

Question 10

conditions in which relying on expert opinions is probably a good strategy

Answer 10

find out the opinions of experts in the relevant area
this will only work if:
- it really is an empirical question
- we can be confident that we are hearing the experts true opinions (if some opinions are considered socially unacceptable then better to see anonymous surveys from scientists
- there’s a pretty clear consensus in the field

Question 11

Clues that suggest one side is more likely to be right

Answer 11

• arguing in good faith:
• striving for clarity and accuracy
• genuinely addressing the other’s strongest points
• without “straw man” “ad hominen” etc. tactics
• without trying to surpress other’s arguments
• without any deception or obfuscation

Question 12

True or False: the majority expert opinion always ends up being right?

Answer 12

False:
sometimes the side with fewer experts ends up being shown to be correct

Question 13

True or False: An outsider to a scientific field is right about a scientific issue when experts in the field were wrong?

Answer 13

True:
but this is very rare