Fallacies Flashcards
Fallacy of declaring standpoints sancrosanct
One way to limit the expression of standpoints and doubts is to declare certain standpoints sacrosanct, or not open to question
Fallacy of declaring the standpoints taboo
‘I don’t think you should say that Grandmother shouldn’t have remarried. One should not speak ill of the dead.’
Fallacy of the stick/argumentum ad baculum
Any threat that aims to restrict the other party from freely putting forward his standpoint or criticism
Fallacy of appeal to pity/argumentum ad misericordiam
An effective wayof putting pressure on the other party is to play on his emotions:“How can you have given me a failing mark for my thesis?I’ve worked on it night and day.”
Ad hominem/abusive variant
A direct personal attack on the other party, which, because of its insulting nature, is called the abusive variant: It made me so drowsy to read his response in last week’s edition that I will not even take the trouble to reply to his musings. The man is weak in the head, and blessed are the innocent of spirit.
Ad hominem/circumstantial variant
suspicion is cast on the other party’s motives, for example by suggesting that the party has a personal interest in the matter and is therefore biased.This is an indirect personal attack that is known as the circumstantial variant.
Ad hominem/ ‘tu quoque’ variant
An attempt is made to undermine the other party’s credibility by pointing out a contradiction in that party’s words or deeds, for example a contradiction between their opinions in the past and the present, or between what they say and what they do
Fallacy of shifting the burden of proof
The most drastic way to escape the obligation to defend your standpoint is to shift the burden of proof onto the person criticizing the standpoint: “You first prove that it isn’t so.” This is committing the fallacy of shifting the burden of proof.
Fallacy of evading the burden of proof/presenting the standpoint as self-evident
The most drastic way to escape the obligation to defend your standpoint is to shift the burden of proof onto the person criticizing the standpoint: “You first prove that it isn’t so.” This is committing the fallacy of shifting the burden of proof.
Fallacy of evading the burden of proof/presenting the standpoint as self-evident -
A person commits this fallacy when presenting the standpoint as something that is self-evident:“It is obvious that…,“It goes without sayingt hat….”
Fallacy of evading the burden of proof/giving a personal guarantee of the rightness of a standpoint
The protagonist can sometimes achieve a similar effect by giving a personal guarantee for the correctness of the standpoint: “I can assure yout hat…,”“There is no doubt in my mind that…,
Fallacy of evading the burden of proof/immunizing the standpoint against criticism
Another ploy for evading the burden of proof is to formulate the standpoint in a way that amounts to making it immune to criticism because it cannot be tested or evaluated.Examples of such hermetic formulations of standpoints are“Women are by nature possessive,”
Emphatically putting forward the opposite standpoint/fallacy of the straw man
One of the techniques for attributing a fictitious standpoint to the other party is to emphatically put forward the opposite standpoint.If someone says firmly,“I personally believe the defense of our democracy is of great importance,”she thereby suggests that her opponent thinks otherwise.
Referring to views of the group to which the opponent belongs/fallacy of the strawman
Another way of attributing a fictitious standpoint to the opponent is to refer to a group to which the opponent belongs and to link that group with the fictitious standpoint: She says that she thinks this research is useful,but as a business person she naturally sees it as a waste of money.
Creating a ficitious opponent/fallacy of the straw man
In a third technique, not only the standpoint is fictitious, but the opponent too.By using expressions such as“Nearly everyone thinks that …,” “Educators are of the opinion that …,” and “Everyone has been saying lately that …,” it is not stated who actually holds the standpoint being attacked.
Taking utterances out of context, oversimplifying or exaggerating /fallacy of the straw man
The result is very discouraging because of the way he goes about things:quoting some sentences completely out of context,suggesting meanings that aren’t there,and finally,with several well-chosen exaggerations—which aren’t there either—making the prey ripe for his omniscient and omnivorous voracity. I find this a superficial way of discussing academic work.
Fallacy of irrelevant argumentation/ignaritio elenchi
in the case of irrelevant argumentation,it is the protagonist who distorts his or her own standpoint. Instead of making it easier to attack, the shift is intended to make the standpoint easier to defend.Then the fallacy is committed of putting forward argumentation relevant only to a standpoint that is not the one at issue,which is better known as ignoratio elenchi
Pathetic fallacy (non-argumentation)
Pathetic fallacies generally thrive in public discussions about which many people have strong feelings.In such situations,whoever most successfully manipulates the (positive or negative) feelings of the audience has the best chance of having a standpoint accepted.Examples of positive emotions that can be appealed to are feelings of security or loyalty. Examples of negative emotions that can be appealed to are fear,greed,and shame
fallacy of parading one’s own qualities/ethical fallacy (non-argumentation)
Used to increase the audience’s faith in their expertise, credibility, or integrity, so that the audience will simply take their word for the standpoint’s acceptability. If a protagonist has a particularly strong ethos,he or she may not need to present any defense at all for the standpoint.
fallacy of magnifying unexpressed premise
the fallacy consists of adding an unexpressed premise that goes beyond what is waranted and attributing a premise to the protagonist that goes beyond the commitments created by the protagonists defence.
fallacy of denying an unexpressed premise
when speakers refuse responsability for elements that are indeed implied by their defence
fallacy falsely denying an accepted starting point
To formulate something controversial in such an inconspicuous way that it is not noticed
