Fallacies Flashcards
Know content of point four.
What is a fallacy?
A type of argument that seems to be correct, but contains a mistake in reasoning.
What are the four categories of fallacy?
- fallacies of relevance
- fallacies of defective induction
- fallacies of presumption
- fallacies of ambiguity
What are the seven fallacies of relevance? Give an example of each.
- the appeal to the populace
- the appeal to emotion
- the red herring
- the straw man
- the attack on the person
- the appeal to force
- missing the point (irrelevant conclusion)
What are the four fallacies of defective induction? Give an example of each.
- the argument from ignorance
- the appeal to inappropriate authority
- false cause
- hasty generalization
What are the three fallacies of presumption? Give an example of each.
- accident
- complex question
- begging the question
What are the five fallacies of ambiguity?
- equivocation
- amphiboly
- accent
- composition
- division
What characterizes a fallacy of relevance?
The premises of the argument are not relevant to the conclusion.
What characterizes a fallacy of defective induction?
The premises of the argument are relevant but so weak and ineffective that one should not rely on them.
What characterizes a fallacy of presumption?
Too much is assumed in the premises.
What characterizes a fallacy of ambiguity (or “sophism”)?
Equivocal use of words/phrases.
Latin term: appeal to the populace.
Ad populum.
Latin term: appeal to pity.
Ad misericordium.
Definition: appeal to the populace.
An informal fallacy in which the support given for some conclusion is an appeal to popular belief.
Definition: appeal to pity.
A fallacy in which the argument relies on generosity, altruism, or mercy, rather than on reason.
Latin term: appeal to envy.
Ad invidiam.
Latin term: appeal to fear.
Ad metum.
Latin term: appeal to hatred.
Ad odium.
Latin term: appeal to pride.
Ad superbium.
Definition: the red herring.
A fallacy in which attention is deliberately deflected away from the issue under discussion.
Definition: the straw man.
A fallacy in which an opponent’s position is depicted as being more extreme or unreasonable than is justified by what was actually asserted.
Latin term: argument against the person.
Ad hominem.
Definition: argument against the person.
A fallacy in which the argument relies upon an attack against the person taking a position. Can be abusive or circumstantial (subset).
Definition: tu quoque.
“Look who’s talking.” Ad hominem (attack that says “you are just as bad as I am”).
Definition: poisoning the well.
A variety of abusive ad hominem argument in which continued rational exchange is undermined by attacking the good faith or intellectual honesty of the opponent.
Definition: the appeal to force.
A fallacy in which the argument relies on an open or veiled threat of force.
Latin term: appeal to force.
Ad baculum.
Latin term: missing the point.
Ignoratio elenchi.
Definition: missing the point (or “irrelevant conclusion,” “mistaken refutation”).
A fallacy in which the premises support a different conclusion from the one that is proposed.
Definition: non sequitur.
An argument where the conclusion does not follow from the premises (similar to missing the point).
Definition: argument from ignorance.
A fallacy in which a proposition is held to be true just because it has not been proven false, or false because it has not been proven true.
Latin term: argument from ignorance.
Ad ignorantiam.
Definition: appeal to inappropriate authority.
A fallacy in which a conclusion is accepted as true simply because an expert has said that it is true. (This expert has no relevant competence, since it is inappropriate authority.)
Latin term: appeal to authority.
Ad verecundiam.
Definition: false cause.
A fallacy in which something that is not really the cause of something else is treated as its cause.
Latin term: false cause.
Causa pro causa.
Definition: post hoc ergo propter hoc.
“After this, therefore because of this.” A species of the fallacy of false cause where temporal succession is thought to indicate causal succession.
Definition: slippery slope.
A fallacy in which change in a particular direction is asserted to lead inevitably to further changes (usually undesirable) in the same direction.
Definition: hasty generalization (or “converse accident”).
A fallacy of defective induction in which one moves carelessly from a single case, or a very few cases, to a large-scale generalization about all or most cases.
Definition: accident.
A fallacy in which a generalization is mistakenly applied to a particular case to which the generalization does not apply.
Latin term: complex question.
Plurium interrogationum.
Definition: complex question.
An informal fallacy in which a question is asked in such a way as to presuppose the truth of some conclusion buried in that question.
Definition: begging the question.
An informal fallacy in which the conclusion of an argument is stated or assumed in any one of the premises.
Latin term: begging the question.
Petitio principii.
Definition: equivocation.
A fallacy in which two or more meanings of a phrase are used, accidentally or deliberately, in different parts of an argument.
Definition: amphiboly.
A fallacy in which a loose or awkward combination of words can be interpreted in more than one way; the argument contains a premise based upon one interpretation, while the conclusion relies upon a different interpretation.
Definition: accent.
A fallacy of ambiguity that occurs when an argument contains a premise that relies on one possible emphasis of certain words, but the conclusion relies on a different emphasis that gives those same words a different meaning.
Definition: composition.
A fallacy of ambiguity in which an argument erroneously assigns attributes to a whole (or a collection) based on the fact that parts of that whole (or collection) have those attributes.
Definition: division.
Reverse of composition. A fallacy of ambiguity in which an argument erroneously assigns attributes to parts of a whole (or members of a collection) based on the fact that the whole (or collection) has those attributes.
