Fallacies - Exam #1 Flashcards
We went to three ball games this year and the home team lost each one. They’re losers.
Hasty Generalization - The inference from some specific examples to a general principle.
The rooster thinks his crowing brings up the sun each morning because each morning the sun rises shortly after he crows.
Post Hoc - The inference that one thing is the cause of another because the first thing occurs before the second thing.
If the Italians had not believed in clocks, we would all be Nazis. (with many similar steps in between)
Hypothesis Contrary to Fact - The “if only fallacy” - if only X were true (which it isn’t), Y would be true.
The Stoical scheme of supplying our wants by lopping off our desires is like cutting off our feet when we want shoes.
False Analogy - The usage of an analogy that either does not match the given scenario, or leaves out other possible options.
Descartes didn’t say anything about the Masons, so he must have been a Mason.
Argument from Silence - The argument that if a person is silent about X, he believes in X (or there is no X).
Because of suicide, increased depression, and more divorce, overall life is getting worse.
Selective Evidence - The usage of particular pieces of evidence to support a point of view and ignoring the rest.
Should our children be propagandized in government schools?
Slanting the Question - Obtaining a particular result by asking a question in a certain way.
Your argument that birds evolved is wrong because birds didn’t evolve.
Refuting an Argument by Refuting Its Conclusion - The belief that one can beat an argument by negating only its conclusion.
Dogs kill babies.
Babies throw tantrums.
Therefore, some dogs whine.
Your conclusion must be wrong because the argument is fallacious.
Assuming That Refuting an Argument Refutes Its Conclusion - Self-explanatory.
The Catholic argument for papal infallibility is wrong because the Borgia popes were corrupt.
Ignoring the Argument (Beside the Point) - Ignoring your opponent’s actual argument and arguing something else completely.
Natural selection proves that Darwinian evolution is true.
Substituting Explanations for Proofs - Believing that explanations will prove something.
Slavery is morally wrong, because it violates a basic human right.
That’s wrong, because slavery is better than death.
Answering Another Argument than the One Given - Self-explanatory.
Your brother says he saw a police car crash into the front door of the city library. You ask him to prove it.
Shifting the Burden of Proof - The one with the burden of proof has to prove his case.
Donald Trump or Ken Ham
Winning the Argument but Losing the Arguer (or Vice Versa) - Being an idiot.
Words are nothing but wind, and learning is nothing but words, therefore learning is nothing but wind.
Reductionism or “Nothing Buttery” - Making an argument that something complex can be reduced to simplicity.
A great nose indicates a great man.
The Fallacy of Accident - Confusing the accidental for the essential.
Statistics tell us that Pepsi tastes better than Coke.
Confusing Quantity with Quality - Self-explanatory.
Plato’s Theory of Forms
The Fallacy of Misplaced Concreteness - Confusing the abstract with the concrete.
You “believe” in Santa Claus because it makes you happy.
Confusing Logical, Physical, and Psychological Causes - self-explanatory.
Sartre’s claim that man’s essence is simply to exist, that we arbitrarily construct our own essence.
Confusing Essence and Existence - nothing can be unintelligible in itself.
Humans have a natural right to health care.
Confusing the Natural with the Common - self-explanatory.
“Only men are rational, women are not men, therefore women are not rational.”
Equivocation - the same term is used in two or more different sense in the course of an argument
“Guest for lunch one way to solve eating problem”
Amphiboly - not an ambiguous word but ambiguous syntax
“I do not choose to run at this time.”
Accent - ambiguity caused by voice inflection, ironic or sarcastic tone
