Flaws Flashcards
Bad Conditional Reasoning/Necessary Sufficient Confusion
Joe Biden will win the election unless democracy’s enemies succeed at suppressing the vote. Joe Biden won the election. Therefore, those who wish democracy to fail must not have suppressed the vote.
Bad Causal Reasoning/Causal Flaw
A recent poll of recovering alcohol addicts showed that a majority of them tend to take up learning a new musical skill. It must be that recovering from addiction inspires people to pick up an instrument and learn how to play it.
Omitted Options include New Factor, no relationship, and reverse causation
Part to Whole
Cheryl’s 1.5 acre lawn takes a very long time cut with a push lawnmower. Therefore, cutting a blade of grass from her lawn takes a long time as well.
A patch of grass in Nate’s front yard is dry and dying and has very little chance of surviving the summer. Clearly, all of his front yard is going to die out by August.
Characteristics of Part does not equal those of the whole (vice versa)
Overgeneralization (Part to part (s))
The claim that all the houses in the subdivision have increased in value by only 2% is clearly incorrect. After all, the value of the three houses in the cul de sac have each increased by 7%, 10%, and 12%, respectively.
Dad’s gutters are clogged. It is certain that his neighbors’ are clogged as well.
My Dad, Nathaniel, has recently retired and spends his retirement learning to play guitar. All the Dads of the world are no longer working and plucking away at a guitar.
Small Premises to big claims
Part of a spectrum to everything on that spectrum
Part of a category to all the parts of the category.
Survey Problems
A recent poll asked new Atlanta residents about their opinion on new public safety guidelines for the city. 95% of respondents approved. Therefore, you would be hard pressed to find an Atlanta resident who objects to the new guidelines.
Biased/unrepresentative sample Biased questions Survey liars (esp. when given incentive to do so) Small Sample Size Other contradictory surveys
False Starts
“What if the two groups were different in a key respect?”
Researchers observed a group of daily juicers and non-juicers. They found that the group of non-juicers were 75% more likely to get sick than the group of daily juicers. Further, when daily juicers did get sick they recovered 3 times as fast as when non-juicers got sick. The researchers concluded juicing daily significantly boosts immune systems.
Researchers always ASSUME two groups are the same in all aspects except the ONES called out as part of the study.
Possibility DOES NOT EQUAL certainty
It is quite possible that Jane will find the love of her life while on vacation. So, when she takes her trip to South Africa in the fall, she will meet the woman that will eventually become her wife.
Facts are not affected by the failure of an argument
Absence of evidence does not equal evidence of absence.
Lack of evidence does not equal evidence of lacking.
Lack of proof does not equal proof of lacking.
Implication
Facts DOES NOT EQUAL believing in those facts
Nathaniel believes that pursuing a career in dance is akin to taking a vow of poverty. I know the decision to become a dancer is borne from passion and a love. Nathaniel, therefore, thinks that doing something you love and are passionate about means you are committed to being poor.
Opinions/beliefs and facts don’t play well together.
Implications tell people what they believe. BAD IDEA.
False Dichotemy
The rate of new infections in Georgia did not go up last week. Therefore, it must have gone down.
After two months of businesses being forced to shutdown amid the ongoing pandemic, unemployment is high and the economy has suffered. But if all the restrictions are lifted then we won’t be able to contain virus community spread, and hundreds of thousands of people will die. This is a no brainer. The restrictions have to stay in place.
Pretending like their are only 2 options. Limiting a spectrum (pretending their are 2 options instead of three - up, down, unchanged) Limiting options (pretending there are only 2 options when their could be more)
Straw Man
Annique: If I end up having to teach online, I will need to use our apartment to teach my classes. Doing so won’t distract you while you are working because I will use headphones.
Arissa: I disagree. You always want to do things your way and are unwilling to compromise.
Responding to an argument different from the one at hand to make the person’s argument easier to take down.
Ad Hominem (To the person) Source Argument
Ron disagreed with a dancer’s claim that he was not forthcoming about a delay in pay. After all, the dancer is always late for rehearsals, lies about absences, and lives at home with his parents.
A proponents character nor their biases affect the truth or falsity of their claim.
Circular Reasoning
Fries digest faster when eaten with hot sauce than with ketchup. This is because when I eat French fries with ketchup they always take longer to break down in my stomach than when I use hot sauce.
The author assumes the conclusion is true without proving that it is true.
Look for synonyms between premise and conclusion.
Equivocation
I was able to get enough stamps for all of the appeal letters. The letters went out this morning. Thus, we have successfully stamped out any flaws in our fundraising efforts.
When an author changes the meaning of a work throughout an argument.
Appeal Fallacies
I believe therefore I am.
Sophie feared her insomnia was caused by her PTSD. Her friend, an avid reader, told her she need not be afraid for her fear is what was keeping her up, not PTSD.
Most dancers believe when they get picked for roles it is because they earned it. They work hard, put in long hours and make sacrifices so they can perform as best as possible. It must be that if dancers get chosen for part, it is because they worked hard for it.
Concluding a belief/opinion is a fact.
Invalid appeal to authority.
Invalid appeal to public opinion.
Irrelevant
The chairs are perfectly aligned alongside the table. The table runner lays perfectly down the center of the dining room table. Each candelabra is evenly spaced apart from the next. Joseph will absolute attend the birthday dinner in his honor.
Premises entirely unrelated to conclusion.
