Keywords Flashcards
Corroboration or Consistency
When a second witness corroborates with the first and is consistent with their account
Reputation
When you judge how likely a fact is to be true based on the reputation of the person who suggested it
Ability to see
Taking into consideration how well the witness could have seen what they say they saw
Vested Interest
Judging whether the witness would have something to gain from making a bias or false statement
Neutrality
A lack of neutrality means that the individual is likely to favor a particular point of view
Intermediate Conclusion
Statements supported by evidence and used to support the main conclusion
Analogy
A comparison used as part of the reasoning in an argument
General Principles
A fundamental or general law or truth
Slippery Slope
A misleading chain of argument that involves describing a deteriorating situation that may never and is likely to never occur
Unjustified Projection
One jump linking one thing to another without sufficient reasoning (one step of slippery slope)
Post hoc
An argument that states that if an event occurs after another, then it is caused by it
Circular argument
One that appears to offer new information but establishes nothing new (1 is because of 2. You can find 2 by looking for 1)
False Dichotomy or Restricting the Options
When the arguer gives the listener the false impression that there are only two (or a limited number of) options when choosing a side in order to make their own seem more appealing.
Conflation, arguing from one thing to another and unrelated conclusion
When two things are referred to as if they are the same when actually they are different
Problems with cause and effect
If two things correlate they are not necessarily caused by each other,
The effect can also be confused as the cause and vice versa
Reasoning from wrong actions
Justifying a wrong action by claiming that others do the same
tu quoque
(you too) involves claiming that the critic of a wrong action is guilty of the same action
Confusing necessary and sufficient conditions
A necessary condition is one that is vital for something to happen
A sufficient condition is one that guarantees that the next step can follow.
Generalisation
A broad claim based on evidence or an experience that is too limited
Straw person
Exaggerating a drawback or undesirable feature of a scheme in order to persuade listeners to dismiss the idea as a whole
A hominem
(to the man) refers to criticising an irrelevant feature of the arguer in order to discredit them and make their argument less appealing
Appeal to Authority
An attempt to support a conclusion on the basis that a well known person believes it
Appeal to tradition
Used to oppose a suggested change, it suggests that something that has served us well should not be “got rid of”
Appeal to History
Evidence about what has happened in the past is used ti predict future events
Appeal to popularity
Uses weight of numbers as a way of suggesting that something is true or should be supported
Emotional Appeal
They must be supported with sound reasoning and evidence as they don’t use logic but appeal to our fears, prejudice, sympathy, hatred or indignation
