lecture 9 (reasoning) Flashcards
What is a fallacy? 2
- a mistake in reasoning, where there is an inappropriate connection between premises and conclusion
- an argument that is logically flawed
Can a fallacious argument have true premises?
Yes, a fallacious argument can have true or false premises, but the reasoning process that connects them to the conclusion is flawed
What are the two main types of fallacies? 2
- formal fallacies: involve failures in logical connection, leading to invalid conclusions
- substantive fallacies: rely on unjustified assumptions or inferences, expose the fallacy by making explicit the hidden assumption that generates the illegitimate inference
misleading arguments?
can use sound arguments, but in a misleading way
What is the fallacy of affirming the consequent?
- when one argues that if P then Q, and since Q is true, P must also be true
- example:
P1: if it rains, it’s cloudy
P2: it’s cloudy
C: it’s raining
What is the fallacy of denying the antecedent?
- when one argues that if P then Q, and since P is not true, Q must also not be true
- example:
P1: If someone is from the U.S., they are bad at geography.
P2: Henry is not from the U.S.
C: Henry is not bad at geography.
What is the fallacy of deriving ‘ought’ from ‘is’?
- when an argument moves from a purely descriptive premise to a prescriptive conclusion without proper reasoning
- example:
P1: Community is the funniest show
C: There should be a Community movie
base rate fallacy?
- when someone ignores the general information (base rate) about a situation and focuses only on specific details
- example: party with 90% doctors and 10% engineers where you assume someone is an enginner based on their apparence even tho is more probable that they are a doctor given the propotions (given the base rate)
What is the fallacy of majority belief?
- the fallacy of concluding that a proposition is true simply because the majority believes it
What is the fallacy of common practice?
It is the tactic of persuading someone to do something wrong by justifying it with “everyone does it.”
What is the gambler’s fallacy?
- It is the mistaken belief that past events influence the probability of future independent events
What is the ad hominem fallacy?
It occurs when someone attacks a person instead of addressing their argument or rejects a claim due to disliking the person who made it
What is the ad hominem circumstantial fallacy?
It occurs when someone’s argument is rejected on the grounds that they would benefit from it
What is the tu quoque fallacy?
when someone rejects a claim or proposal because the person making it does not follow it themselves
What is the appeal to authority fallacy?
- when an argument makes an unjustified appeal to an alleged authority
- Hidden Assumption: “If someone is an expert on a subject, their opinion on that subject must be accepted.”
What is the perfectionist fallacy?
when an idea or proposal is rejected purely because it won’t completely solve a problem
What is the fallacy of conflating morality with legality?
when one assumes that anything legal is moral or that anything illegal is immoral
What is the fallacy of weak analogy?
when an argument based on analogy fails because the analogy is too weak or unsupported
What is the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy?
when it is mistakenly inferred that event X caused event Y merely because Y happened after X
What is the fallacy of mistaking correlation for causation?
when a statistical correlation is assumed to establish a causal relationship without further justification
What is the fallacy of inversion of cause and effect?
when one mistakenly infers that if X causes Y, an absence of X will prevent Y
What is the appeal to ignorance fallacy?
when someone concludes that a claim is false because it hasn’t been proven, or that it’s true because it hasn’t been disproven
What is the epistemic fallacy?
when it’s assumed that if someone believes in P, they must also believe in Q, simply because P and Q are about the same thing, even though they refer to it differently
What is equivocation in faulty argument techniques?
the technique of deliberately using a word with multiple meanings to confuse the audience, hoping they conflate the different interpretations
What is the red herring technique?
A red herring is used to distract someone from the original argument by introducing irrelevant information
What is the slippery slope argument technique?
The slippery slope assumes that allowing or forbidding a certain action will inevitably lead to further undesirable events without good evidence that they will follow
What is the straw target technique?
used when an arguer misrepresents or exaggerates their opponent’s position, making it easier to attack
What is a false dilemma?
limits the available options to fewer alternatives than actually exist, often presenting a choice between two extremes when other options are available
What does begging the question involve?
occurs when an argument assumes the truth of its conclusion in the premises, with the premises relying on the truth of the conclusion
What is confusing absolute and relative difference in statistics?
when people mix up relative risk (a percentage difference) and absolute risk (the actual difference in outcomes), often due to unclear explanations
What is the margin of error in polling?
the range within which the true percentage of a poll result is expected to fall, usually with a 95% probability
