Midterm Review Flashcards
A neutral or positive expression used in place of one that carries negative associations
euphemism
Used to produce a negative effect on someone’s attitude about something or to tone down the positive associations it may have
dysphemism
Weasler
protection from criticism by weakening or watering down it somewhat and giving the claim’s author a way out in case the claim is challenged
What does it mean to think critically?
it means to think about thinking
T/F. A belief can either be true or false
true
What is the same as an opinion and judgment?
beliefs
What is the result of a belief that is a declarative
a claim
What are the 2 types of claims?
- subjective
2. objective
A type of claim whether true or false is independent of whether people think its true or false
objective claim
A type of claim that does depend whether people believe it
subjective claim
What does it mean when a deductive argument is valid? sound?
an argument is valid if isn’t possible for the premise(s) to be true and the conclusion is false. an argument is sound if the premise is valid AND true
euphemism
a neutral or positive expression used in place of one that carries negative associations
weasler
help protect it from criticism by watering it down somewhat, weakening it, an giving the claim’s author way out in case the claim is challenged
Innuendo
the power of suggestion to say something bad about someone or something
hyperbole
exaggeration or extravagant overstatement
dysphemism
produces a negative effect on someone’s attitude about something or tone down the positive associations ut may have
Downplayers
attempt to make someone or something look less important or significant
loaded questions
used to imply something without coming out and saying it
horse laugh
includes ridicule and vicious humor of all kinds
stereotype
a cultural belief or idea about a social group’s attributes usually simplified or exaggerated
repetition
simply making the same point over and over at every opportunity
rhetorical analogy
likens 2 or more things to make one of them appear better or worse than the other
rhetorical definitions
rhetorically charged language to express or elicit an attitude about something
rhetorical explanations
language of standard explanations to disguise their real purpose, which is to express or elicit an attitude
proof surrogate
suggests there is evidence or authority for a claim without actually citing such evidence or authority
a mistake in reasoning an argument that doesn’t really support or prove the contention it is supposed to support or prove
fallacy
Ad hominem
dismiss one’s position by dismissing that person; attacking the person, a source who the idea is associated with conclusion could about something else
Occurs when a speaker or write tries to persuade us to dismiss a belief by telling us that someone we don’t like has that same belief
guilt by association
Dismissing what someone is going to say by talking about the person’s consistency or character or circumstances
poisoning the well
Straw Man
occurs when a speaker or writer attempts to dismiss a contention by distorting or misrepresenting it; putting words in their mouth
False Dilemma
what happens when someone tries to establish a conclusion by offering it as the only alternative to something we will find acceptable
perfectionist fallacy
nothing in between; restricting options
line drawing fallacy
if not either or no difference; assumption there is a crystal-clear line can be drawn between 2 things or no difference
what are guilt by association and poisoning the well an example?
ad hominen
perfectionist and line drawing fallacy are an example of what fallacy?
false dilemma
misplacing the burden of truth
when people try to support or prove their position by misplacing the burden of truth
begging the question
restating same idea resulting in going in a loop;
appeal to emotion
when a speak or writer “supports” a contention by playing on our emotions rather than by producing a real argument
appeal to pity
when a speaker or writer tried to convince us of something by arousing our pity rather than giving a relevant argument
2 wrongs make a right
justifying not doing something supporting a negative appraisal of someone else not a positive appraisal of one’s own
Wishful thinking
occurs when we forget that wanting something to be true is irrelevant to whether it is true
Denial
occurs when we forget that wanting something to be false is irrelevant to whether it is false
2 wrongs make a right, wishful thinking, and denial are elements of what type of fallacy?
irrelevant fallacies
What is the purpose of a cognitive bias?
to skew our apprehension of reality and interfere with out ability to think clearly, process information accurately and reason objectively
Better-than-average illusion
occurs when most of a group rates themselves as better than most of the group relative to some desirable characteristics
loss aversion
are more strongly motivated to avoid a loss than to accrue a gain
bandwagon effect
an unconscious tendency to align one’s thinking with that of other people
obedience to authority
tendency of humans to obey authority simply for the sake of doing so hardly needs experimental confirmation
confirmation bias
tendency to attach more weight to evidence that supports our viewpoints
overconfidence
if a person estimates the percentage of correct answers on a subject, the estimate will likely be on the high side, if questions are difficult or the subject matter is unfamiliar
availability heuristic
unconsciously assigning a probability to a type of event on the basis of how often one thinks of events of that type
fundamental attribution error
tendency to not appreciate that other’s behavior is as much constrained by events and circumstances as our own would be if we were in their position
belief bias
tendency to evaluate reasoning by the believability of its conclusion
negativity bias
tendency people have to weight negative information more heavily than positive information when evaluating things
false consensus effect
inclination we may have to assume that our attitudes and those held by people around us are shared by society at large
in-group bias
easier to form negative opinions of people who don’t belong to our own group; we perceive members of our group exhibit more variety and individuality
Define vagueness
can’t say with certainty what is or is not included or excluded
Define ambiguity
could mean more than one thing
Semantic ambiguity
ambiguous phrase or word
Grouping ambiguity
unclear if word being used to refer to a group collectively or to members of the group individually
Syntatic ambiguity
a claim is open to 2 or more interpretations because of its structures (syntax)
Define generality
lack of specificity
What id an argument?
a collection of claims; consideration of accepting a claim
What are the 2 parts of an argument?
a premise and conclusion
How many premises can an argument possess?
one or more
Define premise in the terms of an argument
reasons why; a reason for accepting the other part
Define conclusion in the terms of an argument
what you believe; what the premise supposedly supports
ethos
ethics
pathos
emotions
logos
logic; rationale
What is an issue?
a question
t/f an issue is neither objective or subjective
false, an issue can either be subjective or objective
Which type of argument goes from specific to general?
inductive argument
Which type of argument demonstrates?
deductive argument
Which type of argument supports?
inductive argument
Which type of argument goes from general to specific?
deductive argument
Can a deductive argument be true/false or weak/strong?
no, that is the purpose of an inductive argument
t/f a deductive argument is considered valid and sound
True
Deductive argument
if premises are true the conclusion has to be true
inductive argument
the premise supports the conclusion
