Quiz 3 Flashcards
What is appeal to authority?
The fallacy of relying on the opinion of someone deemed to be an expert who is in fact not an expert
What is a fallacy?
An argument form that is both common and defective; a recurring mistake in reasoning
What is a genetic fallacy?
The fallacy of arguing that a claim is true or false solely because of its origin
Give an example of a genetic fallacy.
anything that argues against the origin of the argument
All men are discussing is a bad argument because it came for Larry who is a man
What is appeal to the person/ad hominem?
The fallacy of rejecting a claim by criticizing their person who makes it rather than the claim itself. Ad hominem means “to the man”
Give an example of appeal to the person
Don’t listen to a word Larry says, he is a liberal.
What is tu quoque (“you’re another”)?
A type of ad hominem fallacy that argues that a claim must be true (or false) just because the claimant is hypocritical
What is an example of tu quoque (“you’re another”)?
Anything that attacks the person for being hypocritical
Larry says to drive electric cars to help stop global warming but he uses a gas car. What a hypocrite, therefore I’m going to reject this claim.
What is “poisoning the well” and some examples for it
“You can’t get safe water out of a poison well”
They always lie or have no reason to tell the truth
Larry always lies so what’s the point of listening to home
What is the fallacy of composition?
The fallacy of arguing that what is true of the parts must be true of the whole. The error is thinking that the characteristics of the parts are somehow transferred to the whole, something that is not always the case
Give an example of composition.
Anything about how a small part of something is equivalent to the whole thing
The stairs in the house is falling apart, therefore the whole house is falling apart
What is division?
The fallacy of arguing that what is true of the whole must be true in parts. The error is thinking that the characteristics of the whole must transfer to the parts of that traits of the group must be the same traits of the individuals in the group
Give an example of division.
The whole house is falling apart therefore the stairs must be falling apart
What is equivocation?
The fallacy of using a word in two different senses in an argument
Give an example of equivocation.
Only man is rational
No woman is man
Therefore, no woman is rational
What is appeal to popularity (or to the masses?)
The fallacy of arguing that a claim must be true merely because a substantial number of people believe it.
Give an example of appeal to popularity.
Anything that says you should believe it just because a lot of people believe it
Trump is a horrible human being because 90% of people said that he is
What is appeal to common practice?
The fallacy of accepting or rejecting a claim solely on the basis of what groups of people generally do or how they behave (when the action or behaviour is irrelevant to the truth of the claim)
Give an example of appeal to common practice.
Everyone else jumped off the bridge, why can’t I?
What is appeal to tradition?
The fallacy of arguing that a claim must be true just because it’s part of a tradition
Give an example for appeal to tradition.
We should stone Larry because our crops are bad this year and back in the day they used to stone people to grow crops
What is appeal to ignorance?
The fallacy is arguing that a lack of evidence proves something. In one type of this fallacy, the problem arises by thinking that a claim must be true because it hasn’t been shown to be false. In another type, the break-down in logic comes when you argue that a claim must be false because it hasn’t been proven to be true
What are examples of appeal to ignorance?
Anything saying that there is no evidence therefore…
There is no evidence that zombies are real therefore zombies are not real
What is burden of proof and give an example.
The weight of evidence or argument required by one side in a debate or disagreement
If you can’t prove that zombies are real then they must be fake
What is appeal to emotion?
The fallacy of using emotions in place of relevant reasons as premises in an argument
Give an example of appealing to emotion?
I just got in a car accident and I can’t pay for my medical bills, could you give me some money
What is a red herring?
The fallacy of deliberately raising an irrelevent issue during an argument. The issue during and argument. The basic pattern is to put forth a claim and then couple it with additional claims that may seem to support it but, in fact, are mere distractions
Give an example of red herring?
Anything that raises an irrelevant issue
University should be free, I can’t believe my university is downtown.
What is straw man?
The fallacy of distorting, weakening or oversimplifying someone’s position so it can be more easily attacked or refuted.
Give an example of a straw man.
Anything that over simplifies an argument.
Larry thinks Trump is funny. Then that means he think that kicking out illegal immigrants and being racist is funny. Clearly Larry is wrong.
What is begging the question?
The fallacy of attempting to establish the conclusion of an argument by using that conclusion as a premise. Also called arguing in circle.
Give an example of begging the question.
Anytime you repeat the premise in the conclusion
P
Therefore P
Larry is the meanest person ever. Therefore when it comes down to it, when you check your history books it will say Larry under the title “The most evil person ever”
What is false dilemma?
The Fallacy of asserting that there are only two alternatives to consider when there are actually more than two
Give an example of false dilemma.
Anything that gives two options when there is more.
You either love pizza or you are a vegetarian.
You don’t like pizza.
Therefore you’re a vegetarian.
What is a slippery slope?
The fallacy of arguing without good reasons, that taking a particular step will inevitably lead to further undesirable steps.
Give an example of a slippery slope.
Anything that has a domino effect but there is no good reason for A to become B to become C and so on and so forth
If I get a bad grade on this test I’m going to fail this course and if that happens I’m going to fail all my other courses and if that happens I’m going to not graduate university and if that happens I’m not going to have a job and be homeless for the rest of my life
What is a hasty generalization?
The fallacy of drawing a conclusion about a target group on the basis of too small a sample
Give an example of hasty generalization.
I met I guy named Larry once and he was so mean, I will never want to ever have a friend named Larry since he’s going to be mean too
What is faulty analogy?
An argument making use of analogy, reasoning that because two or more things are similar in several respects they must be similar in further respect.
Give an example of argument by analogy.
Anything the compares to things that are kind of similar but not for arguments sake
Putting cheese on pizza and broccoli make both of them taste so good. Putting pepperoni on pizza makes pizza so good. Therefore putting pepperoni on broccoli makes broccoli taste so good.
What are the irrelevant premises?
All of the appeal to…
Genetic fallacy Composition Division Red herring Straw man
