unit 1 test Flashcards
(30 cards)
ad populum definition
Appeals only to popular opinion as a justification of a claim. Especially tricky in a democratic system where the people are the final arbiters of policy.
Ad Verecundiam definition
Appeals to an unqualified, unidentified, or biased source to support a claim.
Ad Misericordium definition
argument from pity – appeal is made to sympathy as a means of gaining support
Ad Ignorantiam definition
argument from ignorance –because a conclusion has not been disproven, it must be correct
false analogy definition
Comparing two things that are not alike enough or have critical differences –
especially prevalent when people claim historical linkages
hasty generalization definition
Drawing a conclusion based on too few or atypical examples
appeal to tradition definition
When someone claims we must continue to do things because that is the way they have always been done
begging the question definition
The assumption that an unproven central point is already proven and uses this assumption in support of itself
slippery slope definition
In order to show that a proposition is unacceptable, a sequence of increasingly unacceptable events is shown to follow. A slippery slope is a flawed “if-then” argument
false dilemma / the missing middle definition
A limited number of options (usually two) are given, while in realist there are more option
False Cause / Post Hoc definition
when someone confuses correlation with causation
Ad Hominem Definition
Attacking the person making the argument instead of the arguments they are making
tu quoque definition
“but you do it too”– often an accusation of hypocrisy – challenging a speaker’s argument because they do the behavior they are condemning
guilt by association definition
Condemning a speaker because of someone they are associated with while not addressing the arguments they are making
straw man definition
Author attacks an argument, which is different from (and usually weaker than) the opposition’s best argument
ad populum example
“Most Americans believe in UFOs. UFOs are real.”
Ad Verecundiam example
“Michael Stipe, the lead singer of REM, supports gun control. So that means I do too.”
Ad Misericordium example
I have this horrible disease. We should fund research in curing this disease.
Ad Ignorantiam example
You can’t prove that genetically modified food is not unsafe. So we should ban genetically modified food
False Analogy Example
“The war in Vietnam was a horrible waste of life and resources; we should get out of Afghanistan before we lose more lives and resources.”
Hasty Generalization example
“My friends and I didn’t learn anything in driver’s education class. That class is just a waste of everyone’s time.”
appeal to tradition example
“We can’t change to the metric system. We’ve always measured things in inches, miles, etc…”
begging the question example
“The system is corrupt and because of that we need campaign finance reform.”
slippery slope example
“If we pass laws against fully-automatic weapons, then it won’t be long before we pass laws on all weapons, and then we will begin to restrict other rights, and finally we will end up living in a communist state. Thus, we should not ban fully-automatic weapons.”
