- Read the following notes about logical fallacies:
Logical fallacies occur when arguments do not observe certain formal logical rules. John Ramage and John Bean's Writing Arguments , 3rd edition (1995), provides an excellent chapter about flawed arguments. They arrange fallacies into three categories: pathos, ethos, and logos.
Fallacies of Pathos
Fallacies of pathos are based on a flawed relationship between what is argued and the audience. Often these are appeals to irrational premises. For example, the argument, "It's all right because we've always done it this way," is based on appealing to what the audience knows versus the unknown.
Fallacies of Ethos
Fallacies of ethos are based on a flawed relationship between the argument and the characters of those involved in the argument. Appeals to false authority are rampant - look at any Wheaties commercial. Will you play basketball as well as Michael Jordan if you eat Wheaties?
Fallacies of Logos
Fallacies of logos can often be the most difficult to detect. They are based on flaws in the relationship among statements of an argument. A spurious arguer can confuse and distort. Consider this argument:
Abortion is murder because it involves the intentional killing of an unborn human being. This is a flawed argument because there is a breakdown between the claim and the warrant (the belief of the audience). The above argument is the same as saying: Abortion is murder because it's murder. The warrant in the above argument is, "If something is the intentional killing of a human life, it is murder." This is simply repeated in the first statement. Murder, by definition, is the intentional killing of another human being.
The crucial issue, and what should be argued in the abortion debate, is whether or not a fetus is a human being in the legal sense. This argument crosses the logos boundary because of its ethical and moral issues, but realize that being able to analyze an argument can help you identify what really needs to be addressed, and proven.
- Read the text about the four most common logical fallacies.
- Highlight the following seven logical fallacies and do an Edit/Copy.
- Women are so sentimental! My mother and sisters always cry at the movies; my father and I never do.
1. Ad Hominem 2. Slippery Slope 3. False Dilemma 4. Hasty Generalization
- Studying philosophy is a dangerous thing to do. It makes you critical, which in turn makes you skeptical of your religious beliefs. And once you've begun to lose faith in your religion, then you become an atheist. From there it's a small step to immorality and a life of the damned.
1. Ad Hominem 2. Slippery Slope 3. False Dilemma 4. Hasty Generalization
- What Mrs. Fields says about nuclear disarmament is surely incorrect. Is she a political scientist? No. A politician with experience in foreign policy? Not at all. She's a commercial baker! What can a baker possibly know about nuclear weapons.
1. Ad Hominem 2. Slippery Slope 3. False Dilemma 4. Hasty Generalization
- When it comes to pornography, you've got to make a choice. You've got to let the sort of sick, degrading, violent filth that Ted Bundy said turned him into a serial killer be sold in your city and in your neighborhood and to your teenager. Or you've got to declare yourself on the side of decency and support federal legislation that makes it a crime to produce, possess, or purvey pornography of any sort.
1. Ad Hominem 2. Slippery Slope 3. False Dilemma 4. Hasty Generalization
- It's time Christian people stand up for our rights. If we don't stand up for creation against evolution, we soon won't have any opportunity to worship. It'll be like Russia.
1. Ad Hominem 2. Slippery Slope 3. False Dilemma 4. Hasty Generalization
- Today's students are not as smart as they were 10 years ago; SAT and ACT scores have declined.
1. Ad Hominem 2. Slippery Slope 3. False Dilemma 4. Hasty Generalization
- If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.
1. Ad Hominem 2. Slippery Slope 3. False Dilemma 4. Hasty Generalization
- Click on my name at the top of the screen to send an email to me.
- Type Logical Fallacies Results on the subject line.
- Do an Edit/Paste within the message text.
- Select one of the four logical fallacies listed and erase the other three for each of the seven statements.
- Send the email to me and I will send you the results.
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