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8*Logical Fallacies Vocabulary Terms

1) Bandwagon-assuming an idea is credible because lots of people believe it

Ex. Seeing on TV that everybody is buying mustangs, so you buy one.

2) Appeal to ignorance-assuming something is true because the contrary cant be proven. Is there any evidence for that? Techniques

to avoid evidence.

Ex.There is intelligent life in outer space, for no one has been able to prove that there isn't. I know that

every action we perform is predetermined because no one has proved that we have free will.

3) Circular reasoning-asserting the same point in different words

Ex. You cant give me a C. Im an A student!

4) False analogy-making an illogical connection based upon irrelevant similarities

Ex.//Employees are like nails. Just as nails must be hit in the head in order to make them work, so must employees.

//Government is like business, so just as business must be sensitive primarily to the bottom line, so also must

government. (But the objectives of government and business are completely different, so probably they will have to meet

different criteria.)

5) Stereotyping-assuming without sufficient evidence that members of a group think or behave alike

6) Non sequitur(lack of logical connection-a conclusion that does not logically follow from another

Ex.// For instance, from the facts that most cats like milk and some cats have tails I could not derive the

conclusion that David Hume was the greatest British philosopher.

7) Equivocation-using the same term with two different meanings

Ex. A feather is light. What is light cannot be dark. Therefore, a feather cannot be dark.

8) Special pleading-arguing without considering opposing viewpoints

Ex. Bill and Jill are married. Both Bill and Jill have put in a full day at the office. Their dog, Rover, has knocked over all the

plants in one room and has strewn the dirt all over the carpet. When they return, Bill tells Jill that it is herjobto cleanup

after the dog. When she protests, he says that he has put in a full day at the office and is too tiredto clean up after the

dog.

9) Fallacy of opposition-believing that a point is wrongheaded simply because it is supported by

the opposition. Ex Those who disagree with (oppose) you must be wrong and not thinking straight.

10) Post Hoc (Illogical Causality)-assuming that an event is caused by another simply because it occurs after another .

Ex.//Whenever Fyodor strikes the flint with iron, he makes a spark. //Whenever John thinks he is going to hiccup, he takes a deep

breath. //Whenever Nkrumah enters this line of code, his program crashes.// Alison always wins whenever she wears her lucky

headband. //The barometer drops whenever it is going to rain.

11) Either/or (False Dichotomy)-limiting possible explanations to two.

EX//"eitherits hot today or it's not hot today."

12) Hasty generalization-a conclusion based upon insufficient evidence. EX//"Our English teacher made us ready read some poetry last

year, and it was really boring. I know now that I will never like poetry"

13) Guilt by association-attacking an idea by associating it with a negative or unpopular idea or person without cause

14) Slippery slope-suggesting without giving any evidence that following a particular course of action will inevitably lead to an

undesirable end

15) Playing prejudices-appealing to the prejudices of the audience (can be negative or positive)

Ex. Persuading with flags of red, white, blue vs. what are this persons foreign policies.

16) Begging the question-assuming as true what needs to be proven. Ex. We know that democrats are a devious because all democrats

are devious.

17) Tu Quoque-means youre one too and is used as an excuse when the accused seeks to justify his or her actions. EX//You shouldnt

smoke son, but you smoke dad.

18) Red herring-introducing irrelevant or distracting considerations into an argument to avoid the issue at hand

19) Character Attack (Ad hominem)-attacking a persons character rather than addressing the issue at hand

20) Ad baculum-an appeal to force in which the arguer uses a threat of physical, psychological, economic or other type of force

These questions will help you avoid some of the fallacies above, although not all; its important to ask all of the questions in the order

given.

1) What is the issue (in other words, what claim or claims are being made?)

2) Is there any evidence given?

3) Is the evidence given relevant to the specific claim?

4) Is the evidence given sufficient?

5) What is the quality of the evidence thats given?

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A semantic dispute is adisagreementthat arises if the parties involved disagree about whether a particular claim is true, not

because they disagree on material facts, but rather because they disagree on the definitionsof a word (or several words)

essential to formulating the claim at issue.

Ethos

Before you can convince an audience to accept anything you say, they have to accept you as credible.

There are many aspects to building your credibility:

Does the audience respect you?

Does the audience believe you are of good character?

Does the audience believe you are generally trustworthy?

Does the audience believe you are an authority on this speech topic?

Keep in mind that it isnt enough for youto know that you are a credible source. (This isnt about yourconfidence, experience, or expertise.)

Your audience must know this. Ethos is your level of credibility as perceived by your audience.

We willdefine ethos in greater detail,and we will studyexamples of how to establish and build ethos.

Pathos

Pathos is the quality of a persuasive presentation which appeals to the emotions of the audience.

Do your words evoke feelings of love? sympathy? fear?

Do your visuals evoke feelings of compassion? envy?

Does your characterization of the competition evoke feelings of hate? contempt?

Emotional connection can be created in many ways by a speaker, perhaps most notably by stories. The goal of a story, anecdote, analogy, simile,

and metaphor is often to link an aspect of our primary message with a triggered emotional response from the audience.

We willstudy pathos in greater detail, and look athow to build pathosby tapping into different audience emotions.

Logos

Logos is synonymous with a logical argument.

Does your message make sense?

Is your message based on facts, statistics, and evidence?

Will your call-to-action lead to the desired outcome that you promise?

We will seewhy logos is critical to your success,and examineways to construct a logical, reasoned argument.

ollow logically?

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