Identifying Logical Fallacies

Identifying Logical Fallacies

Warm-up 9-30-20

• What is your impression of this ad?

• Do you trust the information being presented?

• What tactics are the advertisers using to promote their product?

Poll

Goody Putnam says:

'Last night my Ruth were ever so close to their little spirits; I know it, sir. For how else is she struck dumb now except some power of darkness would stop her mouth?'

Which logical fallacy is presented here?

• Bandwagon

• Scare Tactics

• Straw Man

• Ad Hominem

• Faulty Causality

Faulty Causality

When Goody Putnam describes Ruth's illness, it is an example Faulty Causality. Faulty Causality is an incorrect assumption that because one event or action follows another, the first event caused the second.

Poll

Reverend Parris says:

'There is either obedience or the church will burn like Hell is burning!'

Which logical fallacy is presented here?

• Hasty Generalization

• Either/Or

• Ad Hominem

• Slippery Slope

• Bandwagon

Either/Or Fallacy

Either/Or fallacies take place when only two opposing choices are considered. Most situations are not black or white, but contain shades of grey.  Reverend Parris' 'either/or' mentality makes his argument inaccurate.