Fallacies

What is a Hasty Generalization?

• Jumping to conclusions without enough evidence and/or sampled evidence is not representative (bases for stereotyping)
  
• Arguing that X is like Y when X and Y are not comparable; analogies can be used as helpful illustrations of the unfamiliar
• Meaning "It does not follow”; a gap in deductive reasoning the conclusion does not follow because the minor premise is irrelevant evidence for an unstated and/or questionable major premise
• Just because something has always been so or thought to be so does not make it good and right

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RL.11-12.1

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.1

What is an example of a Hasty Generalization fallacy? 

• "I should be getting an A in writing class-I got an A in my anatomy class last winter."
• "Either we raise taxes or the Social Security fund will go bankrupt."
• "Playing sports makes people more aggressive. Look at all those fights at hockey and basketball games!"
• "If I can balance my checkbook why can't the Congress balance the budget?"

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RL.11-12.1

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.1

What is a Faulty Use of Authority fallacy?

• Faulty prediction; If we allow x than it a disastrous sequence of events will follow
• The person is not an expert on the issue they are talking about. They are biased or unnamed 
• To deliberately simplify, diminish and distort the opposition's view, making the opponent easier to smash
• Shifting the blame by claiming someone, typically the opposition, is wrong in another way, which does not prove why one is right

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RL.11-12.1

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.1

What is an example of a Faulty Use of Authority fallacy?

• "I'd like to hire you, but you're an ex-felon and statistics show that 80% of ex-felons recidivate."
• "Laws against marijuana are plain silly. Why, Thomas Jefferson is known to have raised hemp on his own plantation."
• "Mr Boswell couldn't be the person who poisoned our cat, Truffles, because when I used to take Truffles for walks he always smiled and said 'Hello' when we walked by."
• "A used car salespersons says, 'Hey, you can’t trust those other car salesman. They’ll say anything to gt you to buy a car from them.'"

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RL.11-12.1

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.1

What is a Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc fallacy?

• Assumes that what is true of the whole will also be true of the part, or that what is true in most instances will be true in all instances
• Pointing to a similar wrong or error committed by another
• “After this, therefore because of this” Sequence does not mean causation; correlation is not causation! The effect could be a due to many factors
• Advancing an argument that is self-contradictory, or that is based on mutually inconsistent premises

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RL.11-12.1

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.1

What is an example of a Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc fallacy?

• "There have been no terror attacks on American soil since the Department of Homeland Security was created. It must be doing its job!"
• "Muffin must be rich or have rich parents, because she belongs to ZXQ, and ZXQ is the richest sorority on campus."
• "We can safely conclude that there is intelligent life elsewhere in the galaxy, because thus far no one has been able to prove that there is not."
• "The cars driving in the opposite direction have their lights on; they must be part of a funeral procession."

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RL.11-12.1

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.1

What is a False Analogy fallacy?

• To rely on strong feelings instead of logical support and/or emotional manipulation of the audience to cloud the real issue at stake
• Faulty prediction; If we allow x than it a disastrous sequence of events will follow
• Arguing that X is like Y when X and Y are not comparable; analogies can be used as helpful illustrations of the unfamiliar
• Shifting the blame by claiming someone, typically the opposition, is wrong in another way, which does not prove why one is right

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RL.11-12.1

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.1

What is an example of a False Analogy fallacy?

• "The American Trial Lawyers Association favors of this piece of legislation, so you know it has to be bad for ordinary citizens."
• "The United States has no business criticizing the human rights policies of the Third World nations, not as long as discrimination and segregation continue to exist in the United States."
• "You are a disagreeable person and, if you disagree with me on this, it will only further prove what a disagreeable person you are."
• "If I can balance my checkbook, why can't the Congress balance the budget?"

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RL.11-12.1

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.1

What is an Ad Hominem fallacy?

• The authority is not an expert on the issue they are talking about. The speaker is biased or unnamed authority
• “To the man” unjustified. Irrelevant attack on the person rather than on the argument by the person.  Frequently, done by politicians
• To rely on strong feelings instead of logical support and/or emotional manipulation of the audience to cloud the real issue at stake
• “It does not follow”; a gap in deductive reasoning the conclusion does not follow because the minor premise is irrelevant evidence for an unstated and/or questionable major premise

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RL.11-12.1

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.1

What is an example of an Ad Hominem fallacy?

• "Don't vote for Mary Williams- she used to hit the bottle pretty hard."
• "If you had only tasted the stewed snails, I'm sure you would have liked them."
  
• "All of those movie stars are really rude. I asked Kevin Costner for his autograph in a restaurant in Westwood the other evening, and he told me to get lost."
• "I drank bottled water and now I am sick, so the water must have made me sick."

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RL.11-12.1

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.1