Analysis Of ' Demagoguery And Fallacies ' Essay

A fallacy is defined as a kind of error in reasoning. They can be persuasive and be created both unintentionally and intentionally in order to deceive others from the truth. Fallacies often indicate a false belief or cause of a false belief (dowden, 2006). An argument or situation commits a fallacy when the reasons offered do not support the conclusion. This defeats the purpose of the argument since its point is to give reason to support the conclusion. Fallacies affect the outcome of our everyday decision making process. There are three types of logical fallacies discussed in this paper along with the importance of utilizing critical thinking skills.

Plato, a great philosopher, once said “rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men” (Plato). He accentuates the importance of rhetoric in persuading the audience to support a cause or take action. In his speech addressed at the 50th anniversary of Selma march, President Barack Obama uses rhetoric to persuade his audience, Americans as a whole, to discourage racism in the United States. President Obama appeals to the rhetorical strategies, uses rhetorical devices, and applies a presentation style; which make his speech effective in terms of rhetoric.

In Cross’s opinion, she believes people are bamboozled by propaganda because they fail to recognize when they experience it (248). The thirteen propaganda methods Cross describes in this essay include the following: Name-Calling, Glittering Generalities, Plain-Folks Appeal, Arguementum Ad Populum (Stroking),

Bill O’Reilly’s and Martin Dugard’s book Killing Lincoln delves into the events leading up to the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and the repercussions upon the people involved, as well as a detailed analysis of the ongoing war efforts and the affects one has upon the other. While unraveling the conspiracy and its members, the reader is given compelling evidence and speculative reasoning that leads the reader to believe that the plot to assassinate Lincoln involves additional people, and could in fact be a conspiracy that reaches into the regions of power far above what is historically proven.

An argument is an effective strategy used to persuade individuals or public that a general opinion or perception is either right or wrong. Although, as we try to create a reasonable argument, chances are we encounter logical fallacies. A fallacy is a faulty line in reasoning that hinder our ability to make an argument invalid, affecting our ability to argue effectively. Fallacies are more commonly used as a tool to influence opinion or actions of individuals or group of individuals to as to obtain a future goal while obscuring the truth of the matter. These are more commonly referred to as propagandas, which persuades the public to be “for” or “against” certain political ideas, religion, races and opinions as a whole. A propagandist wants invoke

Demagoguery is polarizing propaganda that motivates members of an ingroup to hate and scapegoat some outgroups. In the two speeches “Inaugural Address” by Governor George Wallace, and “Share Our Wealth” by Senator Huey Long, both use similar demagoguery strategies. The Governor of Alabama George Wallace gave speech while entering office, argued that Alabama deserves the “freedom” to stay segregated. As then Senator of Louisiana Huey Long gave his speech with a insight to get Americans out of the Great Depression his main argument was to share wealth throughout society to bring a fair well balanced society, that is a fair chance to life, liberty, and happiness. Claims that Wallace makes are, segregation should be kept forever, Alabama is an honorable state, and desegregation can be dangerous also a few claims that Long’s makes are; to care for the veterans of our wars, to limit poverty, and lastly to limit fortunes to a few million dollars.Wallace and Long share the same strategy of demagoguery as they both are seen though Nationalism meaning love for one’s nation. Wallace and Long also use fallacies as Wallace uses False Analogy while Long uses a different strategy which is Straw Man. Wallace and Long’s claims both represent demagoguery as they both have political leaders and seek to gain power by both using Nationalism. The effect the claims might have on the audience toward Long’s claim is the state will appreciate and continue to support long opposed to wealthy people might feel irritated as they losing money, and the effect on Wallace’s claims on the audience are mostly negative as because wallace wants Alabama to stay segregated.

In his State of the Union Address for 2016, Barack Obama uses logical and ethical arguments to emphasize shared ground rather than partisan disputes. He also taps into the audience’s desire to feel better about themselves and their country. By using humor and irony, Obama paints his opponents into corners, out of which it would require outrageous extremism to effectively squirm away. At its best, this approach demonstrates how much Americans actually have in common in a culture dominated by ideologically polarized cable-news channels, Facebook, and cultural tribes that increasingly live and socialize apart from one another. The president's technique throughout the speech is to frame issues through a rhetorical jujitsu to persuade his opponents,

In recent events, Trump is trying to isolate America to the rest of the world while trying to deport people of a certain race/ethnicity. With the “Muslim Ban”, people began to see that Trump is doing things that they do not want him to do, and, more recently, people apart of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programs (Dreamers) are under threat of deportation back to their home countries. An author, Leon Panetta, wrote an article about these events, and he wanted the whole world to know that even though Trump is the president of America, he does not truly represent the people. Leon Panetta uses rhetorical devices to help persuade his audience to know that Trump does not represent who Americans are.

What makes politicians stand out over the rest? The dictionary defines Demagogue as a political leader who tries to get support by making false claims and promises and using arguments based on emotion rather than reason. A demagogue always has an audience whose judgement he intends to influence. The significance they have in society is that most of the time they represent a specific group of people, whose believes are different from others; they are the voice of specific people. By understanding the strategies used by demagogues we can combat the negative influence these rhetors can have in our decisions. J. Justin Gustainis, an American college professor and fiction writer, wrote a paper explaining demagoguery, its different techniques, and how demagogues use them. One great example of demagogue is senator Joseph R. McCarthy’s speech “Enemies from Within”. During this speech, McCarthy expressed the people’s desired of peace while at the same time he said that they were at war, the Cold War. He demonstrates different techniques of demagoguery which persuaded his intended audience, American society. For this essay, I will be exploring one demagogue characteristic in relation to McCarthy’s text, I will also be discussing one fallacy and how it shows potential weakness, and lastly I will be bringing a more contemporary example of demagoguery to analyze, identifying one characteristic using Fidel Castro’s text.

Throughout history, when it comes to a national crisis, many leaders and politicians tend to advance towards what the people want to hear. In order to gain their audience’s support, most political leaders and public speakers use the practice of demagoguery to have useful influence held towards their argument. In Patricia Roberts-Miller’s article “Democracy, Demagoguery, and Critical Rhetoric,” analyzes what demagoguery is and how it affects the audience. Speakers or authoritative figures that engage with demagoguery use strategies such as scapegoating and polarization in order to establish a separation between in-groups and out-groups; in-groups tend to form hateful discrimination on out-groups and define them with negative features. An example of demagoguery that Roberts-Miller uses is in Adolf Hitler’s speech about how he wanted German people to change their views and beliefs on the Jewish. Her article however, also consists of several fallacies and may seem somewhat unethical. Throughout Wayne LaPierre’s speech on the Newtown Tragedy in 2012, there is usage of what Roberts-Miller claims to be demagoguery. Wayne LaPierre is the Vice President of the National Rifle Association (NRA). After the shooting that occurred at Sandy Hook elementary, LaPierre expresses his sympathy for the families of the loss and he then gathers the attention of parents who may be uneasy about their children’s safety at school. Throughout

To start out the analysis of this witty cartoon, the definition of “demagogue” will be discussed. According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of demagogue is “a political leader who tries to get support by making false claims and promises and using arguments based on emotion rather than reason.” What makes this cartoon witty is the comparison between Spider man and the teenager who reportedly used suction cups to climb Trump Tower. Spiderman was bitten by a radioactive spider, in which he was capable to climb buildings using webs. Spider Man asks the teenager if he was perhaps bitten by a “demagogue” who is also known as Donald Trump.

Demagoguery attempts to simplify an argument so much so that it effectively shuts down any discussion. Through the use of rhetorical fallacies and other techniques, demagogues persuade the masses to support them. Although it can be successful, demagoguery is usually associated with a negative connotation because it plays on prejudices and emotions rather than rational. In Patricia Roberts Miller’s brief article, “Characteristics of Demagoguery,” she defines the various concepts of demagoguery, and using her article as a lens, both Wayne LaPierre’s transcript of his speech on Newtown Tragedy and Donald Trump’s presidential announcement contain different aspects of demagoguery like scapegoating, polarization,

On October 13th, I watched the Democratic Debate, hosted by CNN, in the Terrace with many other students from Larzelere. I decided to begin to inform myself about politics and potential presidential candidates, since I will be a voting citizen by the time the next election rolls around. Coming from a poor small town community in northern Michigan, there is little involvement and education for politics. Voting is a private issue, and our government class was basically limited to the three branches of federal government. By attending the debate, I hope to become more educated about the politics in America, and be a more informed voter.

Currently, the Presidency of the United States is coming close to the final and whoever gets elected president is an accomplished liar. Both of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are using the political skills to argue because their major party candidates for president have to appear to be fully qualified to occupy the Oval Office. After watching of these videos of both Hillary and Trump’s speech, in my opinion, I analyze three types of informal fallacies from their speeches such as argument against the person, hasty generalization, and appeal to people; especially, appeal to vanity.

To some speakers and writers, propaganda is an evil instrument. The negative approaches make a part of the world think that propagandists hoodwink the population, use half-truths, lie, conceal and distort facts. Although there are many pessimistic perspectives, there are others who have a positive view and think especially of techniques, slogans, catchwords and other devices. They prefer effective language, the rhetoric way, to persuade the audience (Pan, 2012).