Logical Fallacies
Logical Fallacies can be found in many forms of persuasions, in infomercials, political debates, common discussion, everywhere. Although Logical Fallacies are very common, they mar our arguments and should be avoided. In order to avoid them we must first learn to recognize them. To fully understand Logical Fallacies, we will look at the definition of Logical Fallacies, some examples of Logical Fallacies, classifications of Logical Fallacies, and finally why we should, and how we can, avoid them.
In simplest form, Logical Fallacies are fallacious arguments, fallacious meaning logically unsound or misleading. However a more in depth understanding can be constructed from three definitions for Logical Fallacies. The first is
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Schmidt’s article, On Classifications of Fallacies including the author’s own classification system. Although they all attempted to classify the complicated Logical Fallacies, most of the philosophers presented in On Classifications of Fallacies agreed that there was no definite way to classify Logical Fallacies. The classification of Logical Fallacies was first tackled in 350 B.C., by Greek philosopher Aristotle, and continues to be tackled, as philosophers search for a better way to define them. In general Logical Fallacies are defined by where the logic goes wrong, however one philosopher, Ronald Munson, attempted to classify them according to what type of argument they “support” (Schmidt). No matter the way the classification system is drawn there is always Fallacies that crossover into multiple categories. Any classification system that eliminates crossovers is too complex to fulfil the purpose of a classifying, which is to simplify. The classifications found in Schmidt’s article On Classifications of Fallacies, attempt to create formal classification systems, however in our pursuit of understanding Logical Fallacies a simple working classification will do fine.
The Purdue Owl article, Logical Fallacies, provides a simple classification, “Fallacies can be either illegitimate arguments or irrelevant points” (Weber). From my understanding illegitimate argument Logical Fallacies rely on faulty evidence or misrepresented evidence to support
A fallacy, by definition, is an argument that uses poor reasoning. Before one uses a fallacy, it’s important to have full understanding or else you risk losing your whole ethos aspect of your argument. Heinrichs gives three important parts to detecting fallacies. “All you have to do is look for a bad proof, the wrong number of choices, or a disconnect between the proof and the conclusion.” (Heinrichs 146)
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
For an example of this fallacy, we can look to the opinionated writings of Connie Highland.
Begging the question fallacy is used every day, all the time, and by everyone. Fallacy is defined as an invalid or false argument or statement to deceive someone to make him believe that what is said is true. Politics use fallacies most of the time to convince people that they are good candidates for a political position. Teenagers, use fallacies to convince other teenagers that doing something is not really bad. For example they can argue that ditching school is not bad as long as their parents do not find out, or that sometimes lying could be beneficial.
Fallacies in reasoning are frequently used in advertisements and politics. From your personal experience, describe an example of a fallacy in reasoning.
There are so many different types of thinking, arguments, and conversations that there really are an infinite amount of fallacies categories within the definition of formal and informal fallacies. I think the importance that is raised with Logical fallacies in Socratic Pedagogy is the role of the facilitator or the teacher that is modeling Socratic dialogue. It’s important for the teacher to be able to recognize each of these in not only student’s arguments, but in their own arguments so that they do not provide a negative model for their students. I think if the teacher can identify these fallacies and acknowledge them when students use them, the student will learn earl on how to not make these errors and mistakes in their arguments. Many of these fallacies are ones that I notice in today’s media and news and it’s interesting
According to Owl Purdue, fallacies are normal mistakes in thinking that will undermine the rationale of your contention. Fallacies can be either illegitimate arguments or superfluous focuses, and are frequently recognized on the grounds that they lack evidence to support their case.
The vast majority of people would not like to admit that they use many different forms of logical fallacies on a day-to-day basis. To better explain, fallacies as a definition are faulty arguments, which at first glance appear to be correct (Boss, 137). It troubles me to say, that some days I perform more than one fallacy in an attempt to try and get my points across. That being said, the three that stood out to me the most were Ad Hominem Fallacy, Popular Appeal, and Appeal to Pity (Boss, 141-146). People carry out an ad hominem fallacy when they attack the moral nature or characteristics of a person instead of the argument itself (Boss, 141). I saw this a great deal throughout the presidential debates between Hillary Clinton and the President-elect Donald Trump.
Logical fallacies are common in the political races in the United States, whether they’re in advertisements or in a speech given by a candidate. During the presidential election of 2012, logical fallacies seemed to be more
Fallacies is a type of argument that really has an incorrect underlying logic. It might sound really convincing at first, but sometimes their arguments may not make any sense especially like many see in propaganda. If someone can distract or mislead someone else, they can get them on board a little easier. However, not if they actually take the time and think about what the people are actually saying to you. One of the speakers that show these type of characteristics is Senator Jeff Sessions. He begins with his speech by making statements towards President Obama’s comment about marijuana being the same as a cigarette which triggered him. This leads him to continue with his speech by stating that marijuana is one of the dangerous drugs in the
Mostly these fallacies are different from each other but some similarities are present between them as both fallacies of false cause and accident belong to Faulty generalizations
Argument of fact is a claim about what is or is not the case in the real world. Factual argument is often motivated by simple human curiosity or suspicion. When writing a factual argument you will need to identify the issue, research the hypothesis, refine your claim. Casual arguments are inductive arguments that aim at one kind of conclusion about a cause and effect relationship. A casual claim says that one thing causes another, a hypothesis is an initial speculation about a casual claim. Within a causal argument you have formal and informal casual reasoning. Casual claim allows you to examine the various types of causes and effects in play in a given argument and define their relationship. Informal casual reasoning most often goes wrong
An example of a fallacy I am accountable of employing is argumentum ad hominem. In the past, I’ve been in disagreements with colleagues that have led to insults. That’s to say, that I have insulted colleagues by dismissing and bringing them down because of their education credentials. Yes, I am not pleased of engaging in such behavior, but throughout that instant one doesn’t contemplate before communicating. One time, a friend and I were conversing on geographical locations and our dispute escalated into an insult. My purpose was to verify I was correct and he was incorrect, but I stated he knew very minimal given that he had not completed high school. Indeed, I was attacking his character based on his life decisions.
The only way to get around the problem of purchasing a product that has been advertised using logical fallacies is to do some research and rely on reputable sources for your information. When and individual purchases a product or service without relying on logical fallacies they will end up with a product that is better and will provide them with a product that they expect to receive and results that they desire.
A research into ontological mistakes and validity. The study was set out to see if people would use logical reasoning when it came to syllogism’s showing if people would use logical or illogical thinking. It was shown that there was significance with people being ontologically incorrect, (F(1,4)= 46.848, Mean2= 33.14, p2= .224). The participants where 163 students from the University of Wolverhampton. A two-way ANOVA repeated measure system was used to render the data and during the experiment students were given 16 syllogisms to use, they were randomly selected to eliminate any chance of foretelling. Half of these