Fallacies Test Study Guide

Division

The mistaken transfer of an attribute from the whole object to the part of an object. The exact opposite of composition. Example: The United States in the richest country in the world; therefore everyone in the United states must be rich and live well.

Irrelevant conclusion

Where premises that appear to lead logically to a particular conclusion are used instead to support an unexpected conclusion.

Definist Fallacy

Defining a term in such a way that makes one's position much easier to defend. Example: Evolution is correct because creationism is the acceptance of a set of ridiculous beliefs espoused by uneducated people.

Inference from ignorance

A claim that a statement must be true because it has not, or can not, be proven false. Or vise versa, a statement must be false because it has not, or can not, be proven true.

Fake Precision

A claim that appears to be statistically significant, but upon analysis is found not to be.

Ad verecundiam

An expert asserts that X is true. Therefore X is true. Example: Steph Curry said Nike is amazing, therefore Nike is amazing.

Post hoc ergo propter hoc

A short-term pattern noticed after the fact. The sequence of things 'proves' cause (completely assumptive) Example: The man pulled out a gun. A shot was fired. Therefore the man fired the shot. Here it is never stated that the man fired the shot, but you could logically assume that the man did fire the shot since he had pulled out the gun.

Complex Question

A single question which contains multiple hidden parts. X and Y are unrelated questions but they're combined into question Z, which requires a single answer. Example: Have you stopped beating your wife? This example is __________ __because it assumes you beat your wife to start with. You should've first asked "Do you beat your wife?" and then asked the previously stated question.

Appeal to force

A threat of harmful consequences used to force acceptance of a course of action that would otherwise be unacceptable

Amphiboly

An ambiguous statement that stems from a grammatical error. Rather than using the same word with multiple meanings, it's a sentence(s) that is able to be interpreted in multiple ways, each being equally justifiable

Appeal to pity

An emotional plea that relies solely on a sense of pity for support. Example: Mrs. Berry, I know I've turned in 1 assignment and I have 11 zeros, but my dog just died, I've just been having a rough time.

Slippery Slope

An inference that attempts to make a final event the inevitable outcome of an initial act. This is a series of statements that have a superficial connection with one another, and which lead into what is often a rather far-fetched conclusion. Example: You forgot your pencil for school, you won't be able to get your work done, because of this you're going to fail all your classes, and then end up homeless and without a job because you flunked out of school. This is very far-fetched and not realistic by any means.

Red Herring

An inference that ignores the opponent's position and changes the subject. Allows you to distract through irrelevancy.

Appeal to emotion

An inference that relies solely on the arousal of a strong emotional state or psychological reaction. Think pathos.

Causal reductionalism

Assuming a single cause or reason when there were actually multiple causes or reasons. Example: The economy is in ruins because a democrat is in the white house.

Begging the Question (Circular Reasoning)

Basing your argument around nothing but a well hidden restatement of your claim. Another variation of this includes: if X is not incorrect, then it's right. This isn't technically true but could be argued as such. Example: You should drive on the right side of the road because that's what the law says, and the law is the law.

Accident

Case X is explained under rule Y. But X does not fall under Y. More simply, it's a general rule that is used to explain a specific case that does not fall under it's rule. Example: Hurting people is wrong (Rule Y). You should not have hurt that person who was attacking you (Case X) In this case, case X is clearly a justifiable time and place to hurt someone else, which makes X not fall under the general rule that was placed, that being rule Y.

Gambler's fallacy

Chance is affected by more than random events and it can be controlled by luck. When you hit a 'lucky patch', you just cannot lose. When the odds are stacked against you, you have no chance. You're expecting the events which have happened in the past to be predicting and have an impact on that events which happen in the future. *a lil confused about this bc most things online say this: because you got X to happen 100 times in a row, Y must happen now because the chance of X happening again is so unlikely. but mrs morrison's definition says the opposite*

Appeal to spite

Claim X is presented with the intent of generating spite. Therefore claim X is false (or true). Example: Bill claims that the earth revolves around the sun. But remember that dirty trick he pulled on you last week. Now, doesn't my claim that the sun revolves around the earth make sense to you?

Composition

The mistaken transfer of a part of an object to the whole object. All parts of the object O have the property P. Therefore, the entire object O not just it's parts have the property P.

Affirming the consequent (Aristotle)

If A is true then B is true. B is true therefore A is true. B follows A, so you can assume that you can go back the other way as well. Example: If you are cheating on me, then you will be out of the house a lot. You are out of the house a lot, so you must be cheating on me.

Denying the correlative

Introducing alternatives when there are none. This can happen when you have two mutually exclusive statements presented as choices and opting instead to choose a third, which is usually a distraction. Example: Did you kill your landlord or not? (Possibly answers being yes or no) Answer you choose to give: I fought with him.

Appeal to tradition

Making the argument that because something has "always" been done that it's correct. This is making a claim to something that's well-established and proven then proceeding to say that it's traditional and that changing it would be sacrilegious or very wrong in some form or fashion.

Ad numeram

Many people do X. Therefore X is right. If other people do something, then it is a reasonable thing to do. Not do be confused with 'its always been done so its true' - this is instead stating that because many PEOPLE do it that it's true, this speaks of an amount of people rather than an amount of time. Example: They were doing it so i thought it would be ok to do it as well.

Excluded middle

Only extreme views are valid. In comparison, moderation is weak and uncertain. To be valid, an argument MUST have a clear contrary argument. Criticize any arguments which choose a 'middle' position. Think false dichotomy. Example: Men who use Axe will attract women. (Those who do not, will not attract women.) This is clearly a very extreme view point as well as not true. But this has no middle argument associated to it and has only 2 possibilities (as many excluded middles do).

Biased sample

Take a biased or otherwise statistically invalid sample. Analyze the date. Draw conclusions and declare the results to be significant, regardless of whether they truly are or not. Example: We interviewed Donald Trump and realized that he brushes his teeth for approximately 42.8 seconds at night, because of this you should not vote for him.

Equivocation

The intentional or unintentional use of different meanings of words or phrases in an inference. Example: 2 = a number AND 1 = a number. so 2=1

Tu quoque

The attempt to avoid the issue at hand by claiming that the person presenting the opposing argument is a hypocrite. Example: you can't take up my cell phone because you did not take up Mia's phone yesterday.

Non causa pro causa

The difference between correlation and causation. Just because two events correlate (are close in time or space) does not mean that one has caused the other Example: Every time I eat chocolate it gives me acne. While it may be possible that the chocolate would be giving you acne, you could not logically accept that it's 100% for a fact the chocolate that's causing the acne.

Ad populum (bandwagon)

The majority of people believe X. Therefore X must be true/correct. Example: 9/10 dentists use Crest tooth paste. Because the majority of them use it I'm going to use it too.

Broken Window

The idea that destruction and the money spent in the recovery from destruction is a net benefit to society. Example: We should go to war because it will create jobs and, in turn, help the economy.

Ad nauseum

The more times that X is repeated, the more true it becomes. Repeating something over and over makes it right. Example: The difference between someone saying "I told you one time" and "I told you a thousand times". The second statement seems to be more 'true' because you've told them 'a thousand times'.

Non Sequitur

When the conclusion does not follow from the premises. Example: People like to walk on the beach. Beaches have sand. Sand floors in your house would be a great idea.

False dichotomy

To assume that only two possibilities exist when in fact more than two exist. Example: Do you want to donate $15 to feed starving children, or do you hate children?

Bifurcation

To assume that only two possibilities exist, when in fact more than two exist. The other person is offered a choice where rejecting one possibility would 'inevitably' force them to choose the contrary. Example: We MUST elect either Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton for president or else America WILL crumble. This ignores the fact that other candidates could VERY possibly not make America crumble.

Poisoning the Well

To discredit the other person before they speak. Call them names, talk about their lies, show them to be unworthy. Example: Mike doesn't have a degree and he flunked out of high school, but he does speak nicely, don't you think?

Hasty Generalization

To find a commonality in a few things and then generalize to assume that it is also true for all things in the same class. Example: One time I met a guy from McCallie who was rude. All guys from McCallie must be rude.

Appeal to inappropriate authority

To rely on the opinions of people who have no expertise, training, or knowledge relevant to the issue at hand. Example: Mr. Williams giving you advice on how to do your math homework.

False analogy

Using analogical comparisons to connect the item in question to another item that has desired characteristics. You can then claim that the first item has the desired property. Example: Employees are like nails, both must be hit on the head in order to make them work. While this statement may be 'true' it's not a true statement for all cases and comparisons of this manner could not be logically accepted as correct.

Ad hominem

Using flaws in someones life which are truly irrelevant to their ethos in regards to the topic at hand to reject their claims. Example: You are not qualified to make that statement in regards to multiplying radicals because you just divorced your wife.

No true Scotsman

When a universal claim is refuted, rather than conceding the point or revising the claim, the claim is altered by moving from universal to specific. Example: Only real patriots vote for republicans. Example: No true Christians accept the Theory of Evolution.

Reification

When an abstract idea is treated as if it were concrete. Example: I'm on the top of the totem pole. This could be taken literally when it's merely just a theoretical thing, not a true and 'concrete' statement.

Emphasis

When attention is intentionally diverted away from the original issue at hand. This allows for a change in the intent of a statement or inference.

Common Cause

When someone thinks that one event causes another, when in fact, both events are the result of a common cause. Example: X happened. Then Y (which one would expect to be the cause of X) happened. It's later found out that Z was the cause of X and Y.

Straw Man

When someone's words are taken out of context, thus distorting the original inference and creating a new, weaker inference that can be easily knocked down. Think of it like this, I disprove one of your arguments, therefore your entire argument is false.

Appeal to ridicule

X is amusing and/or absurd. Therefore it is false. This could be accompanied by mocking the contrary claim, making fun of it, getting people to laugh at it. You could possibly mock all the alternatives they might choose and leave only one, weaker, option that you have not mocked. Example: Anyone voting for Hillary must have serious issues! Same goes for Bernie, Cruz, and Kasich. But that guy Trump, what a man. This leaves only one candidate available that has not been mocked.

Ad novitam

X is new. Therefore it is better than that which it seeks to replace. Newer is better. Example: *Without knowing anything about the new iPad* "Oh this years iPad is going to be so much better than last years, the newer the better." Another example could be people buying cars and really anything thats brand new just because it's new. They assume that because the product is new that it's better.

Ad baculum

X is presented. X causes fear. Therefore Y (which has some relationship to X) is true. This is most often done in some form of threat. Example: Those who do not rejoice will burn in hell. Example: *Big sign on the side of the highway* "Over one million drivers will be breathalyzed before the New Year. Don't risk it."

Appeal to flattery

You are a nice, good person. Nice people accept my arguments. Therefore you will accept my arguments. Complimenting the other person to 'win them over' to your side. Think bribes as well. Example: You're the kind of person who would completely understand this. Could you endorse me?

Ad ignorantum

You know nothing about X yet you still draw conclusions about X. Facts may be given around a particular subject, yet nothing with substance it really said about the subject. Based on this circumstantial evidence, it is assumed that something may be known about X. Example: You live on Sunny Street. You have a gun. Nobody else on Sunny Street has a gun. There was a murder on Sunny street last night. You're the murderer.