English Logical Fallacies

Begging the Question

-A claim is made that assumes another conclusion is true. -Because the conclusion is true, the claim must be true as well. -"Everybody has a dog. After all, everybody loves dogs." -"Opium induces sleep because it has a soporific effect."

Hasty generalization

-A conclusion based on a sample size that is too small. -Prejudice and laziness can lead to hasty generalizations. -A recent immigrant is walking to work and sees two albino squirrels running across the sidewalk. He then concludes and tells his friends back in Uzbekistan that all American squirrels are white.

Faulty/False Analogy

-A fallacy in which an argument or comparison is made between two situations under incorrect or weak circumstances. -A is like B. A has a certain property. Therefore, B must have the same property. -Water and Gasoline are both liquids. Water is healthy for you. Therefore gasoline must be healthy for you has well.

Red Herring

-A fallacy that is used as a distraction to the main issue at hand and is meant to lure the audience away from the real issue. -Usually used in mystery writing as there is usually a suspicious character that turns out to be innocent and the real culprit is unexpected. -"That guy is suspicious" "Yeah he must have robbed the bank." *turns out he never robbed the bank* he was a red herring

Hypothesis Contrary to Fact

-A speculation that is presented as a fact. -"What if"fallacy -"John, if you would have taken a shower more often, you would still be dating Tina" -"If Ms. Lombardi had kept this test on Wednesday, everyone would have failed."

Straw Man

-Fallacy in which a person ignores a point or position and instead substitute it with an exaggerated version of the position which is easier to target. -Chris: "Sunny days are good." Scott: "If all days were sunny, then we would never have any rain, and without rain, there would be famine and death."

Circular Reasoning

-Fallacy in which the conclusion is simply the premise restated -X is true because of Y, Y is true because of X -"The Bible is the word of God because God tells us so...in the Bible."

Ignoring the Question

-Ignoratio elenchi means irrelevant conclusion -This is a method of shifting the focus of the argument to an area that is not the main subject of the question. -It addresses a separate area of debate, and thus shows the answerer is attempting to hide weak or faulty pieces of their argument. -At a political debate, the president was asked about his decision to send more troops to war. He then proceeded to give a speech about the moral justification of war.

Faulty Dilemma

-Involves a situation in which limited alternatives are considered, yet more choices do exist, or a spectrum of possible choices exists between two extremes. -Either the extreme X is true or the extreme Y is true -"Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists." -George Bush

Slippery Slope

-Logical fallacy in which one person states an opinion, an then tries to back up the claim by stating what will inevitably happen. -Usually the "inevitable event" is exaggerated or distorted. -The end event is not very realistic and leads to the discredit of the arguer. -"Canada beat the US in hockey. Before you know it we will all be drinking maple syrup and have pet moose."

Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

-Means "After this, therefore because of this" -X occurred then Z occurred, and Z occurred because of X. -Assumption that an event following another event chronologically occurred because of the previous event. -Correlation does not always mean causation. -"The rooster crows in the morning and the sun rises. Therefore, the sun rises because the rooster crows."

Ad Misericordiam

-Means "Appeal to Pity" -An attempt to draw attention away from evidence and towards feelings of pity or guilt in order to win an argument. -The person's reasoning in the argument is unrelated to the issue and simply makes the person feel bad in order to succeed. -"Oh, Officer, there is no need to give me a ticket because I was just on my way to the hospital to see my wife who is in serious condition to tell her I lost my job and the car will be repossessed."

Dicto Simpliciter

-Means "From a saying without qualification" -Argument based on a sweeping generalization that classifies individuals into a group without qualification. -By making one universal generalization and expecting it to be true in all cases, a writer fails to account for exceptions to a rule. -"All Asians are smart"

Ad Hominem

-Means "against the man" -Defined as an attack upon a person's character rather than by a logical answer. -The person with the argument does not address the actual argument and simply attacks the opponent directly. -Einstein: E=mc^2, Hitler: no it Doesn't Einstein: why not? Hitler: because you're Jewish

Non Sequitir

-Means "it does not follow" -It is an argument that does not follow from the premises -In Non Sequitir, the conclusion could be either true or false, but the argument is considered fallacious because there is a disconnection between the premise and the conclusion. -"I read about a pitbull attack. My neighbor owns a pitbull. My life is in danger."

Bandwagon/Ad populum

-Means "to the people" -Occurs when an idea is assumed to be correct because it is popular. -"Everyone is jumping off that bridge, so I think I will too because it is probably the right thing to do."

Tu quoque

-Means "you too" or "you, also" -It is an appeal to hypocrisy, and it attacks the person's argument by stating that the speaker is unable to consistently act in line with their argument. -The person being attacked might be contradicting their argument, but this does not falsify their argument -"Smoking is bad for you why do you do it?" "Dude you're smoking too." -good meme: http://goo.gl/ZRXtey

Loaded question

-Plurium interrogationum means loaded question/many questions -This fallacy involves a question with a presupposition built in. -It is an attempt to discredit the one being asked the question, as it tries to cause the person being asked to choose between two wrong or bad answers. -"How often do you beat your wife?" -"Are you still a frequent drug user?"

Contradicting Premises

-Premise asserts the same thing as the other premise (they contradict each other) -Most often in the form of a challenging question that has no answer because the premises cannot both be true. -"What will happen if an irresistible force meets and immovable object?" -"If God can do anything, can he make a stone so heavy that he cannot lift it?"

Poisoning the Well

-To commit a preemptive Ad Hominem attack against an opponent. -Gives the audience adverse information about an opponent from the start before the opponent is allowed to make an argument causing your claim to be more acceptable and everything the audience hears about the opponent is tainted. -"Before I finish, please keep in mind that my opponent's plan does not keep the best interests of the family in mind."