![© McGraw Hill
32
“The End of the Curse"
Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division [LC-DIG-ggbain-32385]
Babe Ruth jinxed the Red Sox in 1920. Their world series
win in 2004 was attributed to "the end of the curse."](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/boss5pptch05ada-210628195009/85/Boss5-ppt-ch05_ada-32-320.jpg)
Boss5 ppt ch05_ada
- 1. Chapter 5 Informal Fallacies The aim of this tutorial is to help you learn to recognize and resist fallacious arguments. Copyright © 2021 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
- 2. © McGraw Hill 2 Fallacies Are Dangerous Fallacies, or flawed arguments, are often used by cult recruiters on college campuses to target freshmen. • Critical thinking is the antidote to fallacious arguments. By recognizing fallacies and other types of flawed arguments, we can protect ourselves against those seeking to control or manipulate us.
- 3. © McGraw Hill 3 Fallacies: Formal and Informal An argument is the process of supporting a claim by providing reasons or evidence for that claim. • An argument contains a fallacy when it appears to be initially correct but upon further examination is found to be incorrect. • In formal fallacies, the form of the argument itself is invalid. • An informal fallacy is mistaken reasoning that occurs when an argument is psychologically or emotionally persuasive but logically incorrect.
- 4. 4 © McGraw Hill Hot or Not? 1 Is the use of fallacies a legitimate political campaign tactic?
- 5. © McGraw Hill 5 Fallacies of Ambiguity 1 Arguments that contain ambiguous words or phrases, sloppy grammar, or confusion between two closely-related concepts can lead to fallacies of ambiguity.
- 6. © McGraw Hill 6 Fallacies of Ambiguity 2 Four types of fallacies of ambiguity. • Equivocation occurs when a key term in an argument is ambiguous—when it has more than one meaning. • Amphiboly occurs when an argument contains a grammatical mistake. • Fallacies of accent occur when an argument’s meaning changes depending on which words or phrases are emphasized. • Fallacies of division occur we make an erroneous inference from the characteristics of an entire set or group about a member of the group or set. • Fallacies of composition occur when a characteristic of a member of a group is erroneously assumed to be characteristic of the whole group.
- 7. © McGraw Hill 7 Tiger Woods and His Family Ezra Shaw/Getty Images Tiger Woods is a good golfer, therefore Tiger Woods is a good husband.
- 8. © McGraw Hill 8 Danny DeVito Gilbert Carrasquillo/Film Magic/Getty Images Men are taller than women. Danny DeVito is a man. Therefore, Danny DeVito is taller than the average woman.
- 9. © McGraw Hill 9 Fallacies of Relevance 1 In fallacies of relevance, one or more of the premises is logically irrelevant, or unrelated, to the conclusion. Fallacies of relevance include: • Personal attacks or ad hominem fallacies. • Appeals to force or scare tactics. • Appeals to pity. • Popular appeals.
- 10. © McGraw Hill 10 Fallacies of Relevance 2 • Appeals to ignorance. • Hasty generalizations. • Straw man fallacies • Red herrings.
- 11. © McGraw Hill 11 Ad Hominem and Appeal to Force • The ad hominem fallacy occurs when we disagree with another’s conclusion and attack them personally instead of presenting a valid counterargument. • The appeal to force fallacy occurs when we use or threaten to use force in an attempt to get others to back down or accept our conclusions.
- 12. © McGraw Hill 12 Ad Hominem Fallacy Ingram Publishing The Ad Hominem fallacy may occur between people in personal relationships.
- 13. © McGraw Hill 13 Darwin’s Descent from the Apes GraphicaArtis/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
- 14. © McGraw Hill 14 Appeal to Pity and Popular Appeal The appeal to pity fallacy occurs when we try to evoke feelings of pity in others when pity is irrelevant to the conclusion. The fallacy of popular appeal occurs when we appeal to popular opinion to gain support for our conclusion. • This fallacy includes the bandwagon approach and the snob approach.
- 15. © McGraw Hill 15 "I Shouldn't Get a Ticket Because Everyone Speeds" Katarzyna Białasiewicz/123RF
- 16. © McGraw Hill 16 Appeal to Ignorance and Hasty Generalization • The appeal to ignorance fallacy occurs when we try to argue that something is true because no one has proven it to be false. • The fallacy of hasty generalization occurs when we generalize from a sample that is too small or biased.
- 17. 17 © McGraw Hill Hot or Not? 2 Does celebrity endorsement of a product make you more likely to buy that product?
- 18. © McGraw Hill 18 "You've Come a Long Way, Baby." The Advertising Archives Access the text alternative for slide images
- 19. © McGraw Hill 19 "I Want to Be Like Victoria Beckham, so I'll Buy the Type of Purse She Is Carrying." Jun Sato/Wire Images/Getty Images
- 20. © McGraw Hill 20 YouTube Film "Innocence of Muslims" Provoked Protests 1000 Words/Shutterstock The YouTube film "Innocence of Muslims" provoked protests throughout the Muslim world.
- 21. © McGraw Hill 21 Straw Man and Red Herring Fallacies • The straw man fallacy occurs when a person distorts or misrepresents the opponent’s argument, making it easier to knock down or refute. • The red herring fallacy occurs when a person tries to sidetrack an argument by going off on a tangent and bringing up a different issue directed toward a different conclusion.
- 22. © McGraw Hill 22 Straw Man Fallacy Maskot/Image Source Opposition to same-sex marriage is sometimes based on the straw man fallacy.
- 23. © McGraw Hill 23 Fallacies Involving Unwarranted Assumptions 1 Fallacies involving unwarranted assumptions occur when an argument includes an assumption that is not supported by evidence. Fallacies involving unwarranted assumptions include: • Begging the question • Inappropriate appeal to authority • Loaded question • False dilemma
- 24. © McGraw Hill 24 Fallacies Involving Unwarranted Assumptions 2 • Questionable cause • Slippery slope • The naturalistic fallacy.
- 25. © McGraw Hill 25 Begging the Question and Inappropriate Appeal to Authority The begging the question fallacy occurs when an argument’s conclusion is simply the rewording of its premise. • This fallacy is also known as circular reasoning. The inappropriate appeal to authority fallacy occurs when we look to an authority in a field that is unrelated or not under investigation.
- 26. © McGraw Hill 26 A Uniform Gives the Idea That the Person Is an Authority in Fields That May Be beyond His or Her Expertise Jessica Leigh-Pool/Getty Images
- 27. © McGraw Hill 27 Loaded Question and False Dilemma The loaded question fallacy occurs when a question asked assumes a particular answer to another unasked question. The false dilemma fallacy reduces responses to complex issues to an either/or choice. • By doing so, this fallacy polarizes stands on issues and ignores common ground or other solutions.
- 28. © McGraw Hill 28 It's Not a Choice of Only Oil or Alternative Energies Ron Thomas/Getty Images
- 29. © McGraw Hill 29 Questionable Cause and Slippery Slope • The questionable cause or post hoc fallacy occurs when a person assumes, without sufficient evidence, that one thing is the cause of another. • According to the slippery slope fallacy, if we permit a certain action, then all actions of this type, even extreme ones, will soon be permissible.
- 30. © McGraw Hill 30 Ryan White Kim Komenich/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images Ryan White was a victim of the fallacy of questionable cause.
- 31. © McGraw Hill 31 Judith Sheindlin, Popularly Known As "Judge Judy" Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
- 32. © McGraw Hill 32 “The End of the Curse" Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division [LC-DIG-ggbain-32385] Babe Ruth jinxed the Red Sox in 1920. Their world series win in 2004 was attributed to "the end of the curse."
- 33. © McGraw Hill 33 The Naturalistic Fallacy The naturalistic fallacy is based on the unwarranted assumption that what is natural is good or morally acceptable and that what is unnatural is bad or morally unacceptable.
- 34. © McGraw Hill 34 Same-Sex Parents Are Discriminated David McNew/Getty Images Same-sex parents are often discriminated against because many people only see "parents" as a mother and father.
- 35. © McGraw Hill 35 Strategies for Avoiding Fallacies 1 Once you have learned to identify informal fallacies, the next step is to develop strategies to avoid them. The following strategies are recommended: • Know yourself and the fallacies you are most susceptible to. • Build your self-confidence and self-esteem. • Cultivate good listening skills; study others’ arguments for fallacies. • Avoid ambiguous, vague terms and faulty grammar.
- 36. © McGraw Hill 36 Strategies for Avoiding Fallacies 2 • Avoid confusing the soundness of an argument with the character or circumstances of the person making the argument. • Know your topic, and do your research. • Adopt a skeptical “default” position. • Watch your body language. Avoid inflammatory actions. • Don’t be set on winning every argument. • Seek the truth, not victory.
- 37. © McGraw Hill 37 Conclusions • Use of fallacies in communication can damage relationships and impair sound critical thinking. • Identification and avoidance of fallacies through the use of effective strategies can improve our relationships with others and increase the credibility of our arguments.
- 38. © McGraw Hill 38 Perspectives on Gun Control Brennan Linsley/AP Images