Select the correct answer for each question. All questions are worth 4 points a piece.…
Fallacies serve an important role in persuasion, such as in the two documentaries arguing their views on fracking. An effective argument must have the strength to contradict the claims of the opponent in a non-aggressive but assertive manner. Unfortunately, fallacies can also be used in an overbearing manner that disenchants the viewer. Without logical fallacies in its various forms, persuasion would become a futile and rudimentary…
A fallacy is an error of reasoning. These are flawed statements that often sound true. Logical fallacies are often used to strengthen an argument, but if the reader detects them the argument can backfire, and damage the writer’s credibility.…
The first fallacy is an example of a Slippery Slope (Ad Nauseam or Ad Absurdum).…
2. Letter to the editor: “Andrea Keene’s selective morality is once again showing through in her July 15 letter. This time she expresses her abhorrence of abortion. But how we see only what we choose to see! I wonder if any of the anti-abortionists have considered the widespread use of…
What information can be gathered from, "Begging the Question," "Hasty Generalization," and "Appealing to Emotion?" Though from first glance, they generally do not have much in common. However, when looking deeper, you will see that they are all different types of logical fallacies. Logical fallacies, by definition, are errors of reasoning. Or, to put it in a simpler form, errors that may be recognized and corrected by prudent thinkers (Downes, 1995). The following quote helps explain why logic is important to us in today 's society. "Logic is not everything. But it is somethingsomething which can be taught, something which can be learned, something which can help us in some degree to think more sensibly about the dangerous world in which we live (Fischer, 1970, p. 306)." Begging the Question is a type of fallacy that is used quite a bit. It is considered to be a fallacy of assuming when trying to prove something. One of the main things to remember with the use of this fallacy is that the term "Begging the Question" has a very specific meaning. This means that if someone was trying to prove something to us but they are not being specific and leave room for more questions, which is why this type of fallacy is said to be a "circular argument." When you are confronted with something that could possibly a form of "Begging the Question" one should consider all the facts, and question ones self in order to see if all the arguments line up, or if it is an implied interpretation or expression of the writer and/or speaker. One example of "Begging the Question," as can be use by a number of more fallacy 's is, "God must exist." One can surmise that God exists because it is written in the Bible. Another might question that assumption by asking, "Why should I believe the Bible?", or "Can the writings in the Bible actually be revered as God 's true word, or did someone just make them up?" However, another bigger…
One of the most apparent logical fallacies in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, is called “No True Scotsman,” or rather, an appeal to purity to emphasize an argument. The play is set in a small town in Massachusetts in the late 1690s. This setting is well known for its overbearing Puritanism and its government that could almost be characterized as a theocracy. As a result of this emphasis on religion, the characters of the play often resort to fallacies that hold religious beliefs at the forefront of the argument. Many of these fallacies accentuate the fact that a true Puritan would or would not do something that a particular character has done, and thus said person is not a true Puritan. For example, when John Proctor is testifying in court, he…
• • • • We will look at mistakes in reasoning, known as fallacies. We will examine how these kinds of mistakes occur. We will see that errors in reasoning can take place because of the structure of the argument. We will discover that different errors in reasoning arise due to using language illegitimately, requiring close attention be paid to that language.…
This syllogism is deductive. This is deductive because the conclusion is true based on premises that are true or accepted as true. This is deductively valid because all true premises led to a true conclusion. Premises: All college students attend class and Cindy attends class. Conclusion: Therefore, Cindy is a college student.…
In an argumentative essay, the writer attempts to persuade the reader through the logic or rationality of her argument. If the writer’s essay is based on emotions or feelings, or if the rational thought is flawed (and therefore not rational), the argument loses its strength. Below is a list of logical errors commonly made by students in argumentative essays:…
Video games have become an integrated part of society both in the older and younger generations. As more and more complex games are made and introduced into the community, increased amounts of violence are put into these games to draw in more consumers. Many studies have reported that because of the violence in these games, younger children and teens have become more violent not only toward family, but also toward government and public property. If this continues on the track that has been established, it will lead to more murder and war not only in the United States, but also around the world. War will break out all over the globe leading to a third world war that includes nuclear and biochemical weapons, causing society and life to cease on Earth as we know it.…
In the literary play, The Cruicible, Authur Miller uses drama to portray the real events of witchcraft. He attempts to show how easily very religios people can be fooled by one another. Logical fallacies are a rhetorical device in which he uses in order to have the effect of showing how believable the characters can be.…
In his article, “Blacks Should Stop Agitating for Political Equality,” Atlanta Exposition, 1895, Booker T. Washington said that blacks should take advantage of the new opportunities given to them rather than fight for more rights. Though he understood this tendency, saying, “… it is not strange that in the first years of our new life we began at the top instead of at the bottom; that a seat in Congress or the state legislature was more sought than real estate or industrial skill; that the political convention or stump speaking had more attractions than starting a dairy farm or truck garden.” He also said, “The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremist folly.” This means that he did not want his fellow blacks to fight for more rights when they already had many new ones to benefit from.…
11. Emotional reasoning – believing that if you feel as if something is true, that makes it true (Masson, 2010)…
The Dicto Simpliciter Fallacy is and argument based on an unqualified generalization. Contradictory Premises fallacy is when the premises of an argument contradict each other. Ad Misericoriam I thought was a little like Red Herring (aka Straw Man). In the story the author gave an example of how a man went for a job interview, and when asked for his qualifications, he gave him a sympathy speech. It was almost like he avoided the subject at hand. The next fallacy, Hypothesis Contrary to Fact, is when you have an untrue hypothesis and then supportable conclusions are drawn from this false hypothesis. The last fallacy learned in the story was Poisoning the Well. This was like making a generalization before anything has even happened for you to assume that.…
