Week 2 minor assignment
December 28, 2011
Locate examples for 8 of the 15 logical fallacies discussed in this lesson in your "Dialogues: An Argument Rhetoric and Reader," 4th Ed., by Goshgarian, Krueger, and Minc
1. Ad hominem; An Ad hominem argument is a Latin phrase that attacks the man instead of the argument.
Example: You are so stupid your argument couldn't possibly be true. Logical Fallacies or Fallacies in Argumentation retrieved on Jan. 1, 2011 from http://carm.org/logical-fallacies-or-fallacies-argumentation
2. Begging the question is assuming some to be true that you cannot prove - similar to circular reasoning.
Example: I think he is unattractive because he is ugly. Beg the question retrieved on Dec. 28, 2011 from http://begthequestion.info/
3. slippery slope: Presumes a change in procedure, law, or action, will result in adverse consequences.
Example: If we allow doctor assisted suicide, then eventually the government will control how we die. List of common fallacies 1997 retrieved on December 28, 2011 from http://nobeliefs.com/fallacies.htm
4. Circular Reasoning
Also known as the fallacy of redundancy, begging the question, or tautology, this is when the conclusion or claim is merely a restatement of one of the premises. Christian apologetics is filled with tautologies:
Example: Is there a God? Yes. How do you know? Because the Bible says so. How do you know the Bible is correct? Because it was inspired by God. In other words, God is because God is.. How Thinking Goes Wrong retrieved on Dec. 28, 2011 from http://www.positiveatheism.org/writ/sherm3.htm
5. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc, or after this, therefore because of this. This fallacy assumes that because one event occurs just prior to another, the first event caused the second.
Example: In one recent case, an operations group asked for help solving a problem with the disruption of the flow of one