TOK FALLACIES Group 1: Clark Godwin, Kaleigh Rudge, David Fitzgerald, Maren Dorne, Thanh Pham

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1 TOK FALLACIES 2016 Group 1: Clark Godwin, Kaleigh Rudge, David Fitzgerald, Maren Dorne, Thanh Pham 1. Argument ad Ignorantum Definition: Concepts that have not been proven true or false but are used in the argument as always true or always false. Example: Religions or belief in higher powers. Many people believe in higher powers, however, there are also many people who don't but neither have been proven true or false. 2. Hasty generalization Definition: Drawing conclusions from too small data sets. Example: ISIS killed people and ISIS are muslim people so all muslim people are murderers. 3. Appeal to emotion Definition: A logical argument that uses emotional language to convince someone to be on their side with little to no evident supporting the argument. Example: Harry Potter should banned because it bad for kids. It gives kids nightmares. 4. Post hoc ergo propter hoc Definition: Something is the cause of another thing because they happen in sequence. Example: The Lion roars before the sun goes down, therefore the sun goes down because the lion roars. 5. Slippery slope Definition: Saying that one thing will lead to another no matter what. Example: Losing this debate will surely lead to a failing grade. 6. Ad hominem Definition: Rather than being about the validity or evidence, this fallacy attacks the person who is trying to advance the argument. Example: How can you say you're a pacifist when you got into a fight last week?!!

2 Group #2: Miriam Akomeah, Nate Kinser, Grace Yingling, Emma Davidson, Akua Ofori 1. Argument ad Ignorantum Definition: The appeal to ignorance; arguing that something true or untrue simply because it has not been proved either way. This is taking advantage of the lack in others knowledge, and can be structured one of two ways; by saying something is true because it has not been proved false, or by saying something is false because it has not been proved true. Example: You have never been outside of the United States, therefore you do not know what the weather is like in Albania. Therefore, the weather in Albania must be different than the weather in Ohio. 2. Hasty Generalization Definition: When a generalization and assumption is made based on data that is too small, so the conclusion is not accurately have foundation in the data Example: Taking a survey of ten people, out of which half of them do not like candy. So, based on this, half people in the world do not like candy. 3. Appeal to Emotion Definition: Someone who manipulates people's emotion in order to persuade a person s judgement of what is true. Example: The new Iphone 7 plus gives you the confidence and power to rule over the people you want. If you buy a Iphone 7 plus then you will gain power and people will respect you. Power is everything, so buy the Iphone 7 plus. 4. Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc (After this, therefore because of this) Definition: This fallacy states that just because two things happened right after the other, the first thing had to have caused the second thing. Example: Cheese prices drop, and after this, the price of laundry detergent skyrockets. If using this fallacy, the cheese price drop has to have caused the price of laundry detergent to rise, despite the fact that cheese and laundry detergent are completely unrelated. 5. Slippery Slope Definition: A person asserts that a certain event would inevitably follow another without an argument for the inevitably of the event in question. Example: The social media platform is increasing day by day that next thing you know we would have cameras following us everyday and every moment to see what we are doing! 6. Ad Hominem (Against The Man) Definition: This fallacy is when people in a debate attack each other s personal beliefs and past actions, going after the character of the individual instead of their practices and beliefs. Example: Politician A and Politician B at a debate on future tax changes. Politician A says that Politician B s ideas about taxes are not to be trusted because he was previously caught in an affair. Politician B responds by saying that Politician A is not to be trusted because Politician A was caught drunk as a teenager. None of these arguments have anything to do with raising or lowering taxes, and thus, the example of Ad Hominem.

3 Group 3: Vicky Ma, Jack McLean, Jeriel Adarquah-Yiadom, Doan Bui, Caroline Urbanic 7. Bandwagon Definition: A cause or activity that has suddenly become popular among a general population. Ex: is liking a certain music group once the group gains recognition. This fallacy is relevant to my life because recently, more and more people have been liking my favorite band. 8. Ad hominem tu quoque Definition: Pointing out that an argument is wrong because the person is acting differently than what they are saying Ex: My mom told me I should eat better while she was eating McDonald s. I told her that her reasoning was flawed. 9. Circular reasoning Definition:A type of reasoning when an arguments is supported by the proposition and then supported by the premises, and again by proposition. This will create a circle of useless information, Ex: I like the color orange because orange is my favorite 10. Special Pleading Definition:Applying a standard to all people in a specific circumstance while making exemptions to certain groups or people without just cause Ex: Of course drunk drivers should go to jail, but not my son! He s a good person and he s too young for prison! 11. Equivocation Definition:Using ambiguous terms to make an argument misleading Ex: My teacher said if I study hard I should do well I Studied for 5 intense minutes, so I will do well 12. Begging the question Definition:Any argument in which the conclusion is assumed from one of the claims Ex: That house is largest I ve ever seen. Because it is the largest house I've seen it is the largest house in the world.

4 Group #4: Francie Gordish, Kaedyn Adkins, Matt Reece, Maggie Trace, Katie Ball 7. Bandwagon Definition: Believing that if something is popular, it must be right. *For example, someone voting for who they believe is the most popular in a political election just because they re the most popular. 8. Ad Hominem Tu Quoque Definition: An individual says something that is not justified by their own actions, past claims, or another person s opinion. *An example is if a politician renounced gay marriage twenty years ago, but now supports it. Therefore they are wrong and do not believe in it because they said before that they didn t. 9. Circular Reasoning Definition: A logic in which someone begins an argument in the same format of which they end with. *An example of this is as follows: Person 1: You can trust me. Person 2: How can I be sure? Person 1: Bob will vouch for me. Person 2: How do I know I can trust Bob? Person 1: You can trust Bob...I ll vouch for him 10. Special Pleading Definition: when people let emotional circumstances equate justification. *An example of this is a parent saying that their child is innocent based only on the fact that they are their child. 11. Equivocation Definition: Using words without exact or precise definitions to make sure that the result of a certain situation is left up in the air. *An example is when a teacher asks a student if they got their homework done, the student says I maybe got it done, with the term maybe being the equivocation. 12.Begging the question Definition: means that a statement is immediately marked and assumed as true, under the circumstance that there is no previous evidence given. *An example of this is how I assume that nothing about instant ramen is healthy, even though I haven t looked up the health benefits of instant ramen.

5 Group #5: Alivia Olson, Olivia Smith, Megan Western, Michael Kielmeyer, and Josh Coffey 13. False Analogy Description: When an analogy, or a comparison of two things argues the validity of one thing by comparing it to another, but the comparison suggests that they are more alike than they actually are Example: IB is my death. 14. Burden of Proof Description: When one person says something is true because it can not be proven false. Also if the claim is presented by one side but the other side has the evidence to prove the claim. Example: Josh: I am going to fail this test. Alivia: How can you prove that? Josh: There is no evidence that I won t. 15. False Dilemma Description: A false dilemma is when two potentially false statements are presented. Since one is known to be false, then the other statement must be true, even though it could be false as well. Example: The painting is definitely red. Why? Well, it s definitely not blue. 16. Loaded Question Description: An inquiry which contains a negative unfounded assumption about the person answering the question, usually containing apparent admissions of guilt. Example: When did you stop stealing Wallace's money? 17. Appeal to Authority Description: When one person is claimed to be the authority to another. The person with an authority makes a claim about the other so the statement must be true. Example: Well Mr. Heinmiller said its due on Monday. So are you you Mr. Heinmiller? 18. Appeal to Tradition Description: The concept that because a group has always completed an action in a specific way, it is somehow superior to every other potential method. Example: Why would we ever try sending assignments over Schoology, if Google Classroom has always worked fine?

6 Group # 6: Gabe Jelkin, Daisy Asabere, Edith Dwumah, Khanh Vu, Lily Nichols 13. False Analogy Description: When two things are similar in some way, this type of fallacy attempts to compare them in another way that may not be true. Example: A girl asks her mom if she can go to the mall, and her mom says no. The girl then proceeds to reason that her friend s mom is letting her go, so she should be able to go as well. However, the two daughters may be different ages/family circumstances/etc Burden of Proof Description: This is the obligation to prove one s claim. It is a fallacy in which the burden of proof is placed on the wrong side. A lack of evidence from side A is taken to be evidence for side B. Example: When someone has a bizarre dream, and since nobody can prove that that person did not have that dream, then that dream is said to be valid and true. 15. False Dilemma Description: This is when there are only two choices given, but there are more choices that exist within them. Example: If you do not support a given war, you do not love your country 16. Loaded Question Description: A question with heavy meaning or emotional development that is however charged with a hidden implication. Example: To a political candidate~how has your campaign changed since you ve chosen to be truthful with the voters? 17. Appeal to Authority Description: Using an authority as evidence in your argument when the authority is not really an authority on the facts relevant to the argument. As the audience, allowing an irrelevant authority to add credibility to the claim being made. Example: I eat a certain cereal every morning because I saw Michael Jordans recommending that cereal in a commercial. 18. Appeal to Tradition Description: When a certain idea is assumed to be better or more correct simply because it is traditional or old. Example: This fallacy takes the form: something is old or traditional, therefore this something is correct or better.

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