A man lives on the twelfth floor of an apartment building. Every morning he takes the elevator down to the lobby and leaves the building. In the evening, he gets into the elevator, and, if there is someone else in the elevator -- or if it was raining that day -- he goes back to his floor directly. Otherwise, he goes to the tenth floor and walks up two flights of stairs to his apartment. Why?
The man is a dwarf. He can't reach the upper elevator buttons, but he can ask people to push them for him. He can also push them with his umbrella.
Flawed Arguments
Flaws in an argument Often subtle Learning to recognize these will: Strengthen your own arguments Help you critique other s arguments
A generalization based on insufficient or unrepresented evidence Deaths from drug overdoses in Metropolis have doubled over the last three years. Therefore, more Americans than ever are dying from drug abuse.
A sweeping generalization applies a general statement too broadly. If one takes a general rule, and applies it to a case to which, due to the specific features of the case, the rule does not apply, then one commits the sweeping generalization fallacy. This fallacy is the reverse of a hasty generalisation, which infers a general rule from a specific case. Example (1) Children should be seen and not heard. (2) Little Wolfgang Amadeus is a child. Therefore: (3) Little Wolfgang Amadeus shouldn t be heard. No matter what you think of the general principle that children should be seen and not heard, a child prodigy pianist about to perform is worth listening to; the general principle doesn t apply.
A conclusion that does not follow logically from preceding statements or that is based on irrelevant data. Mary loves children, so she will make an excellent school teacher.
The assumption that because two things are alike in some respects, they are alike in others. If we put humans on the moon, we should be able to find a cure for the common cold.
The suggestion that only two alternatives exist when in fact there are more. Either learn how to program a computer, or you won t be able to get a decent job after college.
The perfectionist fallacy presents us with a kind of all or nothing false dilemma: We shouldn t give aid to countries where people are starving, because we can t eradicate hunger completely.
Another kind of false dilemma: Either we can draw a line between two things, or there is no difference between the two at all: Abortion is murder from the moment of conception, since we can t draw the line before which the fetus is not a person, and after which the fetus is.
The assumption that because one event follows another, the first is the cause of the second. Since Governor Smith took office, unemployment for minorities in the state has decreased by seven percent. Governor Smith should be applauded for reducing unemployment among minorities.
An argument in which the writer, instead of applying evidence simply restates the point in other language. Students should not be allowed to park in lots now reserved for faculty because those lots should be for faculty only.
A claim that an idea should be accepted because a large number of people favor it or believe it to be true. Everyone should cheer for Kansas City because they are undefeated!
An attack on the person proposing an argument rather than on the argument itself. Senator Jones was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, so his proposal to limit military spending has no merit.
An argument that focuses on an irrelevant issue to detract attention from the real issue. Reporters are out to get the president, so it s no wonder we are hearing rumors about these scandals.
The ad verecundiam fallacy consists of an appeal to irrelevant authority, that is, an authority who is not an authority in the field of question (or at least one we have no reason to believe to be such an authority). Oprah says that she won t eat beef, therefore you shouldn t eat beef.
Ad Misericordiam is an appeal to accept the truth of a conclusion out of pity for the arguer or some third party. Either the arguer (or someone else) is already an object of pity, or they will become one if the conclusion is not accepted. If I don t get at least a B in this course my GPA will drop below 2.0. If that happens I ll lose my scholarship and have to quit school, so I ought to get a B in this course.
One sometimes encounters arguments that some claim should be accepted because they have never been disproved. The move from not disproved to proved is invalid. No one has ever shown that it is impossible that the stars rule our lives; therefore, astrology is true.
An error in deductive reasoning in which the parts of a premise may, or may not, overlap. The middle term is undistributed in that all instances of a conclusion are also instances of the premise. Valid argument: All mammals have hair. All whales are mammals. All whales have hair. The middle term is distributed: Whales fits into the categories of mammals and having hair. Undistributed Middle: All whales have hair. All humans have hair. All whales are human. Undistributed: The middle term (Human) does not fit into both categories (Whales and Hair).
Straw targets are easier to knock down Person X presents an argument Person Y represents the argument in a distorted fashion Person Y then refutes the argument This undermines the original argument of Person X Misrepresentation Refute Ridicule Exaggerate
Ridiculous! Wild! Ludicrous! Absurd! Unbelievable! Stupid!
You too or You also Do as I say, not as I do! Person A makes a claim Person B asserts that A s actions or past claims are inconsistent with the claim Therefore the claim is false
Rejecting an argument because of what the person does, not because of the strength of the argument. Seeking to retain the status quo Anti-Smoking Staying out late Speeding on a motorway White lies Everyone does it
This is a chain of arguments that starts with a moderate claim and ends with an alarming one. These are often the cause of moral panics in the media. The flaw lies in the fact that at one or more links in the chain, the author makes an imaginative leap that might not be justified. The author assumes something negative is bound to happen, when it might not, or that it will affect huge numbers, when it might only happen to a few. Hence the term slippery slope
Examination results for 2005 showed an alarming decline in the number of students studying modern foreign languages for GCSE. This trend will result in fewer students taking languages at A- level and far fewer taking language degrees. Without language graduates, in several years there will be no language teachers available for schools. Eventually language learning will stop although a disaster for international understanding and world peace. Each step is not inevitable, since just as many students might take languages at A-level if it is mainly the less enthusiastic and less able ones who have opted out of GCSE.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haicf8v t6ec http://www.cafepress.com
Annenberg Public Policy Center (2008). Monty Python and the Quest for the Perfect Fallacy. Retrieved 10-1-08 from http://www.factchecked.org/lessonplandetails.aspx?myid=7. Hacker, D. (1999). A Writer s Reference, 4 th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martins. Mike, H. B. (1999). Language and Logic. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing, 1999. Wheeler, K. (2008). Logical fallacies handlist. Retrieved 10-1-08 from http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/fallacies_list.html Many thanks to Shawn Mole for providing much of the condensed research.