Introduction to Logical Fallacies By Robert S. DeFrance

Logical Fallacies (False Logic) False logic, or logical fallacies, can be classified under Logos, Ethos, or Pathos Logos: appeals to reason, logic, or facts Ethos: appeals to the speaker’s credibility Pathos: appeals to emotion

Table of Contents 1. Appeal to Ignorance Fallacy 2. False Dilemma Fallacy 3. Slippery Slope Fallacy 4. Ad Hominem Fallacy 5. False Authority Fallacy 6. Bandwagon Appeal Fallacy 7. Red Herring Fallacy 8. Ad Populum Fallacy 9. Sweeping Generalization Fallacy

Fallacies of Logos: Appeal to Ignorance 1. Appeal to Ignorance— Using a lack of evidence as proof “Aliens exist because no one has proved they do not.” Yoda

Appeal to Ignorance In “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” (2003), Royal Navy Guard Mullory commits an appeal to ignorance by arguing that since he has not seen the Black Pearl, it does not exist.

Appeal to Ignorance In 2012 Former Congressman Dan Burton argued that “I have yet to find any scientist who will say there is no doubt, no doubt that the mercury in vaccines does not contribute autism. Now they’ll say there’s no scientific evidence, no studies or anything that proves that yet, but turn that around there are no studies that disprove it either.”

Fallacies of Logos: False Dilemma 2. False Dilemma/”Either/Or ”—Forcing an audience to pick between two bad options by presenting them as the only possibilities

Example of False Dilemma In President George W. Bush’s 2001 “War on Terror” speech, he stated that “The Taliban must act, and act immediately. They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate.”

False Dilemma in Film In “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith” (2005), a false dilemma fallacy is committed by Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vader) during his battle with Obi Wan Kenobi. Anakin Skywalker says, “If you’re not with me, then you’re my enemy. Obi Wan Kenobi responds, “Only a sith talks in absolutes.”

False Dilemma in Film In the 1991 “Beauty and the Beast,” Gaston remarks about Belle, “If you’re not with us, you’re against us!”

False Dilemma in Film “Would you rather get a bullet to the head or five to the chest and bleed to death?” “Are those my only two options?” “Moneyball”

Fallacies of Logos: Slippery Slope 3. Slippery Slope—A fallacy of causality where one argues for a certain conclusion using a series of unlikely events “If you steal candy, you will steal toys, then bikes, then cars, and sooner or later you will wind up on death row.” Or, the DirectTV “Roadside Ditch” ad: "Don't End Up in a Roadside Ditch”

Slippery Slope “When your cable company puts you on hold, you get angry. When you get angry, you blow off steam. When you blow off steam, accidents happen. When accidents happen, you get an eye patch…You wake up in a roadside ditch.”—DIRECTV Ad

Fallacies of Ethos: Ad Hominem 1. Ad Hominem— In Latin, “to the person,” which means making a personal attack, instead of attacking an issue

Example of an Ad Hominem In President Donald Trump’s 2015 “Presidential Announcement” speech, he insulted one of his presidential opponents when he said, “I mean, you looked at [Jeb] Bush, it took him five days to answer the question on Iraq. He couldn’t answer the question. He didn’t know. I said, ‘Is he intelligent?’”

Fallacies of Ethos: False Authority 2. False Authority— Citing an authority who has no credibility or authority on the subject

Example of a False Authority In President Donald Trump’s 2015 “Presidential Announcement” speech, he cited himself as a political and economic authority even though he had no political experience when he assured the American people that in regards to trade negotiations, “Believe me, folks. We will do very, very well, very, very well.”

Fallacies of Pathos: Bandwagon Appeal 1. Bandwagon Appeal— Everyone is doing it, so it must be right, frequently a false logic used to excuse cheating Over 40 students in India caught cheating in 2015

Example of a Bandwagon Appeal In an interview with Bill O’Reilly, the exchange went like this: O’Reilly “[Vladimir] Putin’s a killer.” Trump “There’s lots of killers. Got a lot of killers. What do you think our country’s so innocent?”

Fallacies of Pathos: Red Herring 2. Red Herring— An attempt to distract the audience from the main issue by raising an irrelevant one

Example of a Red Herring In President Donald Trump’s 2015 “Presidential Announcement” speech, he commits a red herring fallacy when he calls the American government a bunch of “losers. We have losers. We have people that don’t have it. We have people that are morally corrupt” when he probably should have been explaining why he would make a good president.

Fallacies of Pathos: Ad Populum 3. Ad Populum—A Latin phrase meaning “to the people.” It refers to propaganda and arguments which replace logic with devices calculated to incite anger, hate, or patriotism

Example of an Ad Populum In President Donald Trump’s 2015 “Presidential Announcement” speech, he committed an ad populum fallacy when he claimed that “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best…They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”

Example of an Ad Populum In Adolf Hitler’s “The Jewish Question” (1939), he puts forth, “if the international fiance- Jewry…should succeed in plunging the nations into a world war yet again, then the outcome will not be the victory of Jewry, but rather the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe.”

Fallacies of Logos: Sweeping Generalization 4. Sweeping Generalization— when something true in one circumstance is true in all circumstances

Sweeping Generalization “You know why Rifkin was a serial killer? Because he was adopted. Just like Son of Sam was adopted. So apparently, adoption leads to serial killing.” –Kramer (Seinfeld)

Sweeping Generalization “The government of the—the society of ours has changed dramatically. For example, in the old days women used to stay at home” (p. 10) from President George W. Bush’s “Remarks at ‘Focus on Women’s Issues’ Event”

Works Cited Bush, George W. “War on Terror.” 2001. Bush, George W. “Remarks at Focus on Women’s Issues.” 2004 Hitler, Adolf. “The Jewish Question.” 1939. Trump, Donald. “Presidential Announcement.” 2015.