Persuasion Fallacies are our Friends?!?

FALLACIES – What are they and how do you recognize one? Informal Fallacies are commonly heard statements that are based on faulty or weak reasoning. Hundreds of kinds of fallacies have been identified.

Here are some of the most common. . . Fallacy of Equivocation Argument from Ignorance Fallacy of False Cause Fallacy of Hasty Generalization Fallacy of Composition Fallacy of Division Appeal to Force Appeal to People Appeal to Authority Fallacy of False Dilemma

Begging the Question Fallacy Uses ambiguous words which cloud meaning http://www.geocities.com/philodept/diwatao/image/log4p6.gif

Argument from Ignorance An argument from ignorance uses information that has not been proven to be either true or false Although pictures “exist;” it’s never been proven that Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster really exist. http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x217/JUDECLINE/big_foot.jpg http://www.wired.com/images/article/full/2007/08/loch_ness_monster_580x.jpg

Appeal to Authority An appeal to authority who uses the testimony of an expert who is not an expert on the subject being discussed Tiger Woods is an expert golfer, but does he know how to create a golf ball? http://www.gamedaylegends.net/ebaypics/tigsmall1.jpg

Fallacy of False Dilemma A fallacy of false dilemma offers fewer options than really exist. Face it Doris – All you’ll Ever be in this company Is a secretary or a second- Rate salesperson. No – someday I’ll be your Boss and you can kiss Your job good-bye.

Appeal to Force An appeal to force convinces by arousing fears. Go to sleep now or that monster under your bed will come out and get you! 1960’s political ad from Lyndon B. Johnson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkWAhuXtalw http://www.ajax4hire.com/M_Media/Comic_Calvin-Hobbs_Monster_under_bed.gif

Fallacy of Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc This concludes that since two incidents happened at the same time, and that one even caused the other. He’s down on his luck. Did the piano fall on him because of his luck or was he in the wrong place at the wrong time? http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/mba/lowres/mban310l.jpg

Fallacy of Hasty Generalization This judges a group by the actions of appearance of one or a few members of that group. Example: Will the whole world know her husband’s an idiot? Or will all of the people who have internet access know? Political Example: Republicans always try to drag women back into caves by their hair. - Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (DNC Chair) http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HXP2Z5GXFO8/SbR2z8uiX8I/AAAAAAAAF98/TObk77MlTr0/s400/idiot.jpg

Appeal to People – Argumentum Populum - Bandwagon An appeal to people argues that since most people do something, you should too. Everyone is jumping off the cliff – Are you going to too? Everyone has a nose piercing these – You should get one too. http://bluebison.net/sketchbook/2008/0708/pigs-jumping-off-a-cliff.jpg

Fallacy of Division This argues that if a whole unit has a quality, then each part must have that quality. The universe has existed for fifteen billion years. The universe is made out of molecules. Therefore, each of the molecules in the universe has existed for fifteen billion years. http://www.fallacyfiles.org/division.html http://www.billionsandbillions.com/Milky_Way.jpg

Fallacy of Composition This assumes that because every part has a characteristic, the whole unit will also have that characteristic. A car makes less pollution than a bus. Therefore, cars are less of a pollution problem than buses. http://www.don-lindsay-archive.org/skeptic/arguments.html#composition http://intlxpatr.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/bus_cartoon.gif

Fallacies We are bombarded by fallacies every day in our lives. Why? Do they prevent us from knowing the whole truth and nothing but the truth about people, products, entertainment, etc?