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Logical Fallacies Engl 1302 Heilig. What are logical fallacies?  Bad!  Common errors in reasoning  Often substitute emotion for evidence  Often oversimplify.

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Presentation on theme: "Logical Fallacies Engl 1302 Heilig. What are logical fallacies?  Bad!  Common errors in reasoning  Often substitute emotion for evidence  Often oversimplify."— Presentation transcript:

1 Logical Fallacies Engl 1302 Heilig

2 What are logical fallacies?  Bad!  Common errors in reasoning  Often substitute emotion for evidence  Often oversimplify arguments  Are not always obvious

3 Identifying Fallacies  There are many common fallacy types  Finding fallacies in others’ arguments will:  Help prevent manipulation  Help you identify them in your own writing  Make you a more mindful/aware citizen

4 Example: Begging the Question  When you restate your claim in a different way and pass it off as evidence  Also known as circular logic or an unsupported assertion  Accept the conclusion, no questions asked  Examples:  Students should not be allowed to park in lots now reserved for faculty because those lots should be for faculty only.  Active euthanasia is morally acceptable. It is a decent, ethical thing to help another human being escape suffering through death.

5 Hasty Generalization, False Cause, and Post Hoc These fallacies all have to do with drawing conclusions from evidence that might not be connected  Hasty generalization: coincidence = fact  False cause: correlation = causation  Post hoc (after this): A happens because of B, because A has happened because of B before

6 Oversimplification and Slippery Slope These fallacies make huge conclusions based on weak assumptions or little evidence  Oversimplification: A quick black & white answer to a complex problem  No one would be depressed if we gave everyone the boxed set of Star Wars blu-rays.  Slippery Slope: A leads to B leads to C because of Reasons  Because I overslept, I missed class, which means I’m going to fail the final, which means I’m going to drop out of college, which means I won’t get a job, which means I now have to live in a van down by the river

7 Rationalization & Bandwagon These fallacies are based on excuses or deflection of the main issue at hand -Rationalization: Provides an explanation or defense of something -My science-fiction sequel to Hamlet would have made bank if people still appreciated the arts! -Bandwagon: Everyone else is doing it, why not me? -Bob drinks six shots of tequila every weeknight and passes all his classes, so everyone should be able to do the same thing

8 Ad Hominem, Polarization, and Straw Man These are fallacies which attack the source of the argument instead of the argument itself  Ad hominem (against the man): personal attacks on the author/name-calling  Bill Nye smokes marijuana, so what he has to say about science isn’t valid.  Polarization: Us vs. Them, us = awesome, them = the worst people on the planet  People who think Star Trek is better than Star Wars are delinquents with no moral values  Straw Man: Oversimplifying or misrepresenting the opposing side (setting up a dummy to attack)  Others want gun control because they hate freedom.

9 Examples: Outbreak!  http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/g1lev1/an-outbreak-of-liberal-idiocy http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/g1lev1/an-outbreak-of-liberal-idiocy  http://mediamatters.org/video/2011/10/19/dana-loesch-brings-the-nazis- like-occupy-wall-s/182296 http://mediamatters.org/video/2011/10/19/dana-loesch-brings-the-nazis- like-occupy-wall-s/182296 What fallacies do you see in the following clips?


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