Fallacies Of Thinking

1. Fallacies Of Thinking A fallacy is flawed logic or misguided thinking.

2. Appeal to Ignorance Maintaining that because no one has ever proved a claim, it must therefore be false Appeals to ignorance unfairly shift the burden of proof to someone else Example: Show me one study that proves seat belts save lives.

3. Appeal to Ignorance

4. Appeal to Pity You are asking for something based on pity or emotions, not facts This tugs on heartstrings These are often heard in courts of law when a lawyer begs for leniency Example: “Imagine, your honor, what it must have been like for him. If anyone deserves a break, my client does.”

5. Appeal to Pity

6. Appeal to Authority Something that is argued to be true, because some unnamed authority says it is true. Example: “Buy Crest! It’s the best toothpaste because nine out of ten dentists prefer it.”

7. Appeal to Authority

8. Bandwagon Appeals to everyone’s sense of wanting to belong or be accepted This suggests that everyone else is doing this or wearing that or going here or there, so you should, too It’s the “cool thing” to do Example: Everyone on the Lakers wears Brand X shoes … you should wear them, too!

9. Bandwagon

10. Broad Generalization/Glittering Generalities/Hasty Generalization The argument/claim takes in everything and everyone at once, allowing no exceptions Example: All teens spend too much time on their Smartphones.

11. Broad Generalization Or Over-Generalization/Glittering Generalities/Hasty Generalization

12. Circular Thinking Assume in a definition or an argument, the very point you are trying to prove Very “circular” reasoning Example: I love Mr. Baldwin’s class because I’m always happy in there. I’m always happy in there because I love Mr. Baldwin’s class. (But what’s special about the class?) E

13. Circular Thinking

14. Either-Or Thinking The argument reduces a solution to just two possible extremes Eliminates all the possibilities in between Example: Either this community votes to build a new school or the quality of education will drop dramatically.

15. Either-Or Thinking

16. Half-Truths Building your argument with evidence or statements that contain part of the truth … but not the whole truth Partly true, yet partly untrue Leave out “the rest of the story” Example: The new recycling law is bad because it will cost more money than it saves. (Maybe so; but it will also save the environment.)

17. Half-Truths Here is one way to use half-truths: Using true statistics, but not giving contexts or not revealing the whole truth about the statistics. Example: Women will never be competent firefighters; after all, only 50% of the women in the city’s training program passed the exam. (Hidden Truth: only two women were enrolled in the program.)

18. Generalization/Oversimplification Beware of overly general phrases, such as “it’s a simple question of …” or “it all boils down to …” or “you must realize … ” or “so it must be” Intended to ward off those afraid to argue back. Example: It’s easy to see that capital punishment protects society.

19. Slanted Language/(Argumentum) Ad Hominem Argument attacks the man, not the foe’s argument. Uses words that carry strong positive or negative feelings, frequently insulting Attack can distract the audience and lead them away from valid arguments Example: No one in his right mind would ever do anything that dumb.

20. Slanted Language/(Argumentum) Ad Hominem

21. Testimonial If an argument/claim comes from a recognized authority in the same field, great But if the claim comes from a person famous in another field, it can be misleading Example: Sports Hero: “I’ve tried every cold medicine on the market, and -- believe me -- nothing works like No Cold.”

22. Testimonial

23. Bait and Switch You are “baited” with something attractive, but then it is "switched" for something less desirable. Example: When a store advertises the availability of some wonderful product at a great price, but once you get there you find that none are left and all that remain are much more expensive items.

24. Bait and Switch

25. Stereotype • A form that does not change. • A “stereotyped” character has no individuality and fits the mold of that particular kind of person. • Example: • A fat cop always has a donut in his hand • A mom who is always in the kitchen cleaning and cooking