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Watch out for Logical Fallacies

Watch out for Logical Fallacies. Adapted from “AP Vertical Guide”. What are logical fallacies?. Errors in reasoning that render the argument invalid. General Guidelines for avoiding logical fallacies. Do not claim too much!! Do not oversimplify a complex issue.

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Watch out for Logical Fallacies

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  1. Watch out for Logical Fallacies Adapted from “AP Vertical Guide”

  2. What are logical fallacies? • Errors in reasoning that render the argument invalid.

  3. General Guidelines for avoiding logical fallacies • Do not claim too much!! • Do not oversimplify a complex issue. • Support your argument with concrete evidence and specific proposals, not abstract generalizations and familiar sentiments.

  4. Good thing to say or bad? • “We just need to tell those unemployed people to get jobs.” • “Nathaniel Hawthorne is the most amazing writer ever!!” • “I believe in making America great!”

  5. Common Logical Fallacies

  6. Ad Hominem fallacy • This means to target a person’s character rather than the argument “I’m failing English because Mrs. Brawner is too mean.”

  7. Ad Popullumfallacy • “to the crowd”- This fallacy suggests that because the crowd does it it must be correct “If everyone jumped off the bridge would you do that?”

  8. Begging the Question • This fallacy involves taking for granted something that really needs proving Ex. Doesn’t the fact that you are failing all your AP classes beg the question as to whether you should be in them in the first place?

  9. Circular Reasoning • Trying to prove one idea with another idea that is too similar to the first idea; Ex. “Why did you fail English, Johnny?” “Mom, I failed English because I made an F.” “Why did you make an F? “I made an F because I failed English.” What did you fail English? “I failed English because I made an F.”

  10. Hasty generalizations • Drawing a general or premature conclusion on the basis of only one or two cases Ex. Laura is an interloper. All women are interlopers.

  11. Non-Sequitur Reasoning • “it does not follow”- an inference or conclusion that does not follow established premises or evidence Ex. She is really hot; we should hire her as the accountant. Ex. The pirates had a difficult time rescuing their prisoners, we should make it hard to get Jim out of the shed. Ex. “Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country.”

  12. Pedantry- an adherence to arbitrary rules or a display of narrow-minded scholarship Ex. “Your food stamps will be stopped effective March 1992 because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances.” – Dept. of Social Services, Greenville, SC

  13. Either/or reasoning: the tendency to think two things are mutually exclusive -Most good quarterbacks defy the assumption that one can be either a jock or an AP student. -You must be either a liberal or a conservative?

  14. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc • “after this, therefore because of this”- Assuming an incident that precedes another is the cause of the second incident Ex.

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