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Logical Fallacies. Rhetorical Moves. Repetition Rhetorical question Ethos, pathos, and logos Foreseeing opposition and answering to it Concisely and accurately summarizing others’ arguments and dialoguing with them. Either-Or.
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Rhetorical Moves • Repetition • Rhetorical question • Ethos, pathos, and logos • Foreseeing opposition and answering to it • Concisely and accurately summarizing others’ arguments and dialoguing with them
Either-Or • A conclusion which oversimplifies the argument by reducing it to two choices • “Either you support my proposal to build a cheese house OR you all hate me.”
Hasty Generalization • A conclusion based on insufficient evidence, i.e. rushing to a conclusion • “I have seen a lot of Hawkeye t-shirts on campus; thus, everyone in Iowa City must support them.”
Red Herring • A diversionary tactic that avoids key issues by refusing to address opposing arguments rather than engage with them. • “I believe that monkeys are the most evil creatures ever. Some other scientists have said something – but their opinion doesn’t really matter.”
Ad Hominem • Attack on the character of the person rather than the argument. • “Bill’s opinion on global warming can’t be trusted – he’s been sleeping around with Lucy.”
Post hoc ergo propter hoc • Conclusion that assumes if A occurred after B, then B must have caused A • “Rhetoric students go on to have great jobs; thus, rhetoric students’ success must be a result of this class (and my teaching, obviously).”
Slippery Slope • Conclusion based on the premise that if A happens, then eventually, through a series of small steps (B, C, D, etc.), X, Y, Z will happen too. Thus, you are basically equating A and Z. If we don’t want Z to occur, A must not be allowed to occur either. • “If we let teenagers run the world, they will refuse to insititute laws and eventually the world will be in chaos. Thus, if we want to avoid chaos, we must avoid a teenage-ocracy.”
Straw Man • Move that oversimplifies an opponent’s viewpoint and then attacks that hollow argument • “Obama believes hope will get us through any crisis. This is absurd.”
Putting logical fallacies to the test • You are in the process of receiving a parking ticket at the UI meters (of course, only 5 seconds after your meter expired). You now have to argue with policeman and try to get out of the ticket. • Some of you will have to make your argument by respectable rhetorical moves and others with logical fallacies. Your classmates will have to determine argument uses which.
Cunningham’s “Why Women Smile” • What is the purpose of the argument? • What kind of argument? • What occasions/moves does she use?
Amy Cunningham’s “Why Women Smile” • Although this article has been anthologized a great deal, Cunningham dismisses a majority of her article. • Did you find Cunningham’s article convincing? Why or why not? Who is her audience? Does she make any logical fallacies?
