1. Logical Fallacies Dr. Alan Haffa Based on Gary Goshgarian and Kathleen Krueger in An Argument Rhetoric and Reader

2. What Are Logical Fallacies? Fallere: to deceive Flaw in the logic of an argument Unintentional or intentional

3. Ad Hominem Attack against ‘the man’ Attacks the character or person of the person making the opposing argument rather than the argument itself Shows lack of objectivity

4. Ad Misericordiam Appeal to Pity Attempts to persuade by making an emotional argument Example: Local Humane Society seeks money for new shelter; shows a picture and tells you that your donation could save this dog from being euthanized due to overcrowding Appeal to a court to spare an eighty year old man from the death penalty based upon his age and frail health

5. Ad Populum Argument An argument aimed at appealing to the prejudices and emotions of the masses A parent who complains in an editorial about their child being taught by a foreign teacher, appeals to the common prejudice against immigrants and foreigners Just because a majority believe something is true doesn’t make it logical or valid

6. Bandwagon Appeal If you don’t want to be left out, you better get on the bandwagon and do and think the same things Similar to Ad Populum but emphasis is on the desire to persaude the undecided or non-conformist to ‘join the group’ “Smart Shoppers shop at Sears” “Everyone knows that Global Warming is a Threat”; “Everyone knows that Global Warming is a liberal conspiracy”

7. Begging the Question Similar to circular reasoning, begging the question presents something as true which in fact needs to be demonstrated. “That foolish law should be repealed” “She is compassionate because she is a woman”

8. Circular Reasoning The conclusion of a deductive argument is hidden in the premise The argument goes in a circle 1) People who are happy with their work are cheerful because they enjoy what they’re doing Smoking is bad for you because it ruins your health.

9. Dicto Simpliciter From a general truth to a specific case, regardless of the appropriateness “Simply spoken” Exploits an overly simplistic “rule of thumb” 1) Men are stronger than women; Soldiers should be strong; Women should not serve in combat.

10. False Analogy Analogy compares two things False analogy is when the two things compared really are not similar in the way being compared Sadaam Hussein is like Hitler Therefore, the Gulf War is justified just as WW II was justified

11. Faulty Use of Authority When an expert in one area is used as an authority outside of their area of expertise Just because someone is a Ph.D. or M.D. doesn’t mean that they are an expert on the particular topic Celebrity Endorsements

12. Hasty Generalizations Arriving at a conclusion based on too little evidence Students in America are learning less than in the past because their SAT scores are lower California students are less well educated than other states because they are 46 th in per student funding

13. Non Sequitur “Does not follow” A conclusion that doesn’t follow from the premise “She’s so pretty; she must not be smart.” “Candidate Jones will be a great Senator because she’s been married for twenty years.”

14. Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc “After this, therefore because of this” Establishes a questionable cause-and-effect relationship between events Because event Y follows event X, event X causes event Y Black folks do less well on standardized tests; therefore the public school system must be racist There are more latch-key children since the Women’s Movement; Feminism and Women’s Liberation is directly responsible for the rise of latch-key children

15. Red Herring Evidence that is used incorrectly and intentionally to distract the audience from the true issues In Detective Stories the Red Herring is the “false suspect” A coach accused of using money improperly defends himself by pointing out the teams winning record The problem with education is a “lack of accountability” ‘There will be death panels who will decide if Seniors can live or die’

16. Slippery Slope Like a muddy hill, if we go down this slope we will fall In other words, if we allow one thing a whole slew of other, negative events will occur as a result It is fallacious when there is not sufficient evidence offered to show that Event X will necessarily lead to Events Y and Z If we pass this health care bill eventually the government will take over the decision-making from patients and doctors Gay marriage will lead to polygamy and incest

17. Stacking the Deck Only offering evidence that supports the premise, while disregarding contrary evidence “Data beautification” A meat manufacturer advertises that its all-beef hot dogs “now contain 10 percent less fat,” but leaves out the fact that it still contains 30 % fat If you leave out obvious evidence your reader knows about you lose credibility

18. Straw Man A straw man is an easy target In rhetoric, it refers to a strategy of refutation that offers a distorted view of the opponent’s position and then knocking it down. The speaker claims the opponent’s argument is false because of an error in a smaller, inessential part of the opponent’s argument “This bill is Socialist and would turn America’s Health Care system over to a government bureaucracy.”

19. Either/Or Fallacy Writer argues that we have two choices: we MUST do either THIS or THAT Typically one of the two options is clearly non-desirable or bad; hence, the “conclusion” that we must do the alternative The current bill is unacceptable; we must start over from scratch Or, we have come too far not to pass this bill; starting over would mean failure

20. Summary If you can identify a fallacy in your opponent’s argument, point it out and show how it is false Be sure to refute all of your opponent’s points and then you may offer up points of your own.