Understanding Fallacy Review to help with assignment 4 Understanding Fallacy

Purpose The School of Computing and Software Engineering has program objectives. One of these objectives is: Students recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning This review addresses some of this objective. Objectives for this assignment: Notice fallacy reasoning Demonstrate valid logical arguments and an invalid argument Understanding Fallacy

Critical Thinking Skills for Identifying Logical Fallacies in Everyday Reasoning The term "fallacy" does not mean false statement. It means faulty reasoning. So it is possible for an argument to contain all true statements and still be fallacious. Informal Logical Fallacies Many fallacies appear in everyday reasoning. Logicians have categorized them in ways that are convenient for us to recognize. We refer to these kinds of fallacious arguments as informal logical fallacies. Understanding Fallacy

Some Common Informal Fallacies Ad Hominem Argument a logical fallacy in which an argument is rebutted by attacking the character, motive, or other attribute of the person making the argument, or persons associated with the argument, rather than attacking the substance of the argument itself Slippery Slope Argument a consequentialist logical device in which a party asserts that a particular result will probably (or even must inevitably) follow from a given decision or circumstance, without necessarily providing any rational argument or demonstrable mechanism for the likelihood of the assumed consequence. Fallacy of Appeal to Authority a logical fallacy that argues that a position is true or more likely to be true because an authority or authorities agree with it. False Cause Fallacy a cause is incorrectly identified. Presumed a real or perceived relationship between things means that one is the cause of the other. Begging the Question a fallacy in which the premises include the claim that the conclusion is true Fallacy of Composition/Fallacy of Division when one infers that something is true of the whole from the fact that it is true of some part of the whole Fallacy of Ambiguity When an unclear phrase with multiple definitions is used within the argument; therefore, does not support the conclusion Appeal to the People (Argumentum ad Populum) concludes that a proposition is true because many or most people believe it: "If many believe so, it is so." The Many/Any Fallacy This occurs when one reasons from the fact that many alternatives are acceptable to the claim that any alternative is acceptable Ex) There are many ways for a travel agent to route someone between Savannah and Kalamazoo It doesn’t follow that any way of sending someone between these cities is acceptable The Virtuality Fallacy An informal fallacy of combining two premises together to prove that something is not real. In groups of two create a skit that shows an argument using the assigned fallacy. Understanding Fallacy