Fallacies of Reasoning When logic falls apart… When logic falls apart PowerPoint by Katrina Groen, The Teacher Lady. Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

What is a fallacy of reason? A fallacy of reason is a mistake in logic that undermines or ruins your argument. When logic falls apart Copyright The Teacher Lady,, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Why should I care? Good question! It’s important to understand logical fallacies so that you can avoid using them when you’re crafting an argumentative essay, speech, or debate. When logic falls apart Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

What are the main fallacies of reason? Faulty Generalization Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right Personal Attack Post Hoc / Incorrect Assumption of Cause Circular Reasoning Slippery Slope Red Herring Invalid Analogies Fallacy of Composition Straw Man Fallacy of Dichotomy Appeal to the People (Ad Populum) Appeal to Tradition Appeal to Ignorance When logic falls apart Copyright The Teacher Lady,, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Faulty Generalization A faulty generalization makes a too broad of a claim based on the sample size. Most stereotypes are faulty generalizations. When logic falls apart Examples: People from Los Angeles are rich. Women are bad drivers. Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Personal Attack Personal attack distracts from the actual argument by attacking the character of people who are opposed to the claim. When logic falls apart Examples: Only idiots would believe that Americans never landed on the moon. Ms. Erickson is a liar and a cheat. Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Circular Reasoning Circular reasoning supports a claim with evidence that basically repeats the claim itself in different words. Children use circular reasoning often. When logic falls apart Examples: McDonald’s is the best fast food restaurant because it’s good. Bullying is wrong because it’s mean. Copyright The Teacher Lady,, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Red Herring Red Herring distracts from the argument by bringing up an irrelevant point – usually one that is easier or more popular to argue. Think of it as going off on a random tangent. When logic falls apart Examples: In a debate about whether kids get too much homework, a speaker spends 5 minutes complaining about the price of college. Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Fallacy of Composition Fallacy of composition assumes that because something is true about part of an issue or thing, it is true of the whole issue or thing. When logic falls apart Examples: Because two students in the class have As, everyone must have an A. Because the team has Kobe Bryant on it, it must be successful. Copyright The Teacher Lady , 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Fallacy of Dichotomy Fallacy of composition makes a false (and usually dramatic) either/or statement. The reader is then “forced” to choose between the two sides. When logic falls apart Examples: You are either a vegan or you hate animals! If you don’t support gun control laws, you must be a murderer. Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Appeal to Tradition This fallacy argues that “we’ve always done it that way.” In other words, because something worked in the past, it is the correct thing to do. When logic falls apart Examples: We’ve never had a woman president before. Why start now? We should have the dance on December 12 because that’s what we always do! Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right This fallacy uses a misdeed to justify another misdeed. You’ll notice that many children use this fallacy to justify their actions. Examples: He looked at me funny, so I hit him! The teacher refused to let me turn in my assignment late, so I’m justified in putting a frog in her desk! Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Post Hoc / Incorrect Assumption of Cause This fallacy assumes that because something happened first, it caused the next event in the series to occur. Examples: Yesterday, you were in California, and it was sunny. Today, you are in Oregon, and it is sunny. You must have brought the sun from California to Oregon! Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Slippery Slope This fallacy states that a dramatic chain reaction will occur if a certain action is taken. Usually, there is little to no evidence that this reaction will occur. Examples: A parent might say, “It starts with getting your nose pierced; next, it will a tattoo. Before you know it, you’ll be a homeless wreck.” Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Invalid Analogies This fallacy compares two things that are too unalike to be compared. Examples: Forcing kids to do homework is like slavery because the kids don’t get paid for doing the work. Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Straw Man Straw man sets up an overly weak or vague version of the opposition’s argument and tears it down ruthlessly. Examples: The president wants to raise taxes. Obviously, that will hurt businesses and the middle class. Everyone should vote against it. Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Appeal to the People (Ad Populum) Appeal to the People (sometimes known as Ad Populum) argues that because something is popular, it must be right. Examples: This book must be good because the cover says, “More than 1,000,000 copies sold!” The Governor must be doing a bad job because 55% of voters disapprove of her. Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Appeal to Ignorance Appeal to Ignorance argues that because there is no evidence against a claim, the claim must be true. Examples: No one would verify that Dan had not cheated on the test; therefore, he must have cheated. There is no evidence that unicorns do not exist; therefore, they must exist. Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Check for Understanding Take out a piece of paper and number it 1-14. On the next several slides, you will see an example of a fallacy of reason. Please write the type of fallacy that corresponds to the example. Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Check for Understanding 1. The Student Body president is always the Prom King or Queen. Tyrel is the Student Body president, so he should be this year’s Prom King. Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Check for Understanding 2. You must be either a Democrat or a Republican. Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Check for Understanding 3. Jocks don’t get good grades. Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Check for Understanding 4. If we allow a housing development to be built on Sunny Lake, a resort will come next, and soon we won’t have any wilderness left! Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Check for Understanding 5. Americans should give money to charity because it is the right thing to do. Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Check for Understanding 6. This movie was #1 at the box office last weekend! That means it must be really good! Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Check for Understanding 7. Pizza has ingredients from all the food groups. Therefore, pizza must be healthy. Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Check for Understanding 8. Nobody was obeying the speed limit, so I am justified in not obeying the speed limit as well. Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Check for Understanding 9. In an essay about the importance of recycling, a student includes a paragraph about how current policies are too lenient on air pollution. Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Check for Understanding 10. In a political speech, a candidate calls his opponent a “bigoted hillbilly.” Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Check for Understanding 11. No one can prove that Justin Bieber isn’t an extraterrestrial. Therefore, Justin Bieber must be an extraterrestrial. Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Check for Understanding 12. Cellphones weren’t invented before I was born. Now, they are everywhere! Therefore, cellphones were created because I was born. Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Check for Understanding 13. Jaywalking is just as dangerous as driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Check for Understanding 14. My opponent wants to make school lunches more expensive. This is a terrible waste of students’ money and should be outlawed. Obviously, kids have better things on which to spend their money. Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Check for Understanding Answers 1. Appeal to Tradition 2. Fallacy of Dichotomy 3. Faulty Generalization 4. Slippery Slope 5. Circular Reasoning 6. Appeal to the People (Ad Populum) 7. Fallacy of Composition 8. Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right 9. Red Herring 10. Personal Attack 11. Appeal to Ignorance 12. Post Hoc (Incorrect Assumption of Cause) 13. Invalid Analogy 14. Straw Man Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Fallacies of Reason – Student Notes Fallacy Explanation Example Faulty Generalization Personal Attack Circular Reasoning Red Herring Fallacy of Composition Fallacy of Dichotomy Appeal to Tradition Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right Post Hoc / Incorrect Assumption of Cause Slippery Slope Invalid Analogies Straw Man Appeal to the People (Ad Populum) Appeal to Ignorance Copyright Literacy Across the Curriculum, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher

Thank you for choosing The Teacher Lady! Did you like this PowerPoint? Find more resources like it at The Teacher Lady’s Teachers Pay Teachers store. Don’t forget to rate this PowerPoint and follow me at teacherspayteachers.com! Thanks! -- Katrina Copyright The Teacher Lady, 2013; Clipart used with permission from The 3am Teacher: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-3am-Teacher