FLASHPOINTS OF LOGICAL ARGUMENT!

1. FLASHPOINTS OF LOGICAL ARGUMENT! Rachel, Brianna, Lauren, Allie, Jessie, Stephanie, JT, Chris, Raul, Mike, Greg

2. Hasty Generalization • Inference drawn from insufficient evidence • Stereotyping • Ex: Because my Honda broke down, all Hondas must be junk

3. Faulty Causality • Fallacious assumption that because one event or action follows another, the first necessarily causes the second • Ex: A writer sued Coors, claiming that drinking copious amounts of the company’s beer had kept him from writing a novel • Ex: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTbZoKEOkUg

4. Begging the Question • Claims cannot be accepted as true because their grounds are in doubt • Ex: You can’t give me “C” in this course; I’m an “A” student

5. Equivocation • Argument that gives a lie an honest appearance; a half-truth • Ex: The plagiarist who copies a paper word for word from a source and then declares “I wrote the entire paper myself”

6. Non Sequitur • Claims, reasons, or warrants fail to connect logically; one point doesn’t follow from another • Ex: You don’t love me or you’d buy me that bicycle! • Ex: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zODHaIDfPXU

7. The Straw Man • Attacking an argument that isn’t really there, one that’s much weaker or more extreme than the one the opponent is actually making • Ex: Those arguing against intelligent design may say that intelligent design advocates claim that life was created by some white-haired figure in the sky, while those arguing against evolution sometimes say that evolutionists claim that evolution is all random chance, so the human eye just came into existence randomly • Ex: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5vzCmURh7o&feature=fvwrel (2:26 start)

8. Faulty Analogy • Extended comparisons; analogies • Ex: The universe is like an intricate watch. A watch must have been designed by a watchmaker. Therefore, the universe must have been designed by some kind of creator • Ex: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzbZ14KHAoI