Logical Fallacies

1. Logical Fallacies

2. What is a logical fallacy? • Fallacies are common errors in reasoning that will undermine the logic of your argument. Fallacies can be either illegitimate arguments or irrelevant points, and are often identified because they lack evidence that supports their claim. Avoid these common fallacies in your own arguments and watch for them in the arguments of others. • Citation: Weber, Ryan, and Allen Brizee. "Welcome to the Purdue OWL." Purdue OWL: Logic in Argumentative Writing. Purdue University, 11 Mar. 2013. Web. 11 May 2014.

3. Extra Credit • For the next three blocks I will introduce you to two logical fallacies per block. • Extra credit option: • If you bring in a real-life example of one of these logical fallacies one time you will receive 5 extra points on your lowest daily grade; if you bring in two real-life examples, then you will receive 5 extra credit points on your lowest daily and test grades.

4. STRAWMAN • “Let me spell it out for you: Kerry wants the federal government to house everyone, feed everyone, care for everyone’s children, and provide medical care for everyone. And he’s going to take 30 percent now, 40 percent tomorrow, 50 percent the next day… of every dime you make to do it” • -Rush Limbaugh, 9/27/04 • By exaggerating, misrepresenting, or just completely fabricating someone's argument, it's much easier to present your own position as being reasonable, but this kind of dishonesty serves to undermine honest rational debate.

5. SLIPPERY SLOPE • This is a conclusion based on the premise that if A happens, then eventually through a series of small steps, through B, C,..., X, Y, Z will happen, too, basically equating A and Z. So, if we don't want Z to occur, A must not be allowed to occur either. • “When the Supreme Court ruled that school officials need not obtain search warrants or find “probable cause” while conducting reasonable searches of students, they violated freedoms guaranteed under the Bill of Rights. If you allow a teacher to look for a knife or drugs you’ll soon have strip searches and next, torture.” • -ACLU fund-raising letter

6. NON-SEQUITUR • “Abortion to save the life of a mother is an irrelevant issue because I personally know a former surgeon general – a good Christian man –who claimed that in his years of surgical practice he’d never seen a case in which such a dilemma had arisen.” • -Jerry Falwell on Larry King Live 12/11/96 • a conclusion or statement that does not logically follow from the previous argument or statement.

7. AD HOMINEM • attacking an opponent's motives or character rather than the policy or position they maintain. • “Scientists hope that stem cells can be used to treat such conditions as juvenile diabetes, Parkinson’s, and spinal cord injuries. Such injuries are common among casualties of the Iraq war, who do not deserve to be victimized by George Bush’s ignorance.” • -Editorial, Austin American Statesman

8. FALSE DILEMMA (EITHER-OR) •  ”America: Love it or Leave it” (bumper sticker) • “Good teachers are those whose students learn, not those with worthless certificates and diplomas from schools of Education –pieces of paper that signify nothing.” • Columnist Thomas Sowell •  involves a situation in which limited alternatives are considered, when in fact there is at least one additional option.

9. MIDDLE GROUND / “GOLDEN MEAN” • A claim that a compromise, or middle point, between two extremes must be the truth. • In the biblical story known as The Judgment of Solomon, the rightful possession of a baby is disputed by two women. The king offers to cut the baby in half and give each half to one of the women. The real mother protests such an action and asks that the baby be given to the other woman, while the liar is happy to see the judgment carried out. The wise king then gives the baby to the true mother. • http://fallacyaday.com/2011/10/argument-to-moderation/