Valid & Fallacious Reasoning
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Transcript of Valid & Fallacious Reasoning
Author’s Reasoning: Valid and Fallacious
English I Beaulieu
Hall Dale High School
Monday, March 5, 14
Valid ReasoningClaims must be backed with reasoning. Reasoning should be based in logic.
Valid reasoning uses facts, statistics, or personal
experience to support their claim.
Monday, March 5, 14
Example
Becky tells her teacher that she is allergic to pollen, every time she is
outside for recess her allergies act up, and therefore the playground must have
a high pollen count.
This is valid because we see a logical sequence based on true statements.
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Fallacious ReasoningFallacy is an argument that does not
provide the necessary support to back up the given claims.
Fallacy is an error in reasoning.
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Most Common Types of Fallacious Reasoning
Slippery Slope
Hasty Generalization
Post hoc ergo propter hoc
Genetic Fallacy
Circular Argument
Either/Or
Ad hominem Ad populumRed Herring
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Slippery SlopeIf A happens, then B, C, ......, X, Y, Z, will happen too.
If we ban Hummers because they are bad for the environment,
eventually the government will ban all cars, so we should not ban
Hummers.
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Hasty GeneralizationA rushed conclusion before you have all the
relevant facts.
Even though it’s only the first day, I can tell this is going to
be a boring course.
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Post hoc ergo propter hoc
If A occurred after B, then B must have caused A.
I drank bottled water and now I am sick, so the water must have
made me sick.
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Genetic FallacyConclusion based on an argument that the
origins of a person, idea, institute, or theory determine its character, nature, or worth.
The Volkswagen Beetle is an evil car because it was originally designed by
Hitler’s army.
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Circular Argument
Restates the argument rather than actually proving it.
George Bush is a good communicator because he speaks
effectively.
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Either/Or Conclusion oversimplifies the argument by
reducing it to only 2 sides or choices.
We can either stop using cars or destroy the earth.
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Ad hominemAttack on the character of a person rather than
their opinions or arguments.
Green Peace’s strategies aren’t effective because they are all
dirty, lazy hippies.
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Ad populum
An emotional appeal that speaks to positive (patriotism/religion/democracy) or negative (terrorism/facism) concepts
rather than the real issue.
If you were a true American, you would support the rights of people to choose
whatever vehicle they want.
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Red Herring A diversionary tactic that avoids the key issues,
often by avoiding opposing arguments rather than addressing them.
The level of mercury in seafood may be unsafe, but what will fishermen do to support their
families.
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Sources http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/your-argument-is-
invalid
Author’s Reasoning Resource Handout
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