What are fallacies?

• Deceptive, misleading, or false beliefs• Opinions based on inaccurate facts or invalid

reasoning

Reading Everything’s An Argument

• Write the definition for each fallacy on your green sheet

• Definitions found on p. 515-533 in the book

Fallacies of Emotional Appeal

Scare Tactics

Either-or choices

Eat your broccoli or no dessert!

Slippery Slope

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCuPyLeDzng&feature=relmfu

Sentimental Appeals

Fallacies of Ethical Argument

Appeals to False Authorities

• “Dr. Blair claims that chewing Trident gum is good for your teeth.”– If Dr. Blair is a dentist, this would be an appeal

using proper authorities.– If Dr. Blair is NOT a dentist, and is instead an

English professor, she is not an authority on dental hygiene.

Dogmatism

Ad Hominem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIhtph4_p7Y

Fallacies of Logical Argument

Hasty Generalization

Assuming that if my Ford breaks down, all Fords are poorly made cars.

Faulty Causality

Begging the Question

• Claim: You can’t give me a C in this course…• Reason: because I’m an A student.

• Faulty Logic: An “A student” is someone who can’t receive C’s.

Equivocation

“I wrote the whole paper myself”Word play implies that she did not plagarize, but it could mean that she simply physically copied down

another paper, therefore “writing” it herself

Non Sequitur

= nonsense!

All roses are flowers, all flowers are plants… and therefore all birds have feathers.

The Straw Man

Obama stated that “We can no longer afford to be indifferent to suffering outside our borders.”

--Implies that no one cared before.

Faulty Analogy

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3DxDBH9nn4&feature=relmfu

Fallacies in Political Ads

• Take one ad from each pile.• Take four post-its.• Please do not write on the ads.• Read everything on your ads.• Label and explain four or more fallacies on

your ads.