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- 1. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Chapter 6 Reasoning Errors This chapter will cover • Fallacies (errors in reasoning) • Fallacies that lead listeners away from the real issue • Useful approaches for handling fallacies
- 2. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Reasoning Errors Fallacies - 2 kinds • Inadequate Reasons • Fallacies that Mislead
- 3. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Fallacies Inadequate Reasoning • Sounds good • Sounds logical • However, does not provide adequate support • Form but no substance
- 4. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Inadequate Reasons Faulty Analogies • Significant differences between compared items. – Compare a product to an experience – Compare current experience to past – Advice for them will work for you
- 5. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Inadequate Reasons False Cause – Post Hoc • Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc: “After this, therefore because of this – First event causes second event without reason – Superstitious reasoning – Blame game
- 6. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Inadequate Reasons The Slippery Slope • Consequences of potential action predicted but not supported – The domino effect – Prediction based on speculation
- 7. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Inadequate Reasons The Straw Man • Opponent’s argument distorted or exaggerated and then easily attacked. – Position argument at extreme
- 8. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Inadequate Reasons Hasty Conclusion • Generalize with little information – Jumping to conclusions – Rushing to judgment – Self-fulfilling prophecy
- 9. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Inadequate Reasons The False Dilemma • Presenting only two extreme alternatives – No possibilities in between – Leads to simplistic solutions
- 10. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Inadequate Reasons Begging the Question • Speaker assumes what needs to be proven – Places the burden of proof on the listener – Builds on an unproven assumption – Uses a ‘loaded question’
- 11. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Skill Recognize when reasons given to justify a conclusion are not sufficient.
- 12. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Fallacies Fallacies that mislead • Reasons that lead the listener away from the primary issue.
- 13. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Fallacies That Mislead The Red Herring • Distract your attention • Put on the defensive with another issue. – Get that stick out of here • It’s not a stick. It’s a laser beam
- 14. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Fallacies That Mislead Ad Hominem: Attacking the person • Attack personal qualities instead of the issue – Thomas Jefferson called “anti-American” – John Adams was accused of being a ‘fool’ – Used to discredit someone
- 15. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Fallacies That Mislead Ad Populum: • Jumping on the bandwagon • If everyone is doing it, then it is okay – Keeping up with the Jones – The in-crowd – Why we buy products
- 16. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Fallacies That Mislead Appeal to Traditions • Conform to tradition • “We’ve always done it this way” • Reasons are not relevant to the claim – All the men in our family have been lawyers
- 17. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Fallacies That Mislead Appeal to Pity • Follow a course of action due to compassion • May be true but is irrelevant to the claim – You should go out with me or I will be upset
- 18. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Fallacies That Mislead Equivocation • The same word - two different meanings
- 19. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Chapter 6 Reasoning Errors Checkup • Fallacies that mislead versus fallacies with insufficient support • What makes an analogy faulty?
Editor's Notes
- Don’t worry about labeling every faulty reason perfectly. Instead, use this discussion of fallacies as a general tool to help you refute faulty reasoning in the arguments of others.
- Reasons that seem logical but don’t necessarily support the conclusion. Statements that distract listeners from the real issue.
- The key to an accurate analogy is that the two things being compared are similar in all significant aspects. Comparing spring soft with fresh air is not accurate in all of the elements. Stop and Think: Is the comparison valid? Is the situation, idea, or plan similar in all aspects? Smell induced by chemicals Smell from fresh air Recurrent cost involved One-time clothesline cost Quick when used with dryer Time consuming
- Falls into the category of superstitions: A rabbit’s foot will bring good luck. The fallacy of false cause occurs when you assume that because events occur close together in time, they are necessarily related as cause and effect. For example, a baseball player who says, “So far this season, our team has won every time our players wore the white uniform. When they wore another color, they won. Therefore, to win the rest of the games, our players should not wear the white uniforms.” The problem is: there is no proof that wearing white caused the losses. “After this, therefore because of this” The fallacy of Post Hoc occurs when there is no real proof that one even caused another event; there is only evidence that one came after another.
- If you ask for the day off then everyone else will. The domino argument involves a prediction about the future and is therefore based on speculation. Still, this form of reasoning can be valid, if the interpretations are soundly based on existing facts and reasonable probabilites.
- Mentioning the opponent’s claims and exaggerating or distorting them. Then attacks the newly distorted more easily attacked argument. Angela: I think we should wait to until we’ve graduated and have jobs before we get married. James: So having tons of money is more important to you than being together. How can you be so materialistic?
- Limited number of observations are made about A (A may represent a group or an individual). Limited evidence or insufficient information. Drawing generalizations on a small sample of information is the basis of prejudice.
- Our language encourages polarized thinking by providing few words to describe the in between. Either or thinking. Polarization leads a listener away from a reasonable consideration of the complex problems involved and presents one conclusion as perfect while the other is seen as disastrous. Simplistic solutions without considering the complex problems.
- Don’t be trapped into proving someone else’s conclusion. It’s hard enough to prove your own. Why are you always so defensive? “How do you know I can’t read minds?” Or a loaded question, “Do you want to charge that now or put it on layaway?”
- Gets its name from the old practice of drawing a herring-a smoked fish- across a trail to distract hunting dogs from following a scent. The hounds are led away from their prey. Also used by criminals to distract their trail Children use this a lot. Father: Ahmed, brush your teeth and get to bed. Ahmed: You didn’t tell that to Sarah. A: I was upset when you didn’t come to my party. B: I guess that makes me the worst friend ever and that’s why you don’t like me.
- An Actor has no right to take a position about environmental issues. A woman is not qualified for a position on a city council because she’s a homemaker.
- A course of action should be taken because “everyone” is doing it. “Who wants Trident? I do. I do!”
- Not talking about traditions held by families, organizations and nations, but talking more about the conclusions of the speakers may be fine, but the reasons for doing it are not relevant to the conclusions. You should drink Pepsi or Coke if you like the taste but not because everyone is doing it.
- We take on too many responsibilities and then want someone to bail us out. OR we may neglect our responsibilities (schoolwork) and then want others to fix the problems we have brought on through neglect.
- Words can be misleading because they often have more than one meaning. Change is inevitable, except from vending machines. If you think nobody cares, try missing a few payments. When everything is coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane. Key words must maintain the same meaning throughout the argument.
- Significant differences in two things being compared lead to a faulty analogy.