Master Ethical Arguments and Fallacies

1. Subtitle
THE FALLACIES
AND
ETHICAL ARGUMENT

2. - pose as logical
proof, but in
reality, are
pseudoproofs
that prove
nothing at all
FALLACIES

3. a thesis or claim that declares the writer's position on the
problem at hand;
an acknowledgment of other perspectives;
a set of clearly defined premises that illustrate the argument's
line of reasoning;
evidence that validates the argument's premises;
a conclusion that convinces the reader that the argument has
been soundly and persuasively made.
A GOOD ARGUMENT INCLUDE:

4. • Avoid quoting sources that contain fallacies
• Avoid fallacies in our own writing
BECAUSE…
THEY WEAKEN OUR ARGUMENT AND DAMAGE OUR
ETHOS
THEREFORE, WE NEED TO:

5. 1) Logic
2) Character
3) Emotion
CATEGORIES OF GENUINE PROOFS

6. 1) Begging the Question (also called Circular Reasoning)
“Capital punishment deters crime because it keeps criminals
from committing murder.”
“She is ignorant because she was never educated.”
Imagine that the arguer, when asked for support, begs off and
simply restates the claim in the same or different words.
FALLACIES IN LOGIC

7. 2) Red Herring
“I don’t believe Manny Pacquiao is worthy of his international
fame in sports. He doesn’t even pay his taxes!”
Irrelevant and misleading support is provided that pulls the
audiences away from the real argument
FALLACIES IN LOGIC

8. 3) Non Sequitur
“That man with the powerful new computer must be highly
skilled in computer technology.”
Non sequitur is Latin for “it does not follow.”
FALLACIES IN LOGIC

9. 4) Straw Man
A political candidate sets up a straw man by claiming that his
opponent has said he is too old to do the job, when in fact the
opponent has never mentioned age as an issue. Then, the
candidate refutes the age issue by detailing the advantages of
age and appears to win the argument.
This fallacy suggests competence where it might not actually
exist.
FALLACIES IN LOGIC

10. 4) Stacked Evidence
“TV is an uplifting and inspiring medium. Nature shows are
educational, afternoon drama promotes personal bonds, and
news programs keep audiences informed.”
Stacking evidence to represent only one side of an issue that
clearly has two sides gives a distorted impression of the issue.
FALLACIES IN LOGIC

11. 5) Either-Or
“Philippines: love it or leave it.”
“Shut down all nuclear power plants, or watch your children and
grandchildren die from radiation poisoning.”
Only two possibilities are presented when in fact several exist.
FALLACIES IN LOGIC

12. 6) Post Hoc, ergo
propter hoc
Latin phrase that
translates as “after
this, therefore
because of this.”
-this is the fallacy of
faulty cause
FALLACIES IN LOGIC

13. 7) False Analogy
“I do not know of a mother who gave birth to a child and
deliberately destroyed that child. This is the same situation
with America. America guided and nurtured the Philippines in
the ways of democracy. Can anyone seriously think that the
U.S. will deliberately destroy our country, her own child?
Arguer misuses illustrations or analogies as proof
FALLACIES IN LOGIC

14. 8) Hasty generalization
“The legislative department has lost its integrity. Just look at
how the two senators continue to attack each other.”
“I won’t risk sending my son/daughter to study in UPLB. After
the series of killings in Los Baños, it’s clearly a dangerous
place.
- The fallacy committed by jumping to conclusions.
FALLACIES IN LOGIC

15. 9) Ad Ignorantium
“Darwin’s theory of evolution has not been disproved either by
rival theories or empirical evidence. It is, therefore, to all
intents and purposes, true.”
- Something must be true because it has never been proven
false; something must be false because it has never been
proven true
FALLACIES IN LOGIC

16. FALLACIES THAT AFFECT
CHARACTER OR ETHOS

17. 1) Ad Hominem
Miriam Defensor Santiago labeled Juan Ponce Enrile as a
“Psychopathic Hypersexualized Serial Womanizer”
Latin phrase which means “to the man”
It attacks a person’s character rather than a person’s ideas or
policies.
FALLACIES IN ETHOS

18. 2) Guilt by Association
“She is the Chief of Staff of the legislator charged with
submitting fake SAROs. I always thought there was something
doubtful about her dealings.
“I saw our priest with the city mafia boss. No wonder the church
received cash donations from dubious sources.”
Suggests that people’s character can be judged by examining
the character of their associates.
FALLACIES IN ETHOS

19. 3) Using Authority Instead of Evidence
“Dr. Quack says that abortion is always morally wrong,
regardless of the situation. He has to be right, after all, he is a
respected expert in his field."
The arguer relies on personal authority to prove a point rather
than on evidence.
FALLACIES IN ETHOS

20. EMOTIONAL FALLACIES

21. 1) Bandwagon Appeal
“Everyone is going vegetarian; I think I should too.”
Since a majority of the people polled hold a certain opinion, you
should adopt it also.
FALLACIES IN PATHOS

22. 2) Slippery Slope
"We have to stop the RH Bill! The next thing you know, we’ll
have divorce laws and the notion of family as we know it will
crumble!“
A scare tactic that suggests that if we allow one thing to happen,
we will immediately be sliding down a slippery slope to
disaster.
FALLACIES IN PATHOS

23. 3) Creating False Needs
An arguer will create a
false sense of need
where none exists or
will unrealistically
heighten an existing
need.
FALLACIES IN PATHOS

24. 4)Ad Misericordiam (argument to pity)
“The cases against the former priest must be dropped. He is,
right this minute, suffering from heart ailment. Let us have
compassion for the man, who once preached the words of
God. There must be something good left in his heart.”
Arguer appeals to our emotional side, instead of presenting
proofs
FALLACIES IN PATHOS

25. Using your good sense of what
constitutes fallacious reasoning, you
now have what you need to evaluate
the strength and validity of the proofs in
an argument.
REMEMBER!

26. Evaluate each of the following sentences as to the validity of
their arguments. They may exhibit more than one fallacy in
their reasoning. Be ready to defend your answer.
EXERCISE ON FALLACIES

27. 1) What an incompetent English teacher! Imagine spelling
“length” as “length” in his letter to the dean?
2) See this adorable, laughing baby? This is the baby you
murder hen you have an abortion.
3) The witness has had estafa charges filed against her. Her
testimony must be doubtful as well!

28. 4) Why worry about nuclear war when we're all going to die
anyway?
5) An old grandmother's advice to her granddaughter, who is
contemplating living with her boyfriend: "Why should he buy
the cow when he can get the milk for free?"

29. 6) The stock market fell because the Japanese are considering
implementing an import tax.
7) We've got to stop them from banning pornography. Once they
start banning one form of literature, they will never stop. Next
thing you know, they will be burning all the books!

30. 8) “I overheard my friend John argue that the Bible has errors in
it. Funny, I never figured him for an atheist.”
9) “My opponent has argued that there’s an urgent need to
reduce greenhouse gases in order to minimize global
warming. But the most serious problem facing future
generations is the risk posed by nuclear weapons in the
hands of rogue states and terrorists. This is where we need to
focus our attention and resources.”

31. 10) “We sin because we're sinners.”

32. Look at advertisement that appear in print, on television, or
online. Listen to political speeches and political commentary;
visit Web sites, blogs, or simply listen to your friends and
family.
Then, find an example of fallacy and explain (in 1 to 2
sentences) why it is a fallacy.
Submit in one short bond paper. If it is visual, append the
photo/graphic. Due first meeting on January. 
HOMEWORK NO. 1

33. Read the article “The Ethics of Higher Studies” by Etienne
Gilson on pages 408 to 411 of Reading into Writing 2.
Then, draw the thesis statement (one sentence only) of the
article. Write your answer on the same page where your
answered Homework No. 1.
HOMEWORK NO. 2

34. Logic and argument. Institute for Writing and Rhetoric. Retrieved
from http://dartmouth.edu/writing-speech/learning/materials-first-
year-writers/logic-and-argument on November 10, 2013.
Full Text of Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago's speech. Retrieved
from http://www.sunstar.com.ph/breaking-news/2013/12/04/full-
text-senator-miriam-defensor-santiagos-speech-317053 on
December 6, 2013.
Dadufalza, C. D. (1992). Reading into writing II. Makati City,
Philippines: Bookmark Inc.
Wood, N. V. (2009). Perspectives on argument. 6th ed. New Jersey:
Pearson Education, Inc.
REFERENCES: