VocabularyLogical Fallacy: A logical fallacy is considered poor reasoning or bad logical understanding.
Last TimeStrawman: Twisting the argument into something easier so you can better counter it.
Slippery Slope: When one thing leads to another, which leads to another, which leads to a negative outcome Band Wagon: Agreeing (or disagreeing) with a statement purely based on popularity. |
Today's Target: Review older logical fallacies, and be able to recognize three new fallacies.
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Ad Hominem
"Ad Hominen" is Latin, and it translates to "to the man." A person commits this fallacy when instead of challenging the argument itself, they attack the individual making the argument. They will point out the persons character flaws and problems instead of the issue at hand.
Ad Hominen is popular in political debates. Below is an example of Ad Hominen "You're clearly just too young to understand." Regardless of what the argument was, the counterpoint simply attacks the person speaking. |
Circular Reasoning
Appeal to False Authority
Using an alleged authority as evidence in your argument when the authority is not really an expert on the topic. The following would be false authority:
Movie star: the peanut butter and celery diet is a great way to lose weight. Buy my new book for instructions on how to do it. The movie star is not likely an expert dietitian. When referring to people, use credible sources. People who are experts in their field. A doctor is an expert in medicine A doctor is not an expert in home construction |
Activity
What is the Fallacy in the sentence?
- You need to mow the lawn because the grass needs to be cut.
- John makes a good point, but he's simply too tall to understand these issues clearly.
- The golfer told me that Tesla is the best car currently available. So better buy a Tesla now!
- The butterfly biologist said that building a house can be done in less than a week with.
- Jane needs to do her homework otherwise her homework won't get done
- "How can you trust John if he litters!"