Logical Fallacies
Read Praxis, p 99, Logical Fallacies Complete Activity 3.9 on pg. 103. Write your answers and an explanation of how you came up with your answers. Chapter 3 PAGE (((((99))))))))): Persuading Rhetorically Particular statement: Microwaves cook popcorn more quickly than conventional heat. General statement: All foods cook more quickly in a microwave. In the first example, inductive reasoning works well because cold tends to pro- long the useable life of most perishable foods. The second example is more problematic. While it is true that popcorn cooks more quickly in a microwave oven, the peculiarities of microwave interaction with food molecules does not produce a uniform effect on all food stuffs. Rice, for example, does not cook much, if any, faster in a microwave than it does on a stovetop. Also, whole eggs may explode if cooked in their shells. A good inductive argument is known as a strong (or cogent) inductive argu- ment. It is such that if the premises are true, the conclusion is likely to be true. Logical Fallacies Generally speaking, a logical fallacy is an error in reasoning, as opposed to a factual error, which is simply being wrong about the facts. A deductive fallacy (sometimes called a formal fallacy) is a deductive argument that has premises that are all true, but they lead to a false conclusion, making it an invalid argu- ment. An inductive fallacy (sometimes called an informal fallacy) appears to be an inductive argument, but the premises do not provide enough support for the conclusion to be probable. Some logical fallacies are more common than others and, thus, have been labeled and defined. Following are a few of the most well-known. Activity 3.9 PAGE 103 Identify Logical Fallacies Match the following types of logical fallacies with the examples below. Types: Ad hominem Begging the question Confusing cause and effect Post hoc Straw man Slippery slope types. Ad hominem (Latin for to the man) arguments attempt to discredit a point of view through personal attacks upon the person who has that point of view. These arguments are not relevant to the actual issue because the character of the person that holds a view says nothing about the truth of that viewpoint. Example: Noam Chomsky is a liberal activist who opposes Ameri- can intervention in other countries. Examples: 1. Legalization of medical marijuana will lead to increased marijuana use by the general population. 2. Twenty-one is the best age limit for drinking because people do not mature until they are 21. 3. If you teach birth control methods, more teenage girls will get pregnant. 4. The culture wars of the 1960s were a result of parents being unable to con- trol their children after the postWorld War II baby boom. 5. Al Gore claims that climate change is a dangerous trend. Al Gore is a liberal. Therefore, there is no climate change. 6. Immigration reform advocates want to separate families and children
