Fact or Opinion? Decide whether each of the following is a fact or an opinion. 1. No one can be happy under a dictatorial government. 2. A cat is an animal that is often kept as a pet for killing mice. 3. Twilight is the greatest novel ever written. 4. Coffee is grown in Brazil. 5. You shouldn’t shop at Walmart. 6. People who swear a lot are unintelligent. 7. Caffeine is addictive. 8. Police should be allowed to use profiling to make us safer. 9. Obesity is a significant health concern in the United States. 10. The Beatles are one of the greatest bands of all time. 11. Students need to like their teachers in order to learn from

them.

Logical Fallacies How to avoid weak argument Paraphrased and excerpted from: Romano, Tony, and Gary Anderson. Expository Composition: Discovering Your Voice. St. Paul: EMC Pub., 2008. Print. Aaron, Jane E. The Compact Reader. New York: St. Martin's, 1984. Print.

Fallacy • The word fallacy means:

• A deceptive, misleading, or false idea

• In argument, fallacies can weaken whatever point you are making. • Often, however, people don’t recognize bad logic. • This is how stupid ideas persist.

• Learn to spot fallacies so that you can spot weak arguments.

• http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fallacy

Circular Argument • Repeating the main point without supplying reasons.

• You should give us extra credit because we need it.

• You can’t go because I said no.

Ad Hominem • Attacking the person instead of their argument.

• You said this, and I don’t like you, so this isn’t true.

• The speaker may be a terrible person, but that doesn’t necessarily make their point invalid.

False Authority • Using someone who doesn’t have ethos to support your idea.

• “As Miley Cyrus recently explained, animal experimentation serves no purpose.”

Begging the Question • Making an unsupported statement and acting like it is

obviously true:

• Clearly, teenagers are not capable of making important decisions. • Wait, how is that clear? What are you basing this on?

• Star Wars is obviously a great movie.

• Obviously? Prove it.

Either/Or • Presenting only two possible outcomes when there could be

many.

• “If you ain’t first, you’re last.” (Ricky Bobby)

• You are either with us or you are against us.

• If you don’t support the president, you are a traitor.

Red Herring • Bringing up a totally unrelated point and proceeding to argue

with that.

• “Why are you worried about global warming when there are terrorists everywhere?” • This doesn’t mean that the first thing isn’t a problem. They are

trying to avoid the problem by talking about something else.

Straw Man • Using an exaggerated form of your opponent’s point that is

easy to defeat. Basically overreacting to a point.

• A: I think that we could consider modest cuts to the military budget.

• B: So you want to weaken the military and let ISIS take over the United States? • (Not at all what A said or even implied)

Slippery Slope • Imagining a series of events that is unlikely based on one

event. • “If you don’t give us this extra credit, we won’t pass the class,

which means we won’t get into college, no one will ever love us, and we will end up living in a van down by the river.”

Bandwagon • Just because an idea is popular, does not mean it is good.

• “The majority of students say that 16 year-olds should be

allowed to drink.”

• Think Justin Bieber: Literally millions of people have purchased his music; that does not mean it is good.

Burden of Proof • You can’t prove me wrong; therefore, I am right.

• Here is how easy this one is to defeat: • Prove to me, right now, that unicorns do not exist.

• Logically, you can’t prove it to a 100% certainty. • That does not mean they exist.

Tu Quoque (You, too) • Arguing that because your opponent is guilty of it, their point

is invalid.

• Who are you to tell me that I shouldn’t smoke? You smoked

for years! • While this may be true, it does not mean that their point isn’t a

good one.

Hasty Generalization • Making an assumption about an entire group.

• Stereotypes fall in this category

• Republicans are angry hillbillies. • Democrats are all a bunch of tree-hugging hippies.

Post Hoc • Arguing that one thing causes another when they may be

unrelated.

• I ate at Hometown Buffet before the game, and we won. • Therefore: Eating at Hometown Buffet = Victory!

• When he took office, the crime rate went up. • Therefore: He caused the crime rate to rise. • Maybe, but maybe not. Needs more data.

Faulty Analogy • Using a weird or exaggerated analogy to illustrate your point.

• You not letting me borrow the car is just like what Hitler did in Nazi Germany! • Nope. Not at all.

Fallacies in Brief • Circular Avoiding the question • Ad Hominem Attacking the speaker • False Authority Lacking credibility • Begging Question Assuming statement is true • Either/Or Ignoring possible outcomes • Red Herring Sidetracking • Straw Man Overreacting • Slippery Slope If this, then this, & this, & this • Bandwagon Everyone else is doing it • Burden of Proof Prove me wrong or it’s true • You, Too You did it too! • Hasty Generalization Stereotypes • Post Hoc This = this • Faulty analogy School is like prison