As a follow-up to a General Lesson I had with 8D, here is a little stuff about Logical Fallacies. This post will attempt to explain the concept (as I understand it) and later ones will focus on different specific types of fallacy. Hopefully, I will be able to include some good real-world examples with video …
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Series:Logical Fallacies
Equivocation…
A fallacy of ambiguity. 1. Having science lessons with HCTR is better than nothing. 2. Nothing is better than World Peace. 3. Therefore having science lessons with HCTR is better than World Peace! Equivocation is an error (or more commonly a trick) of reasoning in which the same word is used to mean two different things within the …
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Ad Hominem…
A fallacy of relevance Ad hominem is Latin for ‘to the man’ and when used in reference to an argument or piece of reasoning it means that the comment is aimed against a person and not at the position that the argument involves. Examples… From the comments section below an article about disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong …
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False Dichotomy…
A fallacy of presumption. This fallacy is sometimes called the false dilemma or the bifurcation fallacy. When you are presented with only two possible options check carefully that you are not being offered a false dichotomy. Maybe there is one or more unstated additional possibilities. You’re either part of the solution or part of the problem. …
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Appeal To Authority…
A fallacy of relevance. The appeal to authority logical fallacy is one of several that try to make their point by referring to an irrelevant external agent. It has a similar structure to the appeal to popularity or the appeal to tradition. As with the ad hominem fallacy, you need to be a little careful. Do …
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Straw Man…
A fallacy of ambiguity. The straw man refers to a debating technique where a weak (or false) version of an opponent’s argument is presented, and then attacked. If you want to be convincing in an argumentative essay or debate then, when you have established your common ground, be meticulous in understanding your opponent’s point of view …
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