Transcript Slide 1

Argumentation
Argument Types and Fallacies
Richard Weaver’s Argument Types
• Definition – unchanging qualities or essences; platonic ideal
– Ex: The nature of justice, or beauty, or freedom
– (Lincoln: human nature)
– Analysis: How well are the qualities described?
• Similitude – analogy, metaphor, or causation
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Ex (analogy): The US “addiction” to oil
Ex (causation): Increase in vaccination rates led to an increase in autism
(common in law, ethics, and (sometimes) politics)
Analysis: How accurate and relevant are similarities? or: Do these correlations
prove causation?
• Circumstance – facts, evidence at hand
– Ex: X got them a good result; we should do the same
– (needle exchange programs, condoms in schools, state lotteries)
– Analysis: How credible is the evidence? How likely is the effect?
• Testimony/Authority – call on experts for “unknowable” matters
– Ex: Most climate experts agree humans have caused some global warming
– Analysis: How credible and relevant are the experts?
Weaver’s Ultimate Terms
• Powerful symbols; unarguable
• Reflect deep commonplaces, core elements of ideology
• Must be honored + sacrificed for OR rejected + destroyed
• god terms
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Progress
Experts
Change
Green
New
Independence
Choice
Facts
Democracy
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Terrorist
Prejudice
Obese
Waste
Ignorance
9/11
Hitler
Bailout
Boring
Argumentative Fallacies
Problems in reasoning (not merely mistaken facts)
Here are some of them:
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Ad Hominem (Argument To The Man)
Affirming The Consequent
Amazing Familiarity
Ambiguous Assertion
Appeal To Anonymous Authority
Appeal To Coincidence
Appeal To Complexity
Appeal To False Authority
Appeal To Force
Appeal To Widespread Belief (Bandwagon Argument, Peer Pressure, Appeal To Common
Practice)
Argument By Dismissal
Argument By Emotive Language (Appeal To The People)
Argument By Fast Talking
Argument By Generalization
Argument By Gibberish (Bafflement)
Argument By Half Truth (Suppressed Evidence)
Argument By Laziness (Argument By Uninformed Opinion)
Argument By Personal Charm
Argument By Pigheadedness (Doggedness)
Argument By Repetition (Argument Ad Nauseam)
Argument By Selective Observation
Argument By Slogan
Argument By Vehemence
Argument From Adverse Consequences (Appeal To Fear, Scare Tactics)
Argument From Age (Wisdom of the Ancients)
Argument From Authority
Argument From False Authority
Argument From Personal Astonishment
Argument From Spurious Similarity
Argument Of The Beard
Begging The Question (Assuming The Answer, Tautology)
Burden Of Proof
Causal Reductionism (Complex Cause)
Contrarian Argument
Changing The Subject (Digression, Red Herring, Misdirection, False Emphasis)
Cliche Thinking
Common Sense
Complex Question (Tying)
Confusing Correlation And Causation
Disproof By Fallacy
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Source: http://www.don-lindsay-archive.org/skeptic/arguments.html
Equivocation
Error Of Fact
Euphemism
Exception That Proves The Rule
Excluded Middle (False Dichotomy, Faulty Dilemma, Bifurcation)
Extended Analogy
Failure To State
Fallacy Of Composition
Fallacy Of Division
Fallacy Of The General Rule
Fallacy Of The Crucial Experiment
False Cause
False Compromise
Genetic Fallacy (Fallacy of Origins, Fallacy of Virtue)
Having Your Cake (Failure To Assert, or Diminished Claim)
Hypothesis Contrary To Fact
Inconsistency
Inflation Of Conflict
Internal Contradiction
Least Plausible Hypothesis
Lies
Meaningless Questions
Misunderstanding The Nature Of Statistics (Innumeracy)
Moving The Goalposts (Raising The Bar, Argument By Demanding Impossible Perfection)
Needling
Non Sequitur
Outdated Information
Poisoning The Wells
Psychogenetic Fallacy
Reductio Ad Absurdum
Reductive Fallacy (Oversimplification)
Reifying
Short Term Versus Long Term
Slippery Slope Fallacy (Camel's Nose)
Special Pleading (Stacking The Deck)
Statement Of Conversion
Stolen Concept
Straw Man (Fallacy Of Extension)
Two Wrongs Make A Right (Tu Quoque, You Too)
Weasel Wording
Fallacy Examples
• Hasty Generalization – based on inadequate sample
(too small or atypical)
– It’s only the first day, but I can tell this class is going to be
boring
– The cops in State College are pricks. My friend and I both
got hassled and we weren’t even that drunk.
• Slippery Slope – a series of increasingly serious (and often
increasingly unlikely) events stemming from a small action
– Usually based on risk-aversion
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7udQSHWpL88
Fallacy Examples
• Post hoc – correlation without causation
– (technically: post hoc, ergo propter hoc: “after this, therefore because
of this”)
– Measure M got worse once President X came into office; president X
can’t handle M (where M is something like gas prices, the economy,
international relations, unemployment, optimism ratings, etc.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=HL_vHDjG5Wk
Source: statfail.com
Fallacy Examples
• False Dichotomy (the Either/Or Fallacy)
– America: love it or leave it.
– A real friend would cover for me. (Really? When you just
shot someone? Variation of “you’re either for us or against us.”)
– Either we cut the Department of Defense, or else
future retirees won’t get the Social Security
benefits they need.
Fallacy Examples
• Bandwagon Fallacy (Appeal to Popularity, Appeal to Consensus)
– Just because everyone agrees doesn’t make it right, true,
or best
– It’s the most popular X on the market.
– Everyone else is selfish; you shouldn’t feel bad for seeking
your own happiness when everyone else is, too.
Source: Andrew Schmidt / publicdomainpictures.net
Fallacy Examples
• Begging the Question – Circular reasoning; requires acceptance of a
conclusion identical to the premise
– Murder is morally wrong; therefore, active euthanasia is morally wrong.
– ESP is real because I have had experiences that couldn’t be explained (unless
ESP was real).
– Freedom of speech is important because it gives everyone a voice.
• Usually these are trickier to spot than the examples above, following a
chain (A is true because B is true; B is true because C is true; C is true
because A is true). Or they use synonyms:
– Free trade will be good for this country. The reason is patently clear. Isn't it
obvious that unrestricted commercial relations will bestow on all sections of
this nation the benefits which result when there is an unimpeded flow of
goods between countries? (Quoted from With Good Reason, by S. Morris
Engel)
Some resources on argumentative fallacies:
– UNC Writing Center
– Purdue Online Writing Lab
– The Art of Conversational Terrorism