Philosophy 1100
Title:
Critical Reasoning
Instructor:
Paul Dickey
E-mail Address: pdickey2@mccneb.edu
Website:http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/NCW/dickey.htm
Today:
Submit Midterm Re-take & Discuss
Return Second Editorial Analysis –
You can do better than this!
Editorial Essay Workshop
Discussion on Chapters Seven & Eight
Next Week:
Redo analysis on assigned article.
Read Chapter 9, pp. 243- 251, 255-270.
pp.272-274
Exercise 9-2.
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“A pupil from whom nothing is ever
demanded which he cannot do, never does
all he can.”
It is, no doubt, a very laudable effort, in
modern teaching, to render as much as
possible of what the young are required to
learn, easy and interesting to them. But
when this principle is pushed to the length
of not requiring them, to learn anything but
what has been made easy and interesting,
one of the chief objectives of education is
sacrificed.”
J. S. Mill, Autobiography
Chapters Six & Seven:
Logical Fallacies
Presenters:
Estelle: “Argumentum Ad Hominem”
Cindy: The Straw Man / False Dilemma
Rachael: Misplacing Burden of Proof / Begging the Question
Ari: Appeal to Emotion
James: Irrelevant Conclusions / Slippery Slope
Michele: Generalizations
Maria: Weak Analogy
Instructor: Fallacious Appeals to Authority, Popularity,
Cause & Effect; Untestable Explanations
In your presentation, you must define your fallacy
type, give examples, and distinguish it from other
logical fallacies that are similar. I encourage you to
use powerpoint slides in your presentation if
possible, but it is not necessary.
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Chapter Seven:
Induction Fallacies
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Generalizations
•
Inductive generalization Fallacies occur when too
little support is given to make the claim
reasonable. Various ways this is done is:
1. Hasty Generalization, or Arguing from
an insufficient number of cases, e.g.
The argument from anecdote. .
2. Generalizing from Exceptional Cases, e.g.
The Fallacy of Biased Sample or the Selfselection Fallacy
•
3. Accident. Assuming a general principle has to
apply to every given circumstance.
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The Slippery Slope
•
The Slippery Slope Fallacy asserts that we
can’t let one thing happen because it could
lead to something else where there is no
argument or a weak argument that the first
action does in fact lead to the second.
Important Video
• e.g. Making people register hand guns is
just the first step to making guns illegal.
• e.g. Marijuana use should be illegal
because it can lead to harder drugs.
Want more advanced stuff on topic? Click here
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Fallacious Appeals / Logical Error
•
The “argument” from popularity suggests that if
everyone or a majority “knows” or believes
something, it must be true. Two variations of
this are:
•The “argument” from common practice
defends a position on the basis that it is
common.
•The “argument” from tradition defends a
position on the basis that has always been
done that way.
•The “argument” from authority suggests a
claim is more likely to be true because
some “expert” believes it.
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Fallacies Related to Cause and Effect
1) Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc is
the fallacy that tries to trick us into
believing an Event A caused an
Event B simply because A preceded
B in time.
2) Overlooking the Possibility of
Coincidence. An example: Last
week there must have been a
terrorist attack last week when the
Stock Market, United Airlines and
the Wall Street Journal had
“technical glitches” at the same time.
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Fallacies Related to Cause and Effect
3) Overlooking a Common Cause is the
fallacy that tries to trick us into believing an
Event B caused an Event C when another
Event A could have been the cause of both.
4) Overlooking the Possibility of Reversed
Causation is the fallacy that tries to trick us
into assuming Event B caused an Event C
when actually Event C could have caused
Event B.
5) Argument by Anecdote is the fallacy that
tries to trick us to believe a general claim by
telling us a story.
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Untestable Explanations / Rhetorical
Explanations
•
A rhetoric explanation is similarly
deceptive and attempts to trash a
person or idea under a mask or
pretense of giving an explanation.
•
The War in Vietnam was lost because
the American people lost their nerve.”
•
Students who drop my classes do so
because they are idiots.
•
Liberals who criticize the U.S. Army’s actions
in Iraq do so only because they are disloyal
to their country.
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Chapter Eight:
Formal Fallacies & Fallacies
of Language
Presenters:
Estelle: Affirming the Consequent / Denying the Antecedent
James: The Undistributed Middle
Michele: Equivocation/Amphiboly & Composition/Division
Cindy: Arguments/Explanations/Excuses
Rachael: Contraries/Contradictories
Ari: Flip-flopping & Gambler’s Fallacy
Maria: Prior Probabilities / False Positives
In your presentation, you must define your fallacy
type, give examples, and distinguish it from other
logical fallacies that are similar. I encourage you to
use power point slides in your presentation if
possible, but it is not necessary.
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