Critical Thinking
Terminology Review
An attack on one’s
opponent rather than one’s
opponent’s argument.
Ad hominem
Reasoning from the
similarity of two things in
several relevant respects to
their similarity in another.
Analogical reasoning
Accepting the word of an
authority, alleged or
genuine, when we should
not.
Appeal to authority
Believing that something is
true because there is not
good evidence that it is
false.
Appeal to ignorance
One or more statements
(premises) offered in
support of another
statement (a conclusion).
Argument
Assuming as a premise some
form of the very point that is
at issue – the conclusion we
intend to prove.
Begging the question
Fallaciously reasoning from
a sample that is
insufficiently representative
of the population from
which it is drawn.
Biased statistics
The argument’s conclusion.
Claim
The part of the meaning of a
word or expression that
refers to things, events, or
properties of one kind or
another.
Cognitive meaning
The fallacy in which it is
argued that a particular
item must have a certain
property because all or
most of its parts have it.
Composition
The fallacy in which a
wrong is justified on the
grounds that lots or most
others do that sort of thing.
Common practice
Reasoning that employs
several inductions and
deductions, concluding to a
pattern that fits what has
been observed so far.
Concatenated reasoning
What the premises of an
argument are claimed to
prove.
Conclusion
A statement that is neither
necessarily true nor
necessarily false.
Contingent statement
A statement that is
necessarily false or a group
of statements that taken
together are inconsistent.
Contradiction
A strong belief held despite
strong evidence
invalidating it.
Delusion
An argument that presents
two alternative courses of
action, both claimed to be
bad.
Dilemma
The fallacy in which it is
assumed that all (or some) of
the parts on an item have a
particular property because
the item as a whole has that
property.
Division
Mistakenly reasoning from
two alternatives, one claimed
to be bad (to be avoided), so
that we ought to choose the
other alternative in particular
when there is at least another
viable alternative.
Either-or fallacy
The positive or negative
overtones of a word or
expression.
Emotive meeting
Use of a term in a passage
to mean one thing in one
place and something else
in another.
Equivocation
A fallacy in which a
question at issue is avoided
(usually) while appearing
not to.
Evading the issue
Judging someone guilty
solely on the basis of the
company that person
keeps.
Guilt by association
The fallacious drawing of a
conclusion from relevant
but insufficient evidence.
Hasty conclusion
The tendency to keep our
beliefs, and thus our
actions, within the bounds
of what society as a whole
will accept.
Herd instinct
A deductively valid
argument having the
following form:
1) if A then B
2) If B then C
3) if A then C.
Hypothetical syllogism
An argument in which the opposite
of the desired conclusion is
assumed as a premise, leading to a
conclusion that is false, contrary,
or absurd, justifying acceptance of
the desired conclusion.
Indirect proof
Reasoning that a pattern of
some sort experienced so
far will continue the future.
Induction
Statements that literally
say one thing although their
intended meaning is
something else, usually
opposite to its literal
meaning.
Irony
To be so confused or
opaque as to be difficult to
understand.
Obfuscation
Attacking the person
instead of their argument is
what type of fallacy
Ad Hominem
When we assume that some
parts of an item have a
property because the whole
item does, it is a called the
fallacy of
division
When we reason that the 2012
Olympics will be as fun as the
2008 Olympics, we reason by
Analogy
When someone changes
their mind and you accuse
them of a fallacy it is called
False charge of fallacy
The tendency to keep our
beliefs and our actions
within the bounds of what
society will accept.
Herd instinct
Providing a statistic that is
very precise when in reality
we only can estimate it
approximately is called
Disestimation
Self-deception – consciously hat
Only selecting data that is
favorable to your argument is
called deeper level we know to
be dubious.
Cherry-picking
An attitude of strong, often
biased, allegiance to a
faction, cause, or person
that results in viewing
everything in terms of “us”
versus “them.”
Partisan mind-set
Thinking ill of others
without sufficient warrant,
particularly members of a
specific group, race, or
religion.
Prejudice
A reason offered in support
of an argument’s
conclusion.
Premise
A limited perspective shaped
by the ideas, interests, and
kinds of behavior favored by
the groups with which we
identify.
Provincialism
Theories that are without
scientific foundation.
Pseudoscientific theories
Reasoning by an analogy
that is not apt, not justified.
Questionable analogy
Labeling A as the cause of B on
evidence that is insufficient,
negative, or unrepresentative,
or is in serious
conflict with well-established
high-level theories.
Questionable cause
A psychological ploy we
use to justify our actions or
beliefs, however wrong, by
coming up with selfsatisfying but incorrect
reasons to explain them.
Rationalization
One who is blamed for the
ills of the world.
Scapegoat
Consciously believing at a
deeper level what we know
to be dubious.
Self-deception
the careful selection of facts so
as to imply something else
(usually something false).
Slanting
Objecting to a course of action on
the grounds that once it is taken,
another, and then perhaps still
others, is bound to be taken and
given that the last step is not
justified, then neither is the first.
Slippery slope argument
A process that moves from the
premise that a certain percentage
of a sample has the particular
property to the conclusion that the
whole population from which it is
drawn has the same percentage of
that property.
Statistical induction
A conventional
oversimplification, often
negative, of characteristics
that describe a specific
group of people.
Stereotype
A fallacious form of reasoning in
which an opponent’s position, or
competitor’s product. Is
misrepresented or a weaker
opponent is attacked rather than
stronger ones.
Straw man
An irrational belief, based on
biased evidence or on small or
unrepresentative samples,
that ignores logical evidence
to the contrary.
Superstition
The fallacy in which
evidence contrary to one’s
position is neglected
(overlooked).
Suppressed evidence
Avoiding thoughts that are
stressful by either not
thinking about them or by
thinking non-stressful
thoughts.
Suppression
An argument containing
exactly three categorical
propositions, two of them
premise, one a conclusion.
Syllogism
A statement that is
logically, or necessarily,
true or so devoid of content
as to be practically empty.
Tautology
The conclusion of an
extended argumentative
passage, its conclusion.
Thesis
Mistaking a token gesture
for the real thing, or
accepting a token gesture
in lieu of something more
substantial.
Tokenism
The attitudes or feelings
expressed by a passage.
Tone
Accepting an unsuitable
practice because doing so
follows a traditional or
accepted way of doing
things.
Traditional wisdom
Justifying a wrong by
pointing to a similar wrong
done by others, usually by
one’s accuser.
Two rights make a wrong
Fallaciously reasoning
from a sample that is
insufficiently representative
of the population from
which it is drawn.
Unrepresentative sample
A word that appears to
make little or no change in
a passage while in fact
sucking out most of the
content.
Weasel word
Believing what we would
like to be true, no matter
what the evidence.
Wishful thinking
The most important of one’s
background beliefs (including
those about morality, God, the
“meaning of life,” ect.), usually
but not always very general;
one’s philosophy.
Worldview