Announcements
• Come see me in office hours if you would
like to review midterm questions.
• I highly recommend this for those who
received less than 70% on the midterm.
• Check email for examples of fallacies from
chapter 7.
• Next quiz will be on Tuesday.
Review:
Fallacies
Ad Hominem Fallacy
•Confusing the quality of a person making a claim
with the quality of the claim itself.
•Several Types
• They all avoid addressing the argument by
attacking the arguer instead.
•Typical Structure:
• Person A makes claim X.
• Person B discredits Person A.
• Person B then concludes that claim X is
false.
Group Exercise
In groups of 3 to 6
Create examples for the following special types of
fallacies.
(Start with a claim first. Then assign somebody as
the proponent of that claim. Then create the
fallacy.)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Personal Attack Ad Hominem
Inconsistency Ad Hominem
Circumstantial Ad Hominem
Poisoning the Well Ad Hominem
Positive Ad Hominem
Genetic
Fallacies
What’s wrong with this argument?
“Do I want the police department to take charge
of writing parking tickets? You mean, do I want to
get shot if I pull up next to a fire hydrant? What do
you think?”
Issue:
Should the police department to take charge of
writing parking tickets?
Conclusion:
No. Police departments shouldn’t….
Premise:
Because I don’t want to get shot if I pull up next to
a fire hydrant. (huh?)
Fallacies
#7. Straw Man Fallacy
• Distorting, oversimplifying, or
misrepresenting a claim so that it is easier
to refute.
“Do I want the police department to take
charge of writing parking tickets? You
mean, do I want to get shot if I pull up next
to a fire hydrant? What do you think?”
Fallacies
What’s wrong with this argument?
“Either we vote for a democratic president or the
country is going to go into the gutter.”
Issue:
Whether we should vote for a democratic
president.
Conclusion:
Yes. We should…
Premise:
I don’t want the country to go into the gutter.
Fallacies
#8. False Dilemma
• Limiting considerations to only two alternatives
although others may be available (either/or,
all/nothing, etc…)
“I don’t know why Barbara won’t go out with me. She
must think I’m too intense for her.”
•Special Types:
• Perfectionist Fallacy
• Line-Drawing Fallacy