Critical Thinking and our Inclination
Toward Faulty Logic
MCT 3220
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
You have the right to question what you
see, hear, and read.
 Many pieces are not written/presented to
offer information clearly and directly;
instead their goal is to persuade you to
take a particular action, accept a
particular viewpoint, or to argue for one
side of a controversial issue.
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Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
Subjective content is any material that
involves judgment, feeling, opinion,
intuition, or emotion rather than factual
information.
 Evaluating subjective content involves
distinguishing between facts & opinions,
identifying generalizations, evaluating
viewpoints, understanding theories and
hypotheses, weighing data and evidence,
and being alert to bias.
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Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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A generalization is a statement made
about a large group or class of items
based on observation or experience with a
portion of that group or class
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
Bias is when a statement reflects a
partiality, preference, or prejudice for or
against a person, object, or idea. Much of
what you read and hear expresses a bias.
 Slanting is when a writer or speaker uses
a selection of facts, choice of words, and
the quality and tone of description, to
convey a particular feeling or attitude. Its
purpose is to convey a certain attitude or
point of view toward the subject without
expressing it explicitly.
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Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
What are Propaganda Techniques?
They are the methods and approaches
used to spread ideas that further a cause a political, commercial, religious, or civil
cause.
 Why are they used? To manipulate the
readers' or viewers' reason and emotions;
to persuade you to believe in something or
someone, buy an item, or vote a certain
way.
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Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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Name calling: This techniques consists of
attaching a negative label to a person or a thing.
People engage in this type of behavior when they
are trying to avoid supporting their own opinion
with facts. Rather than explain what they believe
in, they prefer to try to tear their opponent down.
Glittering Generalities: This technique uses
important-sounding "glad words" that have little
or no real meaning. These words are used in
general statements that cannot be proved or
disproved. Words like "good," "honest," "fair,"
and "best" are examples of "glad" words.
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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Transfer: In this technique, an attempt is made
to transfer the prestige of a positive symbol to a
person or an idea. For example, using the
American flag as a backdrop for a political event
makes the implication that the event is patriotic
in the best interest of the U.S.
False Analogy: In this technique, two things
that may or may not really be similar are
portrayed as being similar. When examining the
comparison, you must ask yourself how similar
the items are. In most false analogies, there is
simply not enough evidence available to support
the comparison.
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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Testimonial: This technique is easy to
understand. It is when "big name" personalities
are used to endorse a product. Whenever you see
someone famous endorsing a product, ask
yourself how much that person knows about the
product, and what he or she stands to gain by
promoting it.
Plain Folks: This technique uses a folksy
approach to convince us to support someone or
something. These ads depict people with ordinary
looks doing ordinary activities.
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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Card Stacking: This term comes from stacking a
deck of cards in your favor. Card stacking is used
to slant a message. Key words or unfavorable
statistics may be omitted in an ad or commercial,
leading to a series of half-truths. Keep in mind
that an advertiser is under no obligation "to give
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth."
Bandwagon: The "bandwagon" approach
encourages you to think that because everyone
else is doing something, you should do it too, or
you'll be left out. The technique embodies a
"keeping up with the Joneses"
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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Either/or fallacy: This technique is also called
"black-and-white thinking" because only two
choices are given. You are either for something or
against it; there is no middle ground or shades of
gray. It is used to polarize issues, and negates all
attempts to find a common ground.
Faulty Cause and Effect: This technique
suggests that because B follows A, A must cause
B. Remember, just because two events or two
sets of data are related does not necessarily
mean that one caused the other to happen. It is
important to evaluate data carefully before
jumping to a wrong conclusion.
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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A Red Herring is a fallacy in which an irrelevant
topic is presented in order to divert attention
from the original issue. The basic idea is to "win"
an argument by leading attention away from the
argument and to another topic. This sort of
"reasoning" has the following form:
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Topic A is under discussion.
Topic B is introduced under the guise of being relevant
to topic A (when topic B is actually not relevant to topic
A).
Topic A is abandoned.
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
Fallacies of Distraction
 False Dilemma: two choices are given
when in fact there are three options
 From Ignorance: because something is not
known to be true, it is assumed to be false
 Complex Question: two unrelated points
are conjoined as a single proposition
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Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
Appeals to Motives in Place of Support
 Consequences: the reader is warned of
unacceptable consequences
 Prejudicial Language: value or moral
goodness is attached to believing the
author
 Popularity: a proposition is argued to be
true because it is widely held to be true
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Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
Changing the Subject
 Attacking the Person
 Appeal to Authority
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Anonymous Authority: the authority in
question is not named
Style Over Substance: the manner in
which an argument (or arguer) is
presented is felt to affect the truth of the
conclusion
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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Inductive Fallacies in Research
Hasty Generalization: the sample is too small to
support an inductive generalization about a
population
Unrepresentative Sample: the sample is
unrepresentative of the sample as a whole
False Analogy: the two objects or events being
compared are relevantly dissimilar
Fallacy of Exclusion: evidence which would
change the outcome of an inductive argument is
excluded from consideration
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
Fallacies Involving Statistics
 Accident: a generalization is applied when
circumstances suggest that there should
be an exception
 Converse Accident : an exception is
applied in circumstances where a
generalization should apply
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Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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Causal Fallacies
Post Hoc: because one thing follows another, it is
held to cause the other
Joint effect: one thing is held to cause another
when in fact they are both the joint effects of an
underlying cause
Insignificant: one thing is held to cause another,
and it does, but it is insignificant compared to
other causes of the effect
Wrong Direction: the direction between cause
and effect is reversed
Complex Cause: the cause identified is only a
part of the entire cause of the effect
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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Missing the Point
Begging the Question: the truth of the conclusion
is assumed by the premises (if A is true and B is
true then C must be true)
Irrelevant Conclusion: an argument in defense of
one conclusion instead proves a different
conclusion
Straw Man: the author attacks an argument
different from (and weaker than) the opposition's
best argument
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
Category Errors
 Composition: because the attributes of the
parts of a whole have a certain property, it
is argued that the whole has that property
 Division: because the whole has a certain
property, it is argued that the parts have
that property
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Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
Absurdisms (Non Sequitur)
 Affirming the Consequent: any argument
of the form: If A then B, B, therefore A
 Denying the Antecedent: any argument of
the form: If A then B, Not A, thus Not B
 Inconsistency: asserting that contrary or
contradictory statements are both true
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