Logical Fallacies
(Also known as Rhetorical or Rhetological Fallacies)
Origin of FALLACY
Latin fallacia, from fallac-, fallax deceitful, from fallere to
deceive. First Known Use: 14th century (Merriam-Webster).
Definition
Fallacies are common errors in reasoning that
will undermine the logic of your argument.
Fallacies can be either illegitimate arguments
or irrelevant points, and are often identified
because they lack evidence that supports their
claim. Avoid these common fallacies in your
own arguments and watch for them in the
arguments of others (The Purdue).
Ad populum:
This fallacy is an emotional appeal that speaks to positive (such as
patriotism, religion, democracy) or negative (such as terrorism or fascism)
concepts rather than the real issue at hand.
Example: If you were a true American you would
support the rights of people to choose whatever
vehicle they want.
In this example, the author equates being a "true American,"
a concept that people want to be associated with, particularly
in a time of war, with allowing people to buy any vehicle
they want even though there is no inherent connection
between the two (The Purdue).
Moral Equivalence
Moral confusion; deceptive moral comparison; mendacious moral
equivalence (also see sanctimony); false analogy.
The advocate seeks to draw false
comparisons between two phenomena
which are not morally equivalent. The
fallacy of moral equivalence is a strategy
often used to denigrate an agency or
entity by implying or stating that its
policies or practices are as reprehensible
as a widely (and justifiably) despised
agency or entity (Clark).
Either / Or
This is a conclusion that oversimplifies the argument by reducing it to only
two sides or choices. Romney during the 2012 presidential debates:
His assault on coal and gas and oil will send energy and manufacturing jobs to China;
His trillion dollar cuts to our military will eliminate hundreds of thousands of jobs, and
also put our security at greater risk;
His $716 billion cut to Medicare to finance Obamacare will both hurt today’s seniors,
and depress innovation – and jobs – in medicine.
And his trillion-dollar deficits will slow our economy, restrain employment, and cause
wages to stall.
All these are Either/Or Arguments. If you vote for Obama, jobs will go to China. If you vote
for Obama, our national security will be weak and we’ll all die. If you vote for Obama, the
medical field will fall into ruin. If you vote for Obama, less money will be in your pocket.
There’s no way to prove any of this, unless Romney built a time machine and traveled to the
future and saw all this stuff happen (Jarvis).
Works Cited
Clark, Theo. Humbug! The Skeptic’s Field Guide to Spotting Fallacies in Writing. 29 Jan. 2013. Web. 2 Feb. 2013.
Google Images. Web. 2 Feb. 2013.
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary copyright © 2013 by Merriam-Webster, Inc. Web. 2 Feb 2012.
Slacks, Jarvis. “Both Romney and President Obama use Fallacies. Here’s How.” The Education of Jarvis Slacks.
10 Sept. 2012. Web. 2 Feb. 2013.
The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008. Web. 2 Feb. 2012