Fallacies

Assumption that whatever cannot be proven false must be true (or vice versa). “No one can prove that the Loch Ness monster doesn’t exist, so therefore, it does exist.”

A fallacy that presents a generalization that is either not supported with evidence or is supported with only weak evidence (ex: Ping-pong is an extremely dangerous sport; last year, my friend got hit in the eye with a ping-pong ball and almost lost his vision in that eye).

Another popular fallacy which stands for “after this, therefore because of this.” We commit this fallacy when we determine simply on the basis of the temporal sequence of two events that one event must have caused the other. For instance, a baseball player might rub his lucky rabbit’s foot and later win a game. If he decides that the game was won because of the rabbit’s foot, he has committed this fallacy

Black and white thinking. Example: In this war on terrorism, countries are either with us or against us.

Arguing that a group must have the same qualities or characteristics as its members. For example, each football player of the all-star team is the best player at his position in the entire country. Therefore, the all-star team is the best team in the entire country.

The tendency to look only for evidence in favor of one’s controversial hypothesis and not to look for disconfirming evidence, or to pay insufficient attention to it. For example Nature decides which organisms live and which die.

A fallacy in which a speaker or writer seeks to persuade not by giving evidence but by appealing to the respect people have for a famous person or institution. (Ex.”The Spot: Actor Luke Wilson stands atop a giant map of the United States, reciting a list of cities and towns for which AT&T provides wireless phone coverage…”),

A logical fallacy in which a course of action is objected to on the grounds that once taken it will lead to additional actions until some undesirable consequence results. “We have to stop the tuition increase! The next thing you know, they’ll be charging $40,000 a semester!”

Merely because a group as a whole has a characteristic, it often doesn’t follow that individuals in the group have that characteristic. If you suppose that it does follow, when it doesn’t, your reasoning contains the fallacy of division. It is the converse of the composition fallacy.

Example:

Joshua’s soccer team is the best in the division because it had an undefeated season and won the division title, so their goalie must be the best goalie in the division.

An argument in which the writer, instead of supplying evidence, simply restates the point in other language. EX: students should not be allowed to park in lots now reserved for faculty b/c those lots should only be for faculty.

Assuming that because something is a certain way, it ought to be that way. “Marijuana is prohibited, therefore it must be immoral.”

A fallacy which assumes that something old is automatically better than something new (EX women didn’t vote before so they shouldn’t now),

An argument using an inappropriate metaphor. To help understand one thing in an argument we compare it to something else that is not at all relevant. the earth is like a watch and, just as a fine watch was made, so also the earth was made.

A fallacy of arguments in which a course of actions is recommended on the grounds that everyone else is following it. For example, 99 out of 100 people have fun on Carnival Cruises, so what are you waiting for!

Formulating a complex or unlikely explanation for an event when a simpler explanation would do.

A “principle called “Occam’s razor” states that the simplest explanation for an event is to be preferred over a more complex one, so long as the simpler one is adequate. The principle of Occam’s razor has shown itself to be a good thinking principle over the centuries” (Kirby and Goodpaster, 2006, pg. 208).