FallaciesWord下载.docx
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FallaciesWord下载.docx
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1.usinggoodpremises(onesyouhavegoodreasontobelievearebothtrueandrelevanttotheissueathand),
2.makingsureyourpremisesprovidegoodsupportforyourconclusion(andnotsomeotherconclusion,ornoconclusionatall),
3.checkingthatyouhaveaddressedthemostimportantorrelevantaspectsoftheissue(thatis,thatyourpremisesandconclusionfocusonwhatisreallyimportanttotheissueyou'
rearguingabout),and
4.notmakingclaimsthataresostrongorsweepingthatyoucan'
treallysupportthem.
Youalsoneedtobesurethatyoupresentallofyourideasinanorderlyfashionthatreaderscanfollow.Seeourhandoutsonargumentandorganizationforsometipsthatwillimproveyourarguments.
Thishandoutdescribessomewaysinwhichargumentsoftenfailtodothethingslistedabove;
thesefailingsarecalledfallacies.Ifyou'
rehavingtroubledevelopingyourargument,checktoseeifafallacyispartoftheproblem!
Itisparticularlyeasytoslipupandcommitafallacywhenyouhavestrongfeelingsaboutyourtopic—ifaconclusionseemsobvioustoyou,you'
remorelikelytojustassumethatitistrueandtobecarelesswithyourevidence.Tohelpyouseehowpeoplecommonlymakethismistake,thishandoutusesanumberofcontroversialpoliticalexamples—argumentsaboutsubjectslikeabortion,guncontrol,thedeathpenalty,gaymarriage,euthanasia,andpornography.Thepurposeofthishandout,though,isnottoargueforanyparticularpositiononanyoftheseissues;
rather,itistoillustrateweakreasoning,whichcanhappeninprettymuchanykindofargument!
Pleasebeawarethattheclaimsintheseexamplesarejustmade-upillustrations—theyhaven'
tbeenresearched,soyoushouldn'
tusethemasevidenceinyourownwriting.
top
Whatarefallacies?
Fallaciesaredefectsthatweakenarguments.Bylearningtolookfortheminyourownandothers'
writing,youcanstrengthenyourabilitytoevaluatetheargumentsyoumake,read,andhear.Itisimportanttorealizetwothingsaboutfallacies:
First,fallaciousargumentsarevery,verycommonandcanbequitepersuasive,atleasttothecasualreaderorlistener.Youcanfinddozensofexamplesoffallaciousreasoninginnewspapers,advertisements,andothersources.Second,itissometimeshardtoevaluatewhetheranargumentisfallacious.Anargumentmightbeveryweak,somewhatweak,somewhatstrong,orverystrong.Anargumentthathasseveralstagesorpartsmighthavesomestrongsectionsandsomeweakones.Thegoalofthishandout,then,isnottoteachyouhowtolabelargumentsasfallaciousorfallacy-free,buttohelpyoulookcriticallyatyourownargumentsandmovethemawayfromthe"
weak"
andtowardthe"
strong"
endofthecontinuum.
Sowhatdofallacieslooklike?
Foreachfallacylisted,thereisadefinitionorexplanation,anexample,andatiponhowtoavoidcommittingthefallacyinyourownarguments.
Hastygeneralization
Definition:
Makingassumptionsaboutawholegrouporrangeofcasesbasedonasamplethatisinadequate(usuallybecauseitisatypicalorjusttoosmall).Stereotypesaboutpeople("
librariansareshyandsmart,"
wealthypeoplearesnobs,"
etc.)areacommonexampleoftheprincipleunderlyinghastygeneralization.
Example:
Myroommatesaidherphilosophyclasswashard,andtheoneI'
minishard,too.Allphilosophyclassesmustbehard!
"
Twopeople'
sexperiencesare,inthiscase,notenoughonwhichtobaseaconclusion.
Tip:
Askyourselfwhatkindof"
sample"
you'
reusing:
Areyourelyingontheopinionsorexperiencesofjustafewpeople,oryourownexperienceinjustafewsituations?
Ifso,considerwhetheryouneedmoreevidence,orperhapsalesssweepingconclusion.(Noticethatintheexample,themoremodestconclusion"
Somephilosophyclassesarehardforsomestudents"
wouldnotbeahastygeneralization.)
Missingthepoint
Thepremisesofanargumentdosupportaparticularconclusion—butnottheconclusionthattheargueractuallydraws.
Theseriousnessofapunishmentshouldmatchtheseriousnessofthecrime.Rightnow,thepunishmentfordrunkdrivingmaysimplybeafine.Butdrunkdrivingisaveryseriouscrimethatcankillinnocentpeople.Sothedeathpenaltyshouldbethepunishmentfordrunkdriving."
Theargumentactuallysupportsseveralconclusions—"
Thepunishmentfordrunkdrivingshouldbeveryserious,"
inparticular—butitdoesn'
tsupporttheclaimthatthedeathpenalty,specifically,iswarranted.
Separateyourpremisesfromyourconclusion.Lookingatthepremises,askyourselfwhatconclusionanobjectivepersonwouldreachafterreadingthem.Lookingatyourconclusion,askyourselfwhatkindofevidencewouldberequiredtosupportsuchaconclusion,andthenseeifyou'
veactuallygiventhatevidence.Missingthepointoftenoccurswhenasweepingorextremeconclusionisbeingdrawn,sobeespeciallycarefulifyouknowyou'
reclaimingsomethingbig.
Posthoc(alsocalledfalsecause)
ThisfallacygetsitsnamefromtheLatinphrase"
posthoc,ergopropterhoc,"
whichtranslatesas"
afterthis,thereforebecauseofthis."
AssumingthatbecauseBcomesafterA,AcausedB.Ofcourse,sometimesoneeventreallydoescauseanotheronethatcomeslater—forexample,ifIregisterforaclass,andmynamelaterappearsontheroll,it'
struethatthefirsteventcausedtheonethatcamelater.Butsometimestwoeventsthatseemrelatedintimearen'
treallyrelatedascauseandevent.Thatis,correlationisn'
tthesamethingascausation.
Examples:
PresidentJonesraisedtaxes,andthentherateofviolentcrimewentup.Jonesisresponsiblefortheriseincrime."
Theincreaseintaxesmightormightnotbeonefactorintherisingcrimerates,buttheargumenthasn'
tshownusthatonecausedtheother.
Toavoidtheposthocfallacy,thearguerwouldneedtogiveussomeexplanationoftheprocessbywhichthetaxincreaseissupposedtohaveproducedhighercrimerates.Andthat'
swhatyoushoulddotoavoidcommittingthisfallacy:
IfyousaythatAcausesB,youshouldhavesomethingmoretosayabouthowAcausedBthanjustthatAcamefirstandBcamelater!
Slipperyslope
Thearguerclaimsthatasortofchainreaction,usuallyendinginsomedireconsequence,willtakeplace,butthere'
sreallynotenoughevidenceforthatassumption.Thearguerassertsthatifwetakeevenonestepontothe"
slipperyslope,"
wewillendupslidingallthewaytothebottom;
heorsheassumeswecan'
tstophalfwaydownthehill.
Animalexperimentationreducesourrespectforlife.Ifwedon'
trespectlife,wearelikelytobemoreandmoretolerantofviolentactslikewarandmurder.Soonoursocietywillbecomeabattlefieldinwhicheveryoneconstantlyfearsfortheirlives.Itwillbetheendofcivilization.Topreventthisterribleconsequence,weshouldmakeanimalexperimentationillegalrightnow."
Sinceanimalexperimentationhasbeenlegalforsometimeandcivilizationhasnotyetended,itseemsparticularlyclearthatthischainofeventswon'
tnecessarilytakeplace.Evenifwebelievethatexperimentingonanimalsreducesrespectforlife,andlossofrespectforlifemakesusmoretolerantofviolence,thatmaybethespotonthehillsideatwhichthingsstop—wemaynotslideallthewaydowntotheendofcivilization.Andsowehavenotyetbeengivensufficientreasontoacceptthearguer'
sconclusionthatwemustmakeanimalexperimentationillegalrightnow.
Likeposthoc,slipperyslopecanbeatrickyfallacytoidentify,sincesometimesachainofeventsreallycanbepredictedtofollowfromacertainaction.Here'
sanexamplethatdoesn'
tseemfallacious:
IfIfailEnglish101,Iwon'
tbeabletograduate.IfIdon'
tgraduate,Iprobablywon'
tbeabletogetagoodjob,andImayverywellendupdoingtempworkorflippingburgersforthenextyear."
Checkyourargumentforchainsofconsequences,whereyousay"
ifA,thenB,andifB,thenC,"
andsoforth.Makesurethesechainsarereasonable.
Weakanalogy
Manyargumentsrelyonananalogybetweentwoormoreobjects,ideas,orsituations.Ifthetwothingsthatarebeingcomparedaren'
treallyalikeintherelevantrespects,theanalogyisaweakone,andtheargumentthatreliesonitcommitsthefallacyofweakanalogy.
Gunsarelikehammers—they'
rebothtoolswithmetalpartsthatcouldbeusedtokillsomeone.Andyetitwouldberidiculoustorestrictthepurchaseofhammers—sorestrictionsonpurchasinggunsareequallyridiculous."
Whilegunsandhammersdosharecertainfeatures,thesefeatures(havingmetalparts,beingtools,andbeingpotentiallyuse
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