{"id":289,"date":"2019-08-28T01:18:12","date_gmt":"2019-08-28T01:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-eng-101-college-writing-i\/chapter\/text-logical-fallacies\/"},"modified":"2019-08-28T01:18:12","modified_gmt":"2019-08-28T01:18:12","slug":"text-logical-fallacies","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-eng-101-college-writing-i-lynch\/chapter\/text-logical-fallacies\/","title":{"raw":"Logical Fallacies","rendered":"Logical Fallacies"},"content":{"raw":"\nMaybe you've heard a friend of yours say something like the scenario presented in this quick video:\n\n<iframe src=\"\/\/plugin.3playmedia.com\/show?mf=1291634&amp;p3sdk_version=1.10.1&amp;p=20361&amp;pt=5&amp;video_id=rVFfGjkHpH8&amp;video_target=tpm-plugin-7a7ajpyl-rVFfGjkHpH8\" width=\"640px\" height=\"420px\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0px\" marginheight=\"0px\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe>\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/course-building\/English+Comp\/Transcripts\/Packard+Pokes+At+-+Logical+Fallacies-+Anecdotal+.rtf\">Click here to download a transcript for this video<\/a>\n\nAs the video establishes, this is a case where logic is misapplied. Claiming that, because his cigarette-smoking grandfather lived a long life, studies don't mean anything about the relationships between smoking and cancer, is a pretty clear violation of logic. &nbsp;It presents an argument in what sounds like a logical way, but it's very easy to disprove.\n\nWatch for similar misapplications of logic in reading you do (or television you watch, or conversations you participate in).\n\nThese&nbsp;misapplications of logic\u2014known as <strong>logical fallacies<\/strong>\u2014occur frequently in reading and in daily life. Read through the list below to explore some of the most common ones.\n<ul>\n \t<li class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s3\"><strong>Hasty generalization<\/strong>: argues from limited examples or a special case to a general rule. <\/span>\n<ul>\n \t<li class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s3\">Argument: Every person I've met has ten fingers; therefore, all people have ten fingers. <\/span><\/li>\n \t<li class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s3\">Problem: Those who have been met are not representative of the entire population.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n \t<li class=\"p2\"><strong>Making the argument personal (<em>ad hominem<\/em>)<\/strong>: attacking or discrediting the opposition's <span class=\"s2\">character<\/span>.\n<ul>\n \t<li class=\"p2\">Argument: What do you know about the United States? You aren't even a citizen.<\/li>\n \t<li class=\"p2\">Problem: personal argument against an opponent, instead of against the opponent's argument.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n \t<li class=\"p2\"><strong><span class=\"s4\">Red herring<\/span><\/strong><span class=\"s3\">: intentionally or unintentionally misleading or distracting from the actual issue. <\/span>\n<ul>\n \t<li class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s3\">Argument: I think that we should make the academic requirements stricter for students. I recommend that you support this because we are in a budget crisis and we do not want our salaries affected. <\/span><\/li>\n \t<li class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s3\">Problem: Here the second sentence, though used to support the first, does not address the <span class=\"s2\">topic<\/span> of the first sentence, and instead switches the focus to the quite different topic.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n \t<li class=\"p2\"><strong>Fallacy of false cause (<em>non sequitur<\/em>)<\/strong>: incorrectly assumes one thing is the cause of another. <em>Non Sequitur<\/em> is Latin for \"It does not follow.\"\n<ul>\n \t<li class=\"p2\">Argument: I hear the rain falling outside my window; therefore, the sun is not shining.<\/li>\n \t<li class=\"p2\">Problem: The conclusion is false because the sun can shine while it is raining.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n \t<li class=\"p2\"><strong>If it comes before it is the cause<\/strong>: believing that the order of events&nbsp;implies a causal relation.\n<ul>\n \t<li class=\"p2\">Argument: It rained just before the car died. The rain caused the car to break down.<\/li>\n \t<li class=\"p2\">Problem: There may be no <span class=\"s2\">connection<\/span> between the two events.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n \t<li class=\"p2\"><strong>Two events co-occurring is not causation (<em>cum hoc ergo propter hoc<\/em>)<\/strong>: believing that two events happening at the same time&nbsp;implies a causal relation.\n<ul>\n \t<li class=\"p2\">Argument: More cows die in the summer. More ice cream is consumed in summer months. Therefore, the consumption of ice cream in the summer is killing cows.<\/li>\n \t<li class=\"p2\">Problem: No premise suggests the ice cream consumption is causing the deaths. The deaths and consumption could be unrelated, or something else could be causing both, such as summer heat.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n \t<li class=\"p2\"><strong>Straw man<\/strong>: creates the illusion of having refuted a proposition by replacing it with a superficially similar proposition (the \"straw man\"), and refuting it, without ever actually refuting the original.\n<ul>\n \t<li class=\"p2\">Argument: <em>Person A<\/em>: Sunny days are good. <em>Person B<\/em>: If all days were sunny, we'd never have rain, and without rain, we'd have famine and death. Therefore, you are wrong.<\/li>\n \t<li class=\"p2\">Problem: B has misrepresented A's claim by falsely suggesting that A claimed that only sunny days are good, and then B refuted the misrepresented version of the claim, rather than refuting A's original assertion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n \t<li class=\"p2\"><strong>The false dilemma<\/strong>: the listener is forced to make a choice between two things which are not really related or <span class=\"s2\">relevant<\/span>.\n<ul>\n \t<li class=\"p2\">Argument: If you are not with us, you are against us.<\/li>\n \t<li class=\"p2\">Problem: The presentation of a false choice often reflects a deliberate attempt to eliminate any middle ground.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","rendered":"<p>Maybe you&#8217;ve heard a friend of yours say something like the scenario presented in this quick video:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/plugin.3playmedia.com\/show?mf=1291634&amp;p3sdk_version=1.10.1&amp;p=20361&amp;pt=5&amp;video_id=rVFfGjkHpH8&amp;video_target=tpm-plugin-7a7ajpyl-rVFfGjkHpH8\" width=\"640px\" height=\"420px\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0px\" marginheight=\"0px\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/course-building\/English+Comp\/Transcripts\/Packard+Pokes+At+-+Logical+Fallacies-+Anecdotal+.rtf\">Click here to download a transcript for this video<\/a><\/p>\n<p>As the video establishes, this is a case where logic is misapplied. Claiming that, because his cigarette-smoking grandfather lived a long life, studies don&#8217;t mean anything about the relationships between smoking and cancer, is a pretty clear violation of logic. &nbsp;It presents an argument in what sounds like a logical way, but it&#8217;s very easy to disprove.<\/p>\n<p>Watch for similar misapplications of logic in reading you do (or television you watch, or conversations you participate in).<\/p>\n<p>These&nbsp;misapplications of logic\u2014known as <strong>logical fallacies<\/strong>\u2014occur frequently in reading and in daily life. Read through the list below to explore some of the most common ones.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s3\"><strong>Hasty generalization<\/strong>: argues from limited examples or a special case to a general rule. <\/span>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s3\">Argument: Every person I&#8217;ve met has ten fingers; therefore, all people have ten fingers. <\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s3\">Problem: Those who have been met are not representative of the entire population.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\"><strong>Making the argument personal (<em>ad hominem<\/em>)<\/strong>: attacking or discrediting the opposition&#8217;s <span class=\"s2\">character<\/span>.\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p2\">Argument: What do you know about the United States? You aren&#8217;t even a citizen.<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\">Problem: personal argument against an opponent, instead of against the opponent&#8217;s argument.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\"><strong><span class=\"s4\">Red herring<\/span><\/strong><span class=\"s3\">: intentionally or unintentionally misleading or distracting from the actual issue. <\/span>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s3\">Argument: I think that we should make the academic requirements stricter for students. I recommend that you support this because we are in a budget crisis and we do not want our salaries affected. <\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s3\">Problem: Here the second sentence, though used to support the first, does not address the <span class=\"s2\">topic<\/span> of the first sentence, and instead switches the focus to the quite different topic.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\"><strong>Fallacy of false cause (<em>non sequitur<\/em>)<\/strong>: incorrectly assumes one thing is the cause of another. <em>Non Sequitur<\/em> is Latin for &#8220;It does not follow.&#8221;\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p2\">Argument: I hear the rain falling outside my window; therefore, the sun is not shining.<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\">Problem: The conclusion is false because the sun can shine while it is raining.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\"><strong>If it comes before it is the cause<\/strong>: believing that the order of events&nbsp;implies a causal relation.\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p2\">Argument: It rained just before the car died. The rain caused the car to break down.<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\">Problem: There may be no <span class=\"s2\">connection<\/span> between the two events.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\"><strong>Two events co-occurring is not causation (<em>cum hoc ergo propter hoc<\/em>)<\/strong>: believing that two events happening at the same time&nbsp;implies a causal relation.\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p2\">Argument: More cows die in the summer. More ice cream is consumed in summer months. Therefore, the consumption of ice cream in the summer is killing cows.<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\">Problem: No premise suggests the ice cream consumption is causing the deaths. The deaths and consumption could be unrelated, or something else could be causing both, such as summer heat.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\"><strong>Straw man<\/strong>: creates the illusion of having refuted a proposition by replacing it with a superficially similar proposition (the &#8220;straw man&#8221;), and refuting it, without ever actually refuting the original.\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p2\">Argument: <em>Person A<\/em>: Sunny days are good. <em>Person B<\/em>: If all days were sunny, we&#8217;d never have rain, and without rain, we&#8217;d have famine and death. Therefore, you are wrong.<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\">Problem: B has misrepresented A&#8217;s claim by falsely suggesting that A claimed that only sunny days are good, and then B refuted the misrepresented version of the claim, rather than refuting A&#8217;s original assertion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\"><strong>The false dilemma<\/strong>: the listener is forced to make a choice between two things which are not really related or <span class=\"s2\">relevant<\/span>.\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p2\">Argument: If you are not with us, you are against us.<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\">Problem: The presentation of a false choice often reflects a deliberate attempt to eliminate any middle ground.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-289\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Revision and Adaptation. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Packard Pokes At : Logical Fallacies: Anecdotal. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Packard Pokes At. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/rVFfGjkHpH8\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/rVFfGjkHpH8<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Logical Fallacies. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Boundless. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/boundless-communications\/\">https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/boundless-communications\/<\/a>. <strong>Project<\/strong>: Communications. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":141992,"menu_order":5,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Packard Pokes At : Logical Fallacies: Anecdotal\",\"author\":\"Packard Pokes At\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/rVFfGjkHpH8\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Logical 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