TFY Chapter 10

Summary

Fallacies are used to confuse, deceive and manipulate an argument instead of using fair, sound logic. Recognizing fallacies will keep you on the alert for dishonest arguments. There are many different fallacies, which use language, emotion and distractions. Word ambiguity leads people to agree with positions they don’t understand. Prejudicial language slants an argument. Appeals may be made to emotions or to false authorities. Sometimes, personal attacks are made, known as ad hominem attacks. A variation on the ad hominem attack is poisoning the well, the use of negative words to describe the opponent’s position. The red herring is a classic distraction, the use of irrelevant arguments in order to cloud an issue. Pointing out other wrongs also may be used to evade the issue. The straw man argument is a caricaturization of an opponent with a refutation of that caricature. We need to recognize these fallacies in order to get to the truth. Fallacies are an attempt to dodge the truth.

Exercises

1. It was announced today that our troops, who have been shelled for some weeks in Lebanon, have made a strategic transfer to their ships offshore of that country.

Misapplied euphemism

2. In China, Europe and Brazil, efforts are being made to control the population growth that adds 1 billion people to the planet every decade.

NF

3. Africa, the birthplace of humankind, provides a disturbing clue to our future. As I fly across areas that were forests just years ago and see them becoming desert, I worry. Too many people crowd this continent; so poor they strip the land for food and wood for fuel. The subject of my life’s work and our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees, are slaughtered for food or captured for the live-animal trade. Pollution of air, land water abounds.

NF

4. Five million people have already seen this move. Shouldn’t you?
Bandwagon

5. Why do I think the president’s program is sound? It is sound because the polls show that the vast majority supports it.

Bandwagon

6. By a margin of two to one, shoppers prefer Brand X to any of the leading competitors. Reason enough to buy Brand X.
Bandwagon

7. What if your bank fails and takes your savings? Buy diamonds – the safe investment.

Appeal to fear

8. There is virtually no tar in these cigarettes.

Misapplied euphemism

9. It has been estimated that illegal aliens are costing taxpayers in excess of $5 billion a year. Should our senior citizens be denied full healthcare benefits, Should our children suffer overcrowded classrooms in order to subsidize the costs of illegal aliens?

Appeal to fear

10. There are plenty of people out on the streets waiting to get your job. If you go out on strike, you may find yourself out there with them.

Appeal to fear

11. The natural ay to relieve pain is through our vitamin ointment. It relieves pain from burns, stiff neck, backache, swelling and so forth.

Misapplied euphemism