Logical Fallacies, May 11, 2010.

1a. Appeal to Pity.
b. Appeal to pity is the logical fallacy that occurs when Person A is presenting an argument and in order to get Person B to buy into their argument and give them what they want, Person A introduces a claim that is meant to make Person B feel sorry for them, and see it from their perspective.
c. Example;

Person A; I know I didn't do well on this test, but I NEED extra credit. If I have a C on my report card, my mom won't let me go to this concert I've been wanting to go to for the past three months.
Teacher; I suppose I can find an extra credit opportunity for you, that will be fine.


2a. Slippery Slope
b. This is when someone states that there is an inevitable link between one course of action or event and another that they claim is automatically going to follow, even though there is no logical evidence that event B will follow event A.

c. Example; Never say hello to people you don't know while walking down the street, or even look in their direction, especially men. The next thing you know, they'll be following you home or showing up on your doorstep and then you'll really be doomed!


3a. Appeal to Authority
b. This is when someone automatically believes what someone says about a particular subject just because that person is supposedly an authority on that particular subject.
c. Example;

History teacher; Part of the reason the United States became involved with World War II was to free the Jews in the concentration camps from Hitler's evils.
Student A; Really? I thought that the United States only got involved because we were bombed at Pearl Harbor.
Student B; Hey, don't question the teacher, if she says that we got involved in World War II to free the Jews, it must be true!


4a. Appeal to Fear.
b. This is when someone presents a claim and then to make it seem as if their claim is legitimate, they will make another point that is meant to cause fear and get whoever is listening to agree with them.

Example;

Person A; You need to start going to church, and you need to repent of your sins before it's too late!
Person B; Why?
Person A; If you do not repent from your sins and go to church every day, you'll burn in the lake of fire for all of eternity after you die and you'll have to endure the tortures of hell!
Person B; Oh no! I think you're right, I'm going to start going to church more often and go say a prayer or two.


5a. Red Herring.
b. This is when an unrelated topic is thrown into an argument or into a statement being made to distract from the original topic under discussion, but it is made to look related to the original topic.
Example;

Sorry I didn't come home in time or call and let you know where I was, but did you see what the weather was like? It was horrible!


6a. Post Hoc
b. An event takes place followed by another, therefore the second was caused by the first.

Example;

I went out to eat last night and today I am sick and throwing up. I must have gotten food poisoning!


7a. Two Wrongs Make a Right
b. This is saying that one course of action from one person to another is acceptable, because the other person would have no problem doing the same thing, and this is often used to justify an action.

Example;

"Oh, it's perfectly fine that I borrowed $5 from my friend and never paid him back, I know that if I lent him money, he wouldn't pay me back either."



8a. Hasty Generalization
b. This is when a conclusion is made about an entire group based on a small sample that is not enough to judge the entire group.

Example; "The two people I know from Texas are racist, therefore everyone in Texas must also be racist."


9a. Appeal to Common Practice
b. "Since many people do it, it must not be so wrong."
Example; Many people go over the speed limit, therefore it's not wrong to do so.


Example in a television show;
http://www.explosivefightvideos.com/fightvideos/1004/degrassi-cat-fight.html


Manny and Paige are the two characters in this scene. To fully understand the use of logical fallacies in this clip, a brief summary of the preceding events is needed; Paige (blonde hair) is dating the student teacher, and Manny (brown hair) was telling people even though she promised she would not, and Paige confronts her, at one point using a personal attack ("I doubt your mouth is even connected to your tiny, shrivelled boy obsessed brain"). Manny attempts to distract from the issue at hand by using another personal attack at 0:35 in the clip. Paige is confronting her about telling a secret she promised not to tell, and she responds to these comments with "Who still hasn't learned to chase after older guys, guys SO out of her league it's not even funny?" in an attempt to distract from the issue at hand (her big mouth) and to change the course of the argument, and it did, and one comment after another led to a fight. The comment she made was made in a way that it appeared to be relevant to the argument, but it was really not, although it was successful in distracting from the argument and removing the blame off herself. One personal attack leads to another until the situation escalates.