Critical Thinking - Top Ten Fallacies of All Time
Autor: kmomma19 • March 23, 2015 • Research Paper • 295 Words (2 Pages) • 1,017 Views
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University of Phoenix Material
Top Ten Fallacies of All Time
This content has been taken with permission from the inside front cover of Critical Thinking.
- Ad Hominem Argument: Disputing a position or argument by criticizing its source. Universally esteemed by talk radio hosts as the highest form of reasoning.
- Straw man: Disputing a position by exaggerating it, misrepresenting it, or otherwise distorting it. Putting negative spin on an opponent’s ideas.
- “Argument” from Outrage: This should be self-explanatory. Many political talk shows are often reduced to shouting matches where guests compete for the loudest volume and sharpest insults.
- Scare Tactic: Utilizing fear, not evidence, in one’s argument. You can probably think of several recent examples.
- Hasty Generalization: Also known as over-generalizing. For example, it’s a hasty generalization that all baseball players use steroids simply because a few have developed bulging neck muscles and nasty tempers.
- Group Think: When loyalty to group values affects one’s own judgment in ways that range from the amusing to the dangerous. Why do refs call too many fouls on our team?
- Red Herring: This attention-span fallacy works best on people who are unable to stay focused long enough to notice that the question answered was not the question asked.
- Wishful Thinking: A refusal to acknowledge the truth. You might call it the Ostrich Fallacy.
- “Argument” from Popularity: Believing that if “everybody” believes it, it must be true.
- Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc: Just because two things happened around the same time doesn’t mean one caused the other.
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