Logical Fallacies

Social Problems
Angie Andriot
 What is an argument?
n A premise used to establish a conclusion
• Facts to support a case
• Objective versus subjective conditions
n DEDUCTIVE arguments
• General to specific
• Laws, rules, principles
n INDUCTIVE arguments
• Specific to general
• Experience, observation
Let’s apply this to Gender…

All the girls I know like pink



Pink is a girl color



Jill will like pink

Jack won’t like pink
 What are logical fallacies?
n A fallacy is an error of reasoning
• This differs from a factual error
• The premise does not establish the
conclusion
n Formal (deductive) Fallacies
• Valid: All x are y, z is x, therefore z is y
• Invalid: All x are y, z is y, therefore z is x
n Informal (inductive) Fallacies
• Strong: Every documented x is y, therefore
all x are y
• Weak: Every x I’ve ever seen is y, therefore
all x are y
X = girls, y = like pink/don’t like pink, z = specific girl or boy
 Types of Fallacies
n There are lots of different ways to
break the fallacies down into
subtypes
n I’m going to go with a method that
makes sense to me
n It’s best represented by this website,
if you’re interested in further info
 Fallacies of Distraction, or
“Look! A Monkey”
n Illegitimate use of a logical operator
• The Complex Question
n Conjunction (“and”)
• The False Dilemma
n Disjunction (“or”)
• The Slippery Slope
n Conditional (“if-then”)
• The Argument from Ignorance
n Negation (“not”)

 The Complex Question
n A loaded question - the writer joins
two issues together and asks the
reader to treat them as one.
• Have you stopped beating your wife?
• Do you support freedom and the right
to bear arms?
• “Pro-life” versus “Pro-choice”

Identify the two propositions illegitimately conjoined and show that

believing one does not mean that you have to believe the other.
 The False Dilemma
n Two options are given while a third is
ignored
• Constraining answer choices
• “Black and White” reasoning
n You are either with me or against me
• Actually, I couldn’t care less either
way
n Religion is necessary because
otherwise
Identify there’d
the options given beanno
and show (with morality
example) that there is an
additional option.

 The Slippery Slope

If this is allowed to happen, a series of
increasingly unacceptable events will
result. So we shouldn’t do it.

(1) If we allow gays to marry, next
thing you know we’ll be allowing
people to marry their sisters,
children, and pets

(2) People should not be allowed to
marry their pets

Therefore:
Identify

(3) Gays shouldn’t
the proposition being refuted be allowed
and identify to event
the final marryin the
series of events. Then show that this final event need not occur.
 Argument from Ignorance
n We haven’t proven it to be false,
therefore it must be true
• Or conversely, we haven’t proven it
to be true, therefore it must be false
n Falsifiability, burden of proof
• Russel’s teapot, invisible pink
unicorns
n The absence of proof does not prove
anything
• You
Identify the have
proposition no alibi,
in question. clearly
Argue you
that it may did it! even
be true/false
though we don't know whether it is or isn't.
 Inductive Fallacies
n Inductive reasoning is not, in and of itself,
fallacious
n Good inductions are ones in which the
sample is similar to the population, and
for which the support is strong
n Inductive Fallacies include:
• Hasty Generalizations
• Unrepresentative Sample
• False Analogies
• Slothful Induction
• Fallacy of Exclusion
n
 Hasty Generalizations
n Drawing a general rule from too
small a sample or a single, perhaps
atypical, case
• Jews are manipulative. I know; my ex
is one.
• I asked six of my friends what they
thought of the new spending
restraints and they agreed it is a
good
Identify the size of theidea.
sample and the size of the population, then show
that the sample size is too small. Note: a formal proof would require a
mathematical calculation. This is the subject of probability theory. For
now, you must rely on common sense.
 Unrepresentative Sample
n The sample used in an inductive
inference is relevantly different
from the population as a whole.
• The apples on the top of the box look
good. The entire box of apples must
be good.
• I rarely encounter racism, so racism
is rare

Show how the sample is relevantly different from the population as a

whole, then show that because the sample is different, the conclusion is
probably different.
 False Analogy
n (1) A and B are similar.
(2) A has a certain characteristic.
Therefore:
(3) B must have that characteristic too.
n William Paley’s argument from design
suggests that a watch and the universe
are similar (both display order and
complexity), and therefore infers from
the fact that watches are the product of
intelligent design that the universe must
be a product of intelligent design too.
Identify the two objects or events being compared and the property which
both are said to possess. Show that the two objects are different in a way
which will affect whether they both have that property.
 Exclusion and Sloth
n Slothful induction – the evidence doesn’t
fit
• Hugo has had twelve accidents n the last six
months, yet he insists that it is just a
coincidence and not his fault.
n Fallacy of Exclusion –unsupporting
evidence is ignored or overlooked
• The Leafs will probably win this game
because they've won nine out of their last
ten. (Eight of the Leafs' wins came over
last place teams, and today they are
playing the first place team.)
 Causal Fallacies
In general, we say that a cause C is the cause of an


effect E if and only if:

• Generally, if C occurs, then E will occur, and
• Generally, if C does not occur, then E will not
occur ether.


We say "generally" because there are always



exceptions. For example, we say that striking the

match causes the match to light, because:
• Generally, when the match is struck, it lights
(except when the match is dunked in water),
and
• Generally, when the match is not struck, it does
not light (except when it is lit with a
blowtorch).
n
 Post Hoc
Mere temporal succession does not entail


causal succession:
n Immigration to Alberta from Ontario
increased. Soon after, the welfare rolls
increased. Therefore, the increased
immigration caused the increased
welfare rolls.
n (1) Most people who are read the last rites
die shortly afterwards.
Therefore:
(2) Priests are going around killing
people with magic words!
Show that the correlation is coincidental by showing that: (i) the effect
would have occurred even if the cause did not occur, or (ii) that the effect
was caused by something other than the suggested cause.
 Joint Effect
One thing is held to cause another when in


fact both are the effect of a single

underlying cause.

•Sleeping with
one's shoes on
is strongly
correlated with
waking up with
a headache.
•Therefore,
sleeping with
one's shoes on
causes
Identify the two effects and show that they are caused by the same
headache.
underlying cause. It is necessary to describe the underlying cause and
prove that it causes each symptom.
 Some other causal errors
n Wrong direction: “cancer causes smoking”
• Increased weight leads to bad health?
n Insignificance: By leaving your oven on
overnight you are contributing to global
warming.
n Complex cause: The accident was caused by
the poor location of the bush. (True, but it
wouldn't have occurred had the driver not
been drunk and the pedestrian not been
jaywalking.)