Good afternoon classmate ng teacher this is title topic we prepared the topic is all about the 10

common illogical fallacies of philosophy.

But what is FALLACY?

A fallacy is an illogical step in the formulation of an argument. An argument in academic

writing is essentially a conclusion or claim, with assumptions or reasons to support that claim.
For example, "Blue is a bad color because it is linked to sadness" is an argument because it
makes a claim and offers support for it. Regardless of whether the claim we make is true or false,
we might use reasons that either do not logically support that claim or are not logically supported
themselves. For example, the said argument might be considered fallacious by someone for
whom blue represents calmness.

While politics, law, and the media are notorious for these tricks, fallacies are an everyday
occurrence in society and are often committed unintentionally. We even commit them ourselves.
And because fallacies can make illogical arguments seem logical, tricksters use them to persuade
their audiences to believe illogical claims. By learning to recognize fallacies, however, we can
avoid being deceitful and being misled by others.

10 COMMON ILLOGICAL FALLACIES OF PHILOSOPHY

1 .BANDWAGON APPEAL

Definition: The bandwagon fallacy is also sometimes called the appeal to common belief or
appeal to the masses because it’s all about getting people to do or think something because
“everyone else is doing it” or “everything else thinks this.”

Example: "You should vote for Sherry, she's leading in the polls!"

“Everyone is going to get the new smart phone when it comes out this weekend. Why aren’t
you?”

2. NON SEQUITUR

Definition: The literal translation of non sequitur is, "It does not follow." Therefore, a non
sequitur fallacy is one in which the conclusion does not logically follow the premises of the
argument. Any attempt to fit a non sequitur into a formal logical argument will fail. Examples
can be as ridiculous as the argument, "Dogs have wet noses, and rabbits have wet noses;
therefore, dogs eat rabbits." The formal logic of this argument could be written:

Premise one: Dogs have wet noses. ("All A are B")

Premise two: Rabbits have wet noses. ("All C are B")

Conclusion: Dogs eat rabbits. ("A eats C")

The structure of this argument makes no sense. Consequently, this argument is invalid even
though the conclusion, "Dogs eat rabbits," may be true.

Another type of non sequitur fallacy occurs when a single premise is used to prove a conclusion.
In formal logic, at least two premises are necessary for an argument to be valid. If someone says,
"I ran for president; therefore I am president", there is information missing. The argument
requires a second premise (for example, "I won the election") in order to be valid.

Example: Buddy Burger has the best food in town. Buddy Burger donates 10% of its proceeds to
charity. Therefore, Phil, the owner of Buddy Burger, should run for president.

3. AD HOMINEM

Definition: Latin for "to the man." is used to counter another argument. However, it's based on
feelings of prejudice (often irrelevant to the argument), rather than facts, reason, and logic. An ad
hominem argument is often a personal attack on someone's character or motive rather than an
attempt to address the actual issue at hand.

This type of personal attack fallacy is often witnessed in debates in courtrooms and politics.
Often, the attack is based on a person's social, political, or religious views. Either way, ad
hominem fallacy attacks undermine the case and are to be avoided at all costs.

Example: Attacking a defendant’s character by pointing out their flaws in a case - “You cheated
and lied to your wife, but you expect the jury to believe you now?”

Using racial slurs to demean a person of another race in an argument about a crime involving
people of different racial backgrounds - "People like you don't understand what it's like to grow
up black in America. You have no right to argue about the gang violence on our streets."
4. HASTY GENERALIZATION

Definition: A fallacy is an argument that is based on mistaken reasoning. When one makes a
hasty generalization, he applies a belief to a larger population than he should based on the
information that he has.

For example, if my brother likes to eat a lot of pizza and French fries, and he is healthy, I can say
that pizza and French fries are healthy and don't really make a person fat. However, I don't have
a large enough sample population to make this claim. I have generalized based on one person.

Examples of Hasty Generalization:

1. Three out of four school teachers prefer Bright Marks Markers, but I only asked four teachers
total.

2. You visit a new country and the first person you meet in the airport is rude. You send a
message to a friend back home that everyone in this new country is rude.

3. Christine has a terrible experience with a boyfriend. She decides that all boys are mean.

5. POST HOC

Post hoc, which is a shortened form of post hoc ergo propter hoc, is a common logical fallacy.
This type of argument supposes that just because one event occurs after another event, the first
event must have caused the second event. The meaning of post hoc is after this, and the Latin
phrase "post hoc ergo propter hoc" is literally translated as "after this, therefore because of this."

For example, I ate fish, and then I got sick to my stomach. Therefore, the fish made me sick. The
argument is based solely on the sequence of events.

Simply put, the post hoc fallacy definition is an assumption that since event A happened before
event B, event A caused event B.

6. SLIPPERY SLOPE

Definition: The arguer claims that a sort of chain reaction, usually ending in some dire
consequence, will take place, but there's really not enough evidence for that assumption. The
arguer asserts that if we take even one step onto the edge, we will end up sliding all the way to
the bottom; he or she assumes we can't stop halfway down the hill.

Example: "Animal experimentation reduces our respect for life. If we don't respect life, we are
likely to be more and more tolerant of violent acts like war and murder. Soon our society will
become a battlefield in which everyone constantly fears for their lives. It will be the end of
civilization. To prevent this terrible consequence, we should make animal experimentation
illegal right now." Since animal experimentation has been legal for some time and civilization
has not yet ended, it seems particularly clear that this chain of events won't necessarily take
place.

7. FAULTY ANALOGY

Definition: Many arguments rely on an analogy between two or more objects, ideas, or
situations. If the two things that are being compared aren't really alike in the relevant respects,
the analogy is a weak one, and the argument that relies on it commits the fallacy of weak
analogy.

Examples:

1. "Guns are like hammers--they're both tools with metal parts that could be used to kill
someone. And yet it would be ridiculous to restrict the purchase of hammers--so restrictions on
purchasing guns are equally ridiculous." ri-freakin-diculous thing to say and compare.

2. Medical Student: "No one objects to a physician looking up a difficult case in medical
books. Why, then, shouldn't students taking a difficult examination be permitted to use their
textbooks?"

3. People who have to have a cup of coffee every morning before they can function have
no less a problem than alcoholics who have to have their alcohol each day to sustain them.

8. FALSE AUTHORITY

Definition: Often we add strength to our arguments by referring to respected sources or

authorities and explaining their positions on the issues we're discussing.
Example: "We should abolish the death penalty. Many people, such as actor Guy Handsome,
have publicly stated their opposition to it." Similar to having a celebrity sells a car, what do they
know about the engine in a car?

9. STRAW MAN

Definition: A fallacy that occurs when a speaker chooses a deliberately poor or oversimplified
example in order to ridicule and refute an idea.

Example: "Politician X proposes that we put astronauts on Mars in the next four years. Politician
Y ridicules the proposal by saying his opponent is looking for "little green men in outer space."

10. RED HERRING

Definition: occurs when a speaker skips to new an irrelevant topic in order to avoid the topic of
discussion

Example: "We can debate these regulations until the cows come home, but what the American
people want to know is, when are we going to end this partisan bickering."