Grade 12 Week 6

October 3-10., 2022

FALLACY EXAMPLE IN REAL LIFE
STATEMENT: The Government should
enact minimum-wage legislation so
that workers are not exploited.

RESPONSE: Nonsense. You say that

only because you cannot find a good
job.
FALLACIES
• Ad Hominem
• An ad hominem fallacy uses personal attacks rather than logic. This
fallacy occurs when someone rejects or criticizes another point of
view based on the personal characteristics, ethnic background,
physical appearance, or other non-relevant traits of the person who
holds it.
• Ad hominem arguments are often used in politics, where they are
often called "mudslinging." They are considered unethical because
politicians can use them to manipulate voters' opinions against an
opponent without addressing core issues.
• Since you haven't been able to prove your
innocence, I must assume you're guilty.

• Wala pang nagbigay ng ebidensya na mayroon

kapre, kaya di totoo yun, kalokohan lang.
FALLACIES
• Appeal to Ignorance (Appeal to tradition, Appeal to Fear and others)
• An appeal to ignorance (also known as an "argument from
ignorance") argues that a proposition must be true because it has not
been proven false or there is no evidence against it.
• The argument can be used to bolster multiple contradictory
conclusions at once, such as the following two claims:
• "No one has ever been able to prove that extraterrestrials do not
exist, so they must be real."
• An appeal to ignorance doesn't prove anything. Instead, it shifts the
need for proof away from the person making a claim.
• A teacher says
her class needs
to spend more time on math
tasks.

• A parent complains, saying the

teacher doesn’t care about
literacy subjects.
FALLACIES
• Straw Man
• A straw man argument attacks a different subject rather than the
topic being discussed — often a more extreme version of the counter
argument. The purpose of this misdirection is to make one's position
look stronger than it actually is.
• The straw man argument is appropriately named after a harmless,
lifeless scarecrow. Instead of contending with the actual argument,
they attack the equivalent of a lifeless bundle of straw — an easily
defeated puppet that the opponent was never arguing for in the first
place.
• “Every nation, in every region, now has a
decision to make. Either you are with us, or
you are with the terrorists.”
(George Bush)
• “Pag hindi ninyo isinumbong and mga
mananakaw na naggulo sa bayan, kayo rin
mga magnanakaw”
FALLACIES
• False Dilemma/False Dichotomy
• A false dilemma or false dichotomy presents limited options —
typically by focusing on two extremes — when in fact more
possibilities exist. The phrase "America: Love it or leave it" is an
example of a false dilemma.
• The false dilemma fallacy is a manipulative tool designed to polarize
the audience, promoting one side and demonizing another. It's
common in political discourse as a way of strong-arming the public
into supporting controversial legislation or policies.
• Madalas ang kabataan ginagamit sa mga magulang
ang fallacy na ito:
• “ Ma, payagan mo na akong pumunta sa party. Pag
lagi akong di nakapupunta sa party kawawa naman
ako, lalayuan ako ng mga kaibigan ko mapagmalaki
daw ako at walang pakisama, paglaki ko walang
tutulong akin, wala rin akong makikitang trabajo at
magiging ulilang kuhol.”
• “Bakit lagging ayaw ninyo akong sumama sa jowa ko?
Bakit kayo lagging galit sa akin?” Di na ba kayo naawa
sa anak ninyo?”
FALLACIES
• Slippery Slope
• A slippery slope argument assumes that a certain course of action will
necessarily lead to a chain of future events. The slippery slope fallacy
takes a benign premise or starting point and suggests that it will lead
to unlikely or ridiculous outcomes with no supporting evidence.
• YOU MUST OBEY THE LAW, BECAUSE IT’S ILLEGAL TO BREAK
THE LAW.

• ANG SINULAT nA AKLAT NI JESSE AY MAGALING ANG

PAGKAKASULAT KASI SI JESSE AY MAHUSAY NA MANUNULAT.

• ANG PILIPINAS ANG THE “BEST PLACE TO LIVE” DAHIL ITO AY

MAS MAGALING SA IBANG MGA BANSA.

• VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES CAUSE TEENS TO BE VIOLENT,

BECAUSE VIOLENT TEENS PLAY VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES.
FALLACIES
• Circular Argument
• Circular arguments occur when a person's argument repeats what
they already assumed before without arriving at a new conclusion.
For example, if someone says, "According to my brain, my brain is
reliable," that's a circular argument.
• Circular arguments often use a claim as both a premise and a
conclusion. This fallacy only appears to be an argument when in fact
it's just restating one's assumptions.
• Yung nanligaw sa aking teen ager nag aaral sa Mount
Carmel ay bastos at mayabang, presko pati. Kaya nga
lahat ng lalaking magaaral ng MCSI ay bastos. Iwasan
ninyo hane.

• Ang lola ni Kevin di marunong gumamit ng computer,

sabi niyang lahat ng mga olds are “computer illiterate”
Anak:
-Ma, Nasaktan talaga ako kasi ng break up kami
ni Dwight.
Ina:
-Haays, isipin mo ang napakaraming nagugutom
at may sakit na mga bata sa Africa, hirap na hirap
sila, ang problema mo ay maliit na bagay
FALLACIES
• Red Herring
• A red herring is an argument that uses confusion or distraction to shift
attention away from a topic and toward a false conclusion. Red
herrings usually contain an unimportant fact, idea, or event that has
little relevance to the real issue.
• Red herrings are a common diversionary tactic when someone wants
to shift the focus of an argument to something easier or safer to
address. But red herrings can also be unintentional.
•Having visited a graveyard, I fell ill.
(Belief, “pamahiin” can spring this
kind of false cause for an incident)

• Pagbalik ko sa pagbisita sa puntod

ng kakilala ko sa sementeryo, kina
bahan ako at nagkasakit.
FALLACIES
• Causal Fallacy
• Causal fallacies are informal fallacies that occur when an argument
incorrectly concludes that a cause is related to an effect. Think of the
causal fallacy as a parent category for other fallacies about unproven
causes.
• One example is the false cause fallacy, which is when you draw a
conclusion about what the cause was without enough evidence to do
so. Another is the post hoc fallacy, which is when you mistake
something for the cause because it came first — not because it
actually caused the effect.
•Magnolia oatmeal cereal is the best breakfast
to start your day. Magnolia is the daily
breakfast of Michael Jordan and Steph Curry.
•The book “The Lame Future” argues that
global warming is not actually happening, and
the expert environmentalist author cites the
researches he has done studying climate
change for several years.
•Appeal to Authority
•Appeal to authority is the misuse of an
authority's opinion to support an
argument. While an authority's opinion
can represent evidence and data, it
becomes a fallacy if their expertise or
authority is overstated, illegitimate, or
irrelevant to the topic.
• Peter: ‘Based on the arguments I have presented,
it is evident that it is morally wrong to use
animals for food or clothing.’
• Bill: ‘But you are wearing a leather jacket and you
have a roast beef sandwich in your hand! How
can you say that using animals for food and
clothing is wrong?’

• Person A: “Stop running so many stop signs.”

• Person B: “You run them all the time!”
• Appeal to Hypocrisy “Tu quoque” You too
• An appeal to hypocrisy — also known as the tu
quoque fallacy — focuses on the hypocrisy of an
opponent. The tu quoque fallacy deflects criticism
away from oneself by accusing the other person of the
same problem or something comparable.
• The tu quoque fallacy is an attempt to divert blame.
The fallacy usually occurs when the arguer uses
apparent hypocrisy to neutralize criticism and distract
from the issue.
• “A man is the only intelligent animal on the planet.
And, since a woman is not a man, we can say that
women are not intelligent.”

• “It is right to be sad instead of joyous because it’s

everyone’s right to feel sad if they wish to.”

• “A man is the only intelligent animal on the planet.

And, since a woman is not a man, we can say that
women are not intelligent.”
Equivocation
Equivocation happens when a word, phrase, or
sentence is used deliberately to confuse, deceive, or
mislead. In other words, saying one thing but
meaning another.
When it's poetic or comical, we call this a "play on
words." But when it's done in a political speech, an
ethics debate, or an economics report — and it's
designed to make the audience think you're saying
something you're not — that's when it becomes a
fallacy.
You need to pass me in this
course, since I'll lose my
scholarship if you don’t.”
• Appeal to Pity
• An appeal to pity relies on provoking your emotions to win
an argument rather than factual evidence. Appealing to pity
attempts to pull on an audience's heartstrings, distract them,
and support their point of view.
• Someone accused of a crime using a cane or walker to
appear more feeble in front of a jury is one example of
appeal to pity. The appearance of disability isn't an argument
on the merits of the case, but it's intended to sway the jury's
opinion anyway.
• appeals to pity in an attempt to distract the audience from
their lack of a more reasonable main argument.
• “Don’t do your homework, come to the
movies tonight. Everyone is going to be there.”
• “The new Audi is the most popular car right
now, everyone says it’s the best.”
• When Ahmed is deciding what clothes to buy,
his friend tells him that the new jeans are the
most popular fashion at the moment. If he
wants to feel comfortable he should buy them.
• Bandwagon Fallacy
• The bandwagon fallacy assumes something is true (or
right or good) because others agree with it. In other
words, the fallacy argues that if everyone thinks a
certain way, then you should, too.
• One problem with this kind of reasoning is that the
broad acceptance of a claim or action doesn't mean
that it's factually justified. People can be mistaken,
confused, deceived, or even willfully irrational in their
opinions, so using them to make an argument is flawed.
•I drank bottled water
and now I am sick, so
the water must have
made me sick.
• Post hoc ergo propter hoc: This is a conclusion
that assumes that if 'A' occurred after 'B' then 'B'
must have caused 'A.' Example:
• In this example, the author assumes that if one
event chronologically follows another the first
event must have caused the second. But the
illness could have been caused by the burrito the
night before, a flu bug that had been working on
the body for days, or a chemical spill across
campus. There is no reason, without more
evidence, to assume the water caused the
person to be sick.
•“The Volkswagen Beetle is
an evil car because it was
originally designed by
Hitler's army.”
•Genetic Fallacy: This conclusion is based on
an argument that the origins of a person,
idea, institute, or theory determine its
character, nature, or worth. Example:
In this example the author is equating the
character of a car with the character of the
people who built the car. However, the two
are not inherently related.
•Chocolate is healthful because it’s good
for you

• Filthy and polluting coal should be

banned.
Begging the question:
The conclusion that the writer should prove is validated
within the claim.
• Arguing that coal pollutes the earth and thus should
be banned would be logical. But the very conclusion
that should be proved, that coal causes enough
pollution to warrant banning its use, is already
assumed in the claim by referring to it as "filthy and
polluting."