Download Critical Thinking and Making Decisions

Critical Thinking and Making
Decisions
Errors
Facts
Arguments
Sound Arguments
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Are the facts TRUE?
Are the facts relevant
Are there sufficient facts
If not true, relevant or sufficient
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The argument has a
logical fallacy
Categories of Logical Fallacies
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Ambiguity
Circular arguments
Presumption
Gambler’s
False cause
Relevance
Appeals to emotion
Bandwagon
Straw Man
Fallacies of Ambiguity
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Accent Fallacy - fallacies that depend on
where the stress is placed in a word or
sentence
Equivocation - is committed when a term is
used in two or more different senses within a
single argument.
Fallacy of Circular Arguments
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The truth of A is assumed within the original
premise about A. Hence A is not really
proven by the argument.
This may occur through a simple statement
or via a more complex set of statements that
go around in a circle and eventually 'prove'
the original statement to be true.
Another variant is: If A is not wrong, then it is
right.
Fallacies of Presumption
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Either A or B is true. If A is true, B is therefore
false. C is not an option.
The other person is offered a choice where
rejecting one item acts as a selection of the
other.
Gambler’s Fallacy
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Chance is affected by more than random
events. It can be controlled by luck, skill and
specific identified events. When you hit a
'lucky' patch, you just cannot lose. When the
odds are stacked against you, you have no
chance.
Fallacy of False Cause
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A causes B (without real proof that this
causal relationship actually exists).
This causal relationship is often claimed
when there is correlation between A and B
(that they vary together) or a relatively
distant causal connection.
Fallacies of Relevance
Attack the person in some way. For example:
• Attack their expertise, questioning their
qualifications or experience
• Criticize their physical appearance or dress
• Comment on their inability to make a good
argument
• Point out their junior status
• Attack their values as being contrary to social
norms
• Interpret a minor error as major
• Attach them to discredited others
– Personal Attacks
Fallacy of Appeals to Emotion
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Patriotic - asserts that a certain stance is true or
correct because it is somehow patriotic, and that
those who disagree are unpatriotic
Needs/Desire – tells the audience what it wants to
hear to 'get them on side.'
Love – someone tries to induce acceptance of a
claim by challenging love of a person or family
Anger - someone tries to induce acceptance of a
claim by arousing indignation or anger
Bandwagon Fallacy
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The bandwagon fallacy is committed by
arguments that appeal to the growing
popularity of an idea as a reason for
accepting it as true
–
“Everybody is doing it.”
Straw Man Arguments
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This fallacy includes any lame attempt to "prove" an
argument by overstating, exaggerating, or oversimplifying the arguments of the opposing side. Such
an approach is building a straw man argument. A
straw man argument is one that misrepresents a
position in order to make it appear weaker than it
actually is, refutes this misrepresentation of the
position, and then concludes that the real position
has been refuted