Review from Last Class • The most used fallacy on Earth! – Ad Hominem • Confusing the quality of a person making a claim with the quality of the claim itself. • Several Types of Ad Hominem Fallacies 1. Personal Attack Ad Hominem 2. Inconsistency Ad Hominem 3. Circumstantial Ad Hominem Fallacies Typical Structure • Person A makes claim X. • Person B discredits Person A. • Person B then concludes that claim X is false. Fallacies Ad Hominem Fallacies #4. Special Type: Poisoning The Well –Ad hominem in advance. Giving bad impression. –Questioning the arguer before they even argue. “Senator Clinton is going to give a talk tonight on Iraq. Well, it’s just gonna be more baloney. That gal will say anything to get a vote.” “I don’t think Dave killed his wife.” - Even a denial poisons the well. “Dave owns a cat.” – does not poison the well. Fallacies Ad Hominem Fallacy #5. Special Type: Positive Ad Hominem Believing that if a person or group has positive attributes then we have more reason to believe their claims. “He saved the children from the burning building. He must be right when he says aliens attacked us.” “The NRA is awesome. So, their proposals should all be awesome too.” Fallacies Related to Ad Hominem Fallacy #6. Genetic Fallacy Rejecting an idea as false because it came from a defective source: clubs, political parties, other groups, etc. (not a specific individual) “Does God exist? Of course not. That idea originated with a bunch of ignorant people who knew nothing about science.” How is this different? “John says God exists. What nonsense. He’s just saying that because he works for a church.” • Circumstantial ad hominem. Fallacies Ad Hominem •Personal Attack •Inconsistency •Circumstantial •Poisoning The Well •Positive Genetic Group Exercise In groups of 3 to 6 Complete Exercise 7-1: #2, 3, 5, 6, 9 2. Inconsistency ad hominem 3. Poisoning the well 5. Genetic fallacy 6. Inconsistency ad hominem 9. Circumstantial ad hominem Fallacies What’s wrong with this argument? “Do I want the police department to take charge of writing parking tickets? You mean, do I want to get shot if I pull up next to a fire hydrant? What do you think?” Issue: Should the police department to take charge of writing parking tickets? Conclusion: No. Police departments shouldn’t…. Premise: Because I don’t want to get shot if I pull up next to a fire hydrant. (huh?) Fallacies #7. Straw Man Fallacy • Distorting, oversimplifying, or misrepresenting a claim so that it is easier to refute. “Do I want the police department to take charge of writing parking tickets? You mean, do I want to get shot if I pull up next to a fire hydrant? What do you think?” Fallacies Where is the Straw Man Fallacy? Fallacies What’s wrong with this argument? “Either we vote for a democratic president or the country is going to go into the gutter.” Issue: Whether we should vote for a democratic president. Conclusion: Yes. We should… Premise: I don’t want the country to go into the gutter. Fallacies #8. False Dilemma • Limiting considerations to only two alternatives although others may be available (either/or, all/nothing, etc…) “I don’t know why Barbara won’t go out with me. She must think I’m too intense for her.” •Special Types: • Perfectionist Fallacy • Line-Drawing Fallacy Fallacies Where is the False Dilemma?