Professional Teacher's Exam (Florida)

Terms in this set (115)

Informal - non structural flaws.
1. Argument from Ignorance- true b/c not proven false.
2. Ad Hominem- attack the opponent
3. Begs the question- conclusion of the argument as a premise.
4. Equivocation- use of a term with more than one meaning.
5. False dilemma (false dichotomy, fallacy of bifurcation, black-or-white fallacy) - two alternative statements as the only possible options.
6. Fallacy of many questions- presupposes something not accepted by all the people involved.
7. Inflation of conflict - Experts of a field disagree on a certain point, so scholars know nothing, and legitimacy of their entire field is in question.
8. Ignoratio elenchi -(irrelevant conclusion) argument may be valid, but does not address the issue.
9. Mind projection fallacy- one considers the way one sees the world as the way the world really is.
10. Moralistic fallacy- inferring factual conclusions from purely evaluative premises. Inferring "is" from "ought." Inverse of naturalistic fallacy.
11.Moving the goalposts (raising the bar) - evidence to a specific claim dismissed and other (often greater) evidence demanded.
12. Onus probandi- burden of proof is on the person who makes the claim not the person who denies (or questions the claim).
13. Post hoc ergo propter hoc Latin for "after this, therefore because of this" (faulty cause/effect, coincidental correlation, correlation without causation) - X happened, then Y happened; therefore X caused Y.
14. Psychologist's fallacy - an observer presupposes the objectivity of his own perspective when analyzing a behavioral event.
15. Red herring - a speaker attempts to distract an audience by deviating from the topic at hand by introducing a separate argument the speaker believes is easier to speak to.
16. Reification (hypostatization) - a fallacy of ambiguity, when an abstraction (abstract belief or hypothetical construct) is treated as if it were a concrete, real event or physical entity. In other words, it is the error of treating as a "real thing" something that is not a real thing, but merely an idea.
17. Retrospective determinism - the argument that because some event has occurred, its occurrence must have been inevitable beforehand.
18. Shotgun argumentation - the arguer offers such a large number of arguments for their position that the opponent can't possibly respond to all of them. (See "Argument by verbosity" and "Gish Gallop", above.)
19. Special pleading - where a proponent of a position attempts to cite something as an exemption to a generally accepted rule or principle without justification.
20. Wrong direction - cause and effect are reversed.
Red herring - irrelevant argument draws attention away from the subject of argument.

1. Ad hominem - attacking the arguer not the argument.
2. Argumentum ad populum (appeal to widespread belief, bandwagon argument, - claimed to be true or good solely because many people believe
3. Appeal to equality - where an assertion is deemed true or false based on an assumed pretense of equality.
4. Association fallacy (guilt by association) - arguing that because two things share a property they are the same.
5. Appeal to authority (argumentum ab auctoritate) - where an assertion is deemed true because of the position or authority of the person asserting it.
6. Appeal to accomplishment - where an assertion is deemed true or false based on the accomplishments of the proposer.
7. Appeal to consequences (argumentum ad consequentiam) - the conclusion is supported by a premise that asserts positive or negative consequences from some course of action in an attempt to distract from the initial discussion.
8. Appeal to emotion - where an argument is made due to the manipulation of emotions, rather than the use of valid reasoning.
9. Appeal to motive - a premise is dismissed by calling into question the motives of its proposer.
10. Appeal to novelty (argumentum novitatis/antiquitatis) - a proposal is claimed to be superior solely because it is new or modern.
11. Appeal to poverty (argumentum ad Lazarum) - supporting a conclusion because the arguer is poor (or refuting because the arguer is wealthy). (Opposite of appeal to wealth.)
12. Appeal to tradition (argumentum ad antiquitam) - a conclusion supported solely because it has long been held true.
13. Appeal to nature - wherein judgment is based solely on whether the subject of judgment is 'natural' or 'unnatural'.
14. Appeal to wealth (argumentum ad crumenam) - supporting a conclusion because the arguer is wealthy (or refuting because the arguer is poor).
15. Argument from silence (argumentum ex silentio) -conclusion based on silence or lack of contrary evidence.
16. Genetic fallacy - where a conclusion is based solely on something/someone's origin not its current meaning or context.
17. Naturalistic fallacy (is-ought fallacy, naturalistic fallacy) - claims about what ought to be on the basis of statements about what is.
18. Reductio ad Hitlerum (playing the Nazi card) - comparing an opponent or their argument to Hitler or Nazism in an attempt to associate a position with one that is universally reviled. (Godwin's law)
19. Straw man-argument based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position.
20. Tu quoque ("you too", appeal to hypocrisy, I'm rubber and you're glue) - the argument states that a certain position is false or wrong and/or should be disregarded because its proponent fails to act consistently about that position.
21. Two wrongs make a right - occurs when it is assumed that if one wrong is committed, another wrong will cancel it.