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Fallacies IM TFY 9e C9

CHAPTER 9: FALLACIES 
  
TEACHING OVERVIEW 
  
You will find that students are highly interested in fallacies, but have difficulty remembering their names and separating one from the other. I have tried many ways to work with this problem, applying new explanations and exercises, as well as different ways of classifying and presenting. In the past I divided fallacies into those related to inductive reasoning and those related to deductive. Yet this was an arbitrary division and not totally accurate, as many fallacies did not fit neatly into either category. Moreover, I found students were overwhelmed when they tried to learn all of the basic fallacies in one chapter alone. Therefore the past editions have presented another solution. This chapter is devoted to all the basic fallacies not clearly related to inductive reasoning. It serves as an initial introduction to some basic fallacies that, in this ninth edition, are divided into two parts for easier understanding and retention. (The three fallacies that manipulate through language were removed and are now covered in the word precision chapter.) In this edition there are also more examples, more treatment, and more discussion questions to illustrate each fallacy. The chapter quiz has also been expanded. Finally, in response to reviewer requests, a reading is included: a speech by Richard Nixon. (More about that later.) 
  
You will need to give your students all the practice exercises if you want to enable them to remember and identify these two groups of fallacies by name. Students will find some of the fallacies confusing because they appear overlapping. (They will, for instance, have difficulty differentiating poisoning the well from personal attack, red herring from circular reasoning, and appeal to authority from a legitimate authority.) Most likely they will need to go through practice drills for at least two class periods. 
  
I have found that students remember fallacies better if they can understand the kinds of thinking that created them. My goal is to make the study of fallacies a subject for understanding, amusement, and compassion, all reactions of participation that, in turn, aid memory retention. 
  
ANSWERS TO DISCOVERY EXERCISE (p. 256) 
  
All of the fallacies listed in question 3 apply. 
  
ANSWERS TO CLASS DISCUSSION ON APPEALS TO FEAR AND PITY (p. 259) 
  
  1. Appeal to pity 
  2. Appeal to pity 
  3. Appeal to fear (and revulsion) 
  4. Not fallacious 
  5. Appeal to pity that seems legitimate. 
  6. Appeal to fear 
  
ANSWERS TO CLASS DISCUSSION ON APPEALS TO FALSE AUTHORITY (p. 262) 
  
  1. Legitimate if true 
  2. Fallacious 
  3. Fallacious 
  4. Fallacious 
  5. Fallacious 
  6. Fallacious 
  7. Legitimate 
  8. Fallacious 
  
ANSWERS TO CLASS DISCUSSION ON PERSONAL ATTACK (p. 264) 
  
Questions 1, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are personal attacks that divert attention from the issue. Questions 2 and 3 raise pertinent issues. 
ANSWERS TO CLASS DISCUSSION ON POISONING THE WELL (p. 266) 
  
Questions 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7 poison the well; question 3 does not. Question 2 is a movie review that has the license to poison the well and does so. 
  
ANSWERS TO CLASS DISCUSSION ON RED HERRING (p.269) 
  
  1. The issue is whether or not TV is harmful to children. The diversion is into its use for babysitting in the relative safety of home versus playing in the streets. 
  2. The issue is whether or not he used steroids. The diversion is the baseball player's claim of his mission. 
  3. The issue is her responsibility for making false assurances to the public. The diversion is into who is to blame for 9/11. 
  4. The issue is an objection to the neighbor's TV volume. The diversion is a retort about showers at midnight. (This is also the fallacy of pointing to another wrong.) 
  5. The issue is breaking the law by smoking in a car with children present. The diversion is about exhaling out the window. 
  6. The issue is the need for more jobs. The diversion is public debt and future generations. 
  
ANSWERS TO CLASS DISCUSSION ON STRAW MAN (p. 271) 
  
Straw man arguments appear in questions 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6. Only question 5 is a non-fallacious assertion. 
  
ANSWERS TO CLASS DISCUSSION ON CIRCULAR REASONING (p. 273) 
  
  1. Missing reasons would provide examples of intelligent movie star behavior, achievements, or characteristics. 
  2. Missing reasons would explain why concealed weapons should be discretionary. 
  3. Missing reasons would explain why cursing is wrong and therefore immoral. 
  4. Missing reasons would explain why the experiences of being a mother and realtor would make this candidate a good supervisor. 
  5. Missing reasons would explain what "best funded" means and why "best funding" necessarily results in "best defense." 
  6. Miss Alabama forgets that the question is hypothetical. She gets lost in circular reasoning about living forever without offering her reasons for believing that we can't or should not live forever. 
  7. The promised reason, or evidence, never arrives in this sentence. 
  
DISCUSSION OF CHECKERS SPEECH (p. 276) 
  
Reviewers have asked me to offer readings that contain fallacies so that students might discover them in their context. Finding such readings is not difficult, but receiving permission to reprint them poses problems since few would want to have their deficiencies exposed, much less featured. Thus I have had to rely heavily on public domain speeches or quotes from government officials. This brings us to the so- called "Checkers" speech. 
  
One can find a lot of commentary about it online, some admiring and some scoffing. Yet all agree it remains a masterpiece of persuasion. Some claim this is because it excels in demagoguery. Others point to its remarkable success because of its novelty in 1952, its attraction of 60 million television viewers, and its catapult of Nixon into a politically secure position as a vice presidential candidate. 
Students today may well wonder what the fuss was all about: why would Nixon defend himself against the charge of having accepted a measly $18,000 ($140,000 in today's dollars) from his supporters? Since we now live in times when both congressmen and political candidates receive millions from special interest groups in return for favors, Nixon's crisis now seem a non problem. Yet at that time, Eisenhower was running for office on the basis of the claim that only the Democrats were corrupt, not the Republicans. Therefore, when Nixon came under suspicion, Eisenhower wanted him removed from the ticket. For this reason, Nixon was desperate to redeem himself. 
  
The speech can be found online in lists of the greatest of all times. If you are an admirer of Nixon, that might be enough for you. If you tend to be critical of his whole record, then you might consider his speech as a fascinating example of the successful use of manipulative techniques, such as Plain Folks (I am       just like you) wrapped up in appeal to pity, red herring, and straw man arguments. Furthermore, a close study of the whole argument would also reveal personal attacks through innuendo, appeals to fear, loaded questions, and missing crucial information. 
  
One scholar has written an interesting study of its mythic power as Nixon presents himself as The Moral Man, The Man Who Lived the American Dream, and The Patriot. Nixon even compared himself in this speech to Abraham Lincoln. Nevertheless, the question remains: Was Nixon indeed quite innocent of the charge, or was this speech a clever cover-up? In any case, it was undoubtedly a spectacularly successful campaign speech that brought Nixon and the Republicans into office. 
  
Writing and Discussion Questions 
  
  1. In this excerpt Nixon does not offer evidence to support his denials that none of the money given him bought his influence or enriched his personal life. He does not offer the names or affiliations of his supporters or his voting record as a senator. He does dwell on the specifics of his home budget figures, which, once verified, would offer evidence of a modest lifestyle. But this information might not rule out feathered bank accounts or mattresses filled with cash. Records do show that the Republican National Committee raised $75,000 from his supporters to pay for the filming and broadcasting of this speech. In an earlier part of his speech Nixon does claim to have received an audit from a Los Angeles firm together with a legal opinion that stated that nothing illegal was done and no income received was reportable for income tax. Whether or not this audit was genuine and truly independent, we may never know. Also his claim that "no income received that was reportable as income tax" might still allow for cash or off shore bank accounts. 
  2. Red herring. The detailed account of his life and fiscal history could be demonstrating transparency while diverting attention away from his claim that he did nothing morally wrong since his fund was not secret and it did not buy his influence or enrich his personal life. 
  3. Appeal to pity might be said to appear as he compares himself and his wife to the rich Adlai Stevenson as well as his protest of victimization for having been "smeared." Certainly the wife's cloth coat and the family dog that might be taken away from his children (straw man) have been widely recognized as appeals to pity (and for admiration for his pride). 
  4. One could say that the whole excerpt presented here is a red herring/straw man appeal in that he offers a very long, fact-detailed tale of his frugal but honest middle class lifestyle (values shared by most of his audience). Thus he is able to win over their sympathy and trust while diverting attention away from missing evidence in support of his claims that he never received any funds in exchange for influence or for his own comforts. Finally the straw man story of the dog brings on the tears, diverting attention from the fact that none of his detractors had made such a threat. 
ANSWERS TO CHAPTER QUIZ ON FALLACIES (pp. 277-279) 
  
1. 
Appeal to pity 
13. 
Appeal false 
22. 
Red herring 
2. 
Personal attack 
  
authority 
23. 
Non-fallacious 
3. 
Non-fallacious 
14. 
Poisoning the well 
24. 
Red herring 
4. 
Bandwagon 
15. 
Poisoning the well 
25. 
Circular reasoning 
5. 
Bandwagon 
16. 
Straw man 
26. 
Circular reasoning 
6. 
Bandwagon 
17. 
Straw man / 
27. 
Red herring 
7. 
Appeal to fear 
  
poisoning the well 
28. 
Pointing to another 
8. 
Non-fallacious 
18. 
Straw man 
  
wrong 
9. 
Personal attack 
19. 
Straw man 
29. 
Pointing to another 
10. 
Appeal to fear 
20. 
Pointing to another 
  
wrong 
11. 
Appeal to pity 
  
wrong 
30. 
Circular reasoning 
12. 
Non-fallacious 
21. 
Pointing to another 
  
  
  
  
  
wrong 
  
  
PRACTICE FALLACIES TEST 
  
Part One 
  
Label the following items as Not Fallacious, Straw Man, or Personal Attack. 
  
  1.      To those people who are protesting fracking, I say: Where are the people with two heads? Where is the mushroom cloud? 
  
  1.      When you support picketing, you support a conspiracy to commit extortion through disruption of business. 
  
  1.      Nancy Pelosi, Representative from California, also known as the Botox representative, always supports Obama. 
  
  1.      You're just a jerk! You don't know what you are talking about. 
  
  1.      That right-wing radio commentator is a black-hearted lie-spewing beast. 
  
  1.      "The late H. L. Hunt was one of the battiest billionaires Texas ever produced. The old trigamist (one better than a bigamist) used to crawl around his Dallas mansion spouting ultra-conservative drivel." (Molly Ivins, Ft. Worth Star Telegram) 
  
Part Two 
  
Label the following items as Not Fallacious, Bandwagon, or Poisoning the Well. 
  
  1.      Don't listen when the Republicans talk about women's issues. They want to roll back their rights to the Middle Ages. 
  
  1.      "Every criminal, every gambler, every thug, every libertine, every girl ruiner, every home wrecker, every wife beater, every dope peddler, every crooked politician is fighting the Ku Klux Klan. Think it over. What side are you on?" 
  
  1.      In Boston, everyone who is anyone reads The Globe. 
  
  1.      You should get a super chic haircut with some hair hanging over your eyes. Don't you want to be with it? 
  
  1.      Don't vote for Proposition 14. The polls show it will lose 4 to 1. 
  
  1.      You should ride your bicycle to work. It is easy to park and does not pollute the air. 
Part Three 
  
Label the following items as Not Fallacious, Red Herring, or Pointing to Another Wrong. 
  
  1.      I can't understand why the U.S. government accuses China of human rights violations when the U.S. has the highest violent crime rate in the world. Why can't the U.S. protect the rights of innocent people from random violence? 
  
  1.      The level of mercury in seafood may be unsafe, but what will fishers do to support their families? 
  
  1.      Politician #1: In your television ad you took what I said totally out of context; you lied about what I said. Politician #2: If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. 
  
  1.      Policeman: I am giving you a citation for driving your car in the bicycle lane. Driver: Officer, I have seen dozens of drivers do this every day at this corner for years now, but I have never seen you around here before. 
  
  1.      I think a kid who wants to protect himself should be able to bring a gun to school. After all, he is only exercising his constitutional right. 
  
  1.      Why do you object to people smoking? What are you doing about the problems of smog pollution? Exhaust fumes are far more likely to give people lung cancer. 
  
Part Four 
  
Label these as Not Fallacious, Appeal to Fear, Appeal to Pity, False Authority, or Circular Reasoning. 
  
  1.      You can help this sad and ragged Guatemalan orphan child with a donation, or you can turn the page. 
  
  1.      If we legalize drugs, the addicts will get their legal fix, then go out and steal, mug, and murder to get more from illegal sources. 
  
  1.      Inside sources hinted that the President has resumed smoking. 
  
  1.      Lady Gaga recommended that all children should be required to attend summer school. 
  
  1.      Reducing military expenditures will result in our annihilation. 
  
  1.      People should not have to pay an inheritance tax since an inheritance is a gift from one's family. 
  
  1.      The reason that I say you should learn to drive is because you should learn to drive. 
Part Five 
  
Identify each statement as true or false in the blanks provided. 
  
  1.      A personal attack is an argument that attacks an opponent's position by presenting it in an unfair manner: by misrepresentation, caricature, ridicule, or oversimplification. 
  
  1.      A red herring fallacy seeks to divert attention to irrelevancies instead of proving the argument. 
  
  1.      An appeal to authority is never justified. 
  
  1.      A straw man, by definition, is an argument in which slanted language is used to persuade. 
  
  1.      The fallacy of pointing to another wrong is an appeal to fear or pity. 
FALLACIES TEST 
  
Part One 
  
Identify each of the following statements as true or false. If the statement is false, revise it into the simplest revision you can to make it read true, not forgetting to strike out what no longer applies. 
  
  1.      The fallacy of appeal to bandwagon consists of a personal attack. 
  
  
  1.      The red herring fallacy's effectiveness stems from an appeal to emotion. 
  
  
  1.      The fallacy of pointing to another wrong is also called two wrongs make a right. 
  
  
  1.      The fallacy of appeal to false authority means appealing to phony, vague, or inappropriate authorities. 
  
  
Part Two 
  
Identify the following arguments as either NF ("not fallacious") or as of one the fallacious arguments indicated. You may feel that more than one applies; choose the ONE you decide is most appropriate. 
  
Section One: Identify the following six items as NF, Appeal to Pity, Appeal to Fear, Personal Attack, or 
Bandwagon. 
  
  1.      If you don't want your job replaced by a robot, you'd better agree to a cut in pay. 
  
  1.      She's just one wacko. 
  
  1.      Get yourself a Sherlock Holmes hat; that's really cool now. 
  
  1.      The mayor says he wants to hire more police to keep law and order in this city. Yet we all know he is a sleazebag whose wife just got fed up and left him. 
  
  1.      Berkeley, California, has become a police state as police presence has increased from 12 cops to 40 to 60 on any given weekend night. 
  
  1.      How can you, as a friend, ask me about that loan you gave me five years ago? Can't you see I am a sick man, with two small children to support? 
  
Section Two: Identify the five items below as NF, Appeal to False Authority, Poisoning the Well, or Red Herring. 
  
  1.      Alex Rodriguez, baseball star, said that children should have longer school days. 
  2.      "Our former San Francisco supervisor has just published a memoir which is an astounding mix of fresh ideas, self-serving recollections, outraged pronouncements, the usual baloney of politics and more whining than we can stand." (S.F. Chronicle, March 31, 1997) 
  
  1.      TV can't be harmful to children because it occupies their attention for hours and keeps them off the streets. 
  
  1.      Why do you always complain when I charge things on your credit card? You are always complaining no matter what I do! 
  
  1.      Actress Sharon Stone says that a diet of lettuce and candy bars keeps people young and their energy high. 
  
Section Three: Identify the ten items below as NF, Pointing to Another Wrong, Straw Man, Poisoning the Well, or Circular Reasoning. 
  
  1.      Of all the screwball, asinine, muddle-headed letters I have ever seen from this newspaper's readers, the one from Detroit advocating the legalization of drugs takes the cake. 
  
  1.      I haven't got the time to recycle my belongings when I move. I'll just throw everything into the dumpster like everyone else in this neighborhood does. 
  
  1.      Man to mother-in-law: "What do you mean your grandson might be getting colds from eating too much sugar? Sure, he likes Coke and candy, but I don't exactly open his throat and force a cup of sugar down it!" 
  
  1.      Doctor: "You need to get more exercise. Why don't you walk on your lunch break over to the cafeteria and back?" Patient: "Doctor, I can't do that. I always bring my own lunch." 
  
  1.      The price of $45.00 for a concert ticket is too high a price for most students. 
  
  1.      A sugar-free diet is good for your health. If you want to be healthy, don't eat sugar. 
  
  1.      The reason I keep insisting that we need to reduce the deficit is because we need to reduce the deficit. 
  
  1.      All these people who object to opening up Alaska to oil drilling will tell you that drilling will put an end to Santa Claus's workshop and herds of reindeer. 
  
  1.      Don't listen to that TV station. It offers nothing but lies and propaganda. 
  
  1.      When I study late, I have trouble sleeping. 
ANSWERS TO PRACTICE TEST ON FALLACIES 
  
1. 
Straw man 
12. 
Not fallacious 
21. 
False authority 
2. 
Straw man 
13. 
Pointing to another 
22. 
False authority 
3. 
Personal attack 
  
wrong 
23. 
Appeal to fear 
4. 
Personal attack 
14. 
Red herring 
24. 
Circular reasoning 
5. 
Personal attack 
15. 
Red herring 
25. 
Circular reasoning 
6. 
Personal attack 
16. 
Pointing to another 
26. 
False 
7. 
Poisoning the well 
  
wrong 
27. 
True 
8. 
Poisoning the well 
17. 
Red herring 
28. 
False 
9. 
Bandwagon 
18. 
Red herring 
29. 
False 
10. 
Bandwagon 
19. 
Appeal to pity 
30. 
False 
11. 
Bandwagon 
20. 
Appeal to fear 
  
  
  
ANSWERS TO FALLACIES TEST 
  
  1. False 
  2. False 
  3. True 
  4. True 
  5. Appeal to fear 
  6. Personal attack 
  7. Bandwagon 
  8. Personal attack 
  9. Appeal to fear 
  10. Appeal to pity 
  11. False authority 
  12. Poisoning the well 
  13. Red herring 
  14. Red herring 
  15. False authority 
  16. Poisoning the well 
  17. Pointing to another wrong 
  18. Straw man 
  19. Straw man 
  20. Not fallacious 
  21. Circular reasoning 
  22. Circular reasoning 
  23. Straw man 
  24. Poisoning the well 
Not fallacious 

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