REVIEW OF CHAPTER 5

1. What is a fallacy?

2. What is a fallacy of relevance?

3. How many types of fallacies of relevance are there?

 CHAPTER 5: FALLACIES OF RELEVANCE

1. Personal attack (Ad Hominem)

2. Attacking the motive
3. Look who’s talking (Tu Quoque)
4. Two wrongs make a right
5. Scare tactic
6. Appeal to pity (emotion)
7. Bandwagon argument (Appeal to popularity)
8. Straw man
9. Red herring
10. Equivocation
11. Begging the question (circular reasoning)
 Assignment

Fallacy type: Equivocation

Source: 12 cung hoang da
 Assignment

Fallacy type: Straw man

Source: Tiktok
 Assignment

Fallacy type: Red herring

Source: Tiktok
 Assignment

Fallacy type: Equivocation

Source:T., M. (2023). Traditional Vietnamese ao dai designs [Image]. Pinterest.
https://pin.it/6ZNEof6Pw
 Assignment

Fallacy type: attacking the motive

Source:facebook
 CHAPTER 6

Logical Fallacies
of
Insufficient Evidence
 Fallacies of Insufficient Evidence
1. Inappropriate appeal to authority
2. Appeal to ignorance
3. False alternatives
4. Loaded question
5. Questionable cause
6. Hasty generalization vs. Composition
7. Division
8. Slippery slope
9. Weak analogy
10.Inconsistency
 Do you accept the argument?

‘My gardener told me that Donald

Trump will win the third term in
2028. So I definitely believe
Trump will continue to develop
the U.S.’

To remove the fallacy of this type, more information must be provided.

 ‘My gardener, who is a retired popular political analyst, told me that Donald
Trump will win in 2024. So I definitely believe Trump will continue to develop the
U.S.’
 1. Inappropriate Appeal to Authority

Authority: citations for credibility/reliability

1. Who can we believe? sources

2. What can we believe? claims/facts
 1. Inappropriate Appeal to Authority

A. Sources: Ways we can question credibility:

1. Are they a true authority/expert?
2. Are they biased on certain issues?
3. Are they generally reliable?
4. Are they cited correctly?
 1. Question their expertise

‘My gardener told me that Donald

Trump will win the third term in
2028. So I definitely believe
Trump will continue to develop
the U.S.’

Question to check expertise: Is/Was your gardener a true

political analyst/expert? (This information is not mentioned:
insufficient evidence)
 Task: Question their expertise

-> Questions to check expertise:

1. Is Trump a true medical expert?

2. Has FDA (Food & Drug Administration) approved of the medicines?

Task: Question their expertise
 2. Question their biasedness

-> Questions to check biasedness:

Are there any verifications from independent evaluators?

 3. Question their credibility

Before the match After the match

https://newsbeezer.com/vietnameng/vff-officially-sues-referee-al-jassim-to-fifa-for-forced-vietnam-tel-to-fight-australia-in-the-game/

-> Questions to check reliability:

Is this website generally trustworthy?

 4. Question their citation

Aristotle, one of the world greatest

philosophers, said that netizens don’t

bother to check the sources of internet

quotes. So I’ll post any quotes I feel like

sharing and don’t care about authors.

-> Questions to check citation:

Was Aristotle cited correctly (Did he live in the Internet age?)

 1. Inappropriate Appeal to Authority (cont)

B. Claims/Facts: Ways we can question credibility

5. Are the authority’s observations questionable?

6. Does the authority’s opinion disagree with expert
consensus?
7. Is the authority’s claim highly improbable?
 5. Question their observations

‘Rick says he saw the ghost of

his father last night when he
came home from a bar. We
must believe him because he
never lies.’

5. Question to check observations:

Was he drunk last night, so his observation was not real?

 6. Question their peers’ consensus

‘Prof. Bui Hien said Vietnam has to reform

its writing system. So, we will change all
the textbooks.’

This is a recommendation by an
individual linguist, not by the
linguistic community. More
importantly, it’s not the Government’s
reform policy.
-> Question to check consensus:

Did Prof. Bui Hien gain other linguistic researchers’ consensus?

 7. Question their claim’s possibility

-> Question to check possibility:

Is his claim highly improbable?
 2. Appeal to Ignorance

• Arguer claims something is true, because he fails to

prove it’s false (or visa-versa).

Ex: There is no life on other

planets. We have not found any!

-> This type of fallacy is synonymous with unwarranted assumption.

2. Appeal to Ignorance (cont’)
 2. Appeal to Ignorance (cont’)

March 25, 2014

March 8, 2014

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib: “With deep sadness and

regret that I must inform you that, according to new data,
flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean."
https://www.newdelhitimes.com/malaysia-says-mh370-crashed-in-indian-ocean/
 3. False Alternatives
• Arguer insists that there are fewer choices than there
actually are.
Ex: You can take the bus 52 to IU, or you must take a
taxi instead. No student wants to waste money on
taxi. Therefore, you have to take the bus 52.

• They also can be in the form of an “if… then.”

If you can’t get IELTS 5.5, you cannot take courses in your
university program.
Either you have IELTS 5.5 or you cannot take courses in
your university program.
 3. False alternatives (cont’)

Explanation: There are far more

possibilities for the man being on
the pavement as a drunkard, not
only a lack of education

Source: https://digitalsynopsis.com/design/graphic-design-funny-memes-jokes/
 3. False Alternatives (cont’)
I think the plane is still
in the air or has
crashed into the sea.

"I feel so ashamed as a Malaysian for the first time, not

because of any wrongdoing on Malaysia's part but for having
a brainless prime minister. Stop losing Malaysia's face!"
https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/china-mocks-malaysia-for-hiring-witch-doctor-to
-find-missing-plane-184746-2014-03-13
 3. False Alternatives

Fun: What is the woman’s answer?

 4. Loaded Question

A loaded question contains an/some unfair or

questionable assumption(s).
Example:
Are you still in favor of this irresponsible decision?
There are multiple questions “rolled up” into one:

• Do you think the decision is irresponsible?

• Did you support the decision?
• Will you support the decision?
 Reid technique for questioning suspects

- Loaded questions: Implicit

assumptions of guilt
- Alternative questions: Narrow
down choices, both implying guilt
Examples:

- Why did you kill her? >< ‘Did you kill her?’

-> Did you plan this out or did it happen unexpectedly?

 5. Questionable Cause

- The post hoc fallacy: suggesting that A causes B

just because A came before B.

- Mere correlation fallacy: suggesting that the

constant occurrences of A and B entails that they are
causally related.

- Oversimplified cause fallacy: suggesting that A is

the cause of B when clearly B has many causes.
 5. Questionable Cause
– The post hoc fallacy:
Ex: I saw a black cat on my way to school, then I was caught
cheating. The black cat caused my bad luck.
– Mere correlation fallacy:
Ex: Every morning this week I ate eggs, and every day I failed
the exam. I should stop eating eggs.
– Oversimplified cause fallacy:
Ex: Since the city increased the presence of police, crime rates
have greatly declined in reports. Clearly, this is an effective
policy of the government.
 Questionable Cause

- Post hoc fallacy:

Ex: I couldn’t find my earrings last night and
this morning the maid went out. She obviously
took my earrings out for sale!

- Mere correlation:
Ex: I can’t find my earrings anywhere. Hmm,
do you see that these days, the maid behaves
unnaturally?
Questionable Cause: Which type is it?

What is the man going to do?

Questionable Cause: Which type is it?
Questionable Cause: Which type is it?

https://fsi.stanford.edu/news/china-covid19-origin-narrative
 6. Hasty Generalization
• arguers draws a general conclusion from a sample
that is biased or too small.
– Biased sample:
I polled 100 professors from 100 schools, only 25% of them believed in
God. I guess most Americans don’t believe in God anymore.

– Too small sample:

I asked my professors if they believed in God, and only one did. I guess
professors don’t believe in God anymore.
6. Hasty Generalization (cont)
6. Hasty Generalization (cont)
 6. Hasty generalization vs. Composition

1. Hasty generalization
A general conclusion from a biased or small sample (involving actions)
Example: We interviewed 100 college students and 90 of
these students had a good IELTS or TOELF iBT or TOEIC
certificate before graduation. So, most college graduates
have good English proficiency.

2. Composition
Assuming, without good reason, that what is true of the parts is
also true of the whole (involving properties/components)

Example: Half of the items on sale in this shop are second-

hand. So, this is a second-hand shop.
 Practice
Identify the fallacies of generalization or composition.

1. "I saw a dog bite a boy dangerously yesterday. Therefore, dogs are dangerous
with their teeth."

2. "Each player on the basketball team is tall. So, the whole team must be tall."

3. "I watched a foreign film and found it boring. So, all foreign films are boring."

4. "Each member of the committee is highly experienced. Therefore, the entire

committee must be highly effective."
 7. Division

Assuming that what is true of a group as a whole, as a

composite thing, must be true of every member of that
group (stereotype)

Example: Most/Nearly all of the items on sale in this shop

are second-hand. So, this toothbrush is a second-
hand item.
 8. The Slippery Slope

Arguers claims, without sufficient evidence,

that an action will lead to a terrible one.

Common form: A leads to B, and B leads

to C, and C to do D, and we really don’t
want D. Thus, we shouldn’t do A.

Stella argued that we should legalize same-sex marriage. But allowing

same-sex marriage would undermine respect for traditional marriage.
Traditional marriage is the very foundation of our society. If that foundation is
destroyed, our whole society will collapse. Thus, if we want to prevent the
complete disintegration of our society, we must oppose the legalization of
same-sex marriage.
8. The Slippery Slope (cont)
 9. Weak Analogy
• arguer compares two (or more) things that aren’t
really comparable in the relevant respect.
– My ex-boyfriend was tall, handsome, rich, and kind. Now
that he left me, I found John who is tall, handsome and
rich. So he’s surely a perfect replacement for me.
• Common forms:
– A has characteristics w, x, y and z. B has characteristics w,
x and y. Therefore, B probably has characteristic z, too.
– A is x and y. B is x and y. C is x. So C is y.
 9. Weak Analogy

“There is nothing to worry about: the panic is more dangerous than the virus, the
mortality rate of COVID-19 has been severely inflated, and besides, the flu also kills
hundreds of thousands every year – so why make all this fuss?”

(The Conversation, April 3, 2020)

 10. Inconsistency
• The arguer make two logically contradictory claims, or says and does
opposite things.
• Common form:
– A and not A
 10. Inconsistency (Cont)

H&M boycott failed due to big sales in

Vietnam (April, 2021)
They say “boycott” to H&M but they rush in
for their products!
10. Inconsistency (Cont)

https://tuoitre.vn/gio-trai-dat-tat-den-nhung-xa-rac-430820.htm
REVIEW: FALLACIES

CHAPTERS 5 + 6
CHAPTER 5: FALLACIES OF RELEVANCE CHAPTER 6: FALLACIES OF INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

1. Personal attack (Ad Hominem) 1. Inappropriate appeal to authority

2. Attacking the motive 2. Appeal to ignorance
3. Look who’s talking (Tu Quoque) 3. False alternatives
4. Two wrongs make a right 4. Loaded question
5. Scare tactic (appeal to force) 5. Questionable cause
6. Appeal to pity (appeal to emotion) 6. Hasty generalization vs. Composition
7. Bandwagon argument (appeal to popularity) 7. Division
8. Straw man 8. Slippery slope
9. Red herring 9. Weak analogy
10. Equivocation 10. Inconsistency
11. Begging the question (circular reasoning)
WHICH FALLACY IS IT?

Appeal to ignorance
WHICH FALLACY IS IT?

Tu Quoque
WHICH FALLACIES ARE THEY?
Appeal to ignorance

Inappropriate appeal to authority

WHICH FALLACY IS IT?

Begging the question

WHICH FALLACY IS IT?

Slippery slope
WHICH FALLACY IS IT?
WHICH FALLACY IS IT?

Questionable cause
 WHICH FALLACIES ARE THERE?

Hasty generalization Personal attack

Loaded question
WHICH FALLACY IS IT?

Begging the question

WHICH FALLACY IS IT?

False alternatives
Name the fallacies
Name the fallacies
Name the fallacies
 Assignment

Find at least five fallacies of any type from ONE RECENT

POST in social media (with source). Discuss with your
teammates to select the most appropriate fallacies.

Link to submit:

https://forms.gle/tLuknCfvN5iqEwMW9

Note: Delete lesson slides; only keep the assignment slides.

 Fallacy of insufficient evidence
Input

Fallacy type:
Source:
 Fallacy of insufficient evidence
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Fallacy type:
Source:
 Fallacy of insufficient evidence
Input

Fallacy type:
Source:
 Fallacy of insufficient evidence
Input

Fallacy type:
Source:
 Fallacy of insufficient evidence
Input:

Fallacy type:
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 Attendance check (3 minutes)

Week 10
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