Choose three of the common “fallacies” described in the reading, and write one short essay defining and explaining each of these three fallacies. You must include a specific example of each fallacy.

Formatting Guidelines:

Your submission must:

Include an Introduction and a Conclusion
Follow APA format: 12 point, Times New Roman font, double-spaced, one inch margins.
Include a Title page and page numbers in APA format
This essay should not be more than 2 pages.
Avoid the use of 1st and 2nd person.

ANSWER

Common Logical Fallacies

A fallacy is the use of faulty, invalid, and flawed reasoning while constructing and making arguments. Logical fallacies can be formal or informal, often described as lacking evidence to support and prove the claims and arguments made. Formal fallacies are logic errors, whereby premises do not support conclusions made in arguments. Informal fallacies involve using extraneous information to make arguments based on assumptions that are proven false when examined. Fallacious arguments are considered deceptive, despite appearing to be better. Both formal and informal fallacies undermine the logical validity of arguments, speakers, and writers as they make productive arguments non-viable and inappropriately manipulate reader and audience emotions. This essay defines three common logical fallacies: strawman, ad hominem and hasty generalization fallacies. It also uses practical examples of conclusive comprehension and applicability in our everyday life.

Strawman fallacy occurs when an individual captures an opponent’s argument during a conversation, distorts, exaggerates it, and uses the twisted and misinterpreted version as a comeback and counter-argument. Therefore, the strawman fallacy revolves around making a counter-argument based on refuting incorrect arguments that an individual did not present. It makes the conventional argument seem weak, susceptible to easy attack by an opponent. For instance, James, a designer in a company, approaches his manager, recommending a new designer’s hiring to help redesign corporate websites. In response, the manager states, “You want us to waste and throw corporate money on external resources instead of building an in-house design team?” The manager’s response is an example of strawman fallacy as she uses a statement not made by James to counter-argue and attack James’ idea.

Ad hominem fallacy occurs when an individual attacks a person instead of addressing the argument made by that person. President Donald Trump is a renowned user of this type of fallacy, as seen in his speeches and tweets. He uses this fallacy to weaken or disparage his opponents, mostly reporters, and politicians while praising and adorning himself.  For instance, on Twitter 2016, the president called a NYTs columnist Maureen Dowd a ‘neurotic dope and crazy Maureen Dowd,’ angered that she made up stories of unmentioned statements in an interview (Neidig, 2016). At this point, Trump is ad hominem as instead of responding and addressing claims made by the columnist; he attacked Maureen Dowd.

Hast generalization occurs when an individual makes generalized claims and reaches conclusions based on insufficient incidences and a small sample size instead of using a larger sample size. It becomes difficult to justify the conclusions and claims logically through adequate and unbiased evidence. For instance, a boy narrates that the father lived until 70 years despite having smoked three cigarettes packets daily since he was 15 years, concluding that smoking cannot be as harmful and threatening for people as claimed: people can live longer smoking. This is a haste generalization based on a single sample size, making it unreasonable to conclude people’s health risks using the father’s case study only. The conclusion does not apply to all.

In conclusion, logical fallacies are stumbles of logical reasoning which can occur knowingly and unknowing to win arguments. They may appear sound and logical on the outwards, but when critically scrutinized, they are difficult to prove and do not hold up. A seen ad hominem fallacy occurs when a person is attacked instead of their claims proving an added advantage and win for the ad hominem. Similarly, in the strawman fallacy, an opponent will weaken the other person’s argument using an incorrect counter-argument. This provides the opponent an added advantage to win the argument.

Reference

Neidig, H. (2016, September 9). Trump blasts ‘neurotic’ New York Times columnist. Retrieved from The Hill: https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/296471-trump-blasts-neurotic-new-york-times-columnist