Definitions
Critical Thinking: The evaluation or analysis of something to form an opinion (The Everyday Writer 90).
Rhetorical Fallacies: Flaws that damage the effectiveness of an argument.
- Formal Fallacy: A flaw in the content of an argument that makes it invalid.
- Informal Fallacy: An error in the logical structure of an argument that makes it invalid.
Source: (Formal vs Informal Fallacy: Difference and Comparison (askanydifference.com)
Toulmin’s Elements of Argument: A framework for analyzing arguments (The Everyday Writer 97).
- Assumption: A connection between a claim and a reason (The Everyday Writer 97).
- Backing: Evidence writer uses to prove and support an idea that backs up their reason (The Everyday Writer 97).
- Claim: A Statement that a writer wants to persuade a reader to accept or consider (The Everyday Writer 97).
- Qualifier: A way of limiting or narrowing a claim so that it is as specific as possible (The Everyday Writer 97).
- Reason: An idea that is used to support a claim (The Everyday Writer 97).
Rhetorical Fallacies
Bad Reason: Bad reason is a formal fallacy in which a person attempts to use faulty or unrelated logic and reasoning to support an argument. Logical fallacies uses the following example of a bad reason fallacy:
Dogs are afraid of heights; therefore, dogs don’t fly.
(Bad Reason Fallacy – Definition & Examples | LF (logicalfallacies.org)
Gambler’s Fallacy: Gambler’s fallacy is an informal fallacy in which the false belief that independent events can affect the chance of another random event to occur. It also includes the idea that if something happens often, the same event is less likely to occur in the future.
Example: The football team has called a running play 4 plays in a row now. Surely, they will call a passing play this time.
(Gamblers Fallacy – Definition & Examples | LF (logicalfallacies.org)
Guilt By Association: Guilt by association is an informal fallacy that attacks someone’s credibility by associating that person with a person or activity that is considered suspicious or untrustworthy by the audience.
Example: He does not deserve to win the presidential election; his father was arrested for tax fraud recently.
(Master List of Logical Fallacies (utep.edu)
Syllogistic Fallacy: Syllogistic fallacies are formal fallacies that occur in the syllogisms of deductive reasoning. They usually occur with a reference to something general, and then a conclusion about something more specific.
Example: Humans are mammals. Dogs are mammals. Therefore, all dogs are humans.
(Syllogistic Fallacies – Definition & Examples | LF (logicalfallacies.org)