Part 1
Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is a high level of thinking that attempts to reason in a fair-minded way.
Rhetorical Fallacies
A rhetorical fallacy is an improper use of logic and reasoning that damages the effectiveness of an argument.
- Formal Fallacy: an argument whose form is invalid. Any argument with an invalid form is invalid.
- Informal Fallacy: an argument whose invalidity is dependent on the concepts in the argument. The form of the argument itself can be valid, but its content makes it invalid.
Fallacies – Purdue OWL® – Purdue University
Formal vs. Informal Fallacies – A Brief Introduction to Philosophy (openeducationalberta.ca)
Toulmin’s Elements of Argument
- Claim: a stated case that the author wants the audience to believe.
- Reason: evidence that supports the claim.
- Assumption: since they are often unstated, the audience is expected to make assumptions that link the claim and reasons.
- Backing: extra backing evidence that supports the reason(s).
- Qualifier: specific words or phrases that narrow the claim into a more precise and potentially stronger argument.
Lunsford, Ch. 8.
Part 2
Rhetorical Fallacy Examples
Confirmation Bias: the tendency to seek out or observe evidence that supports one’s views that they already held. Evidence that does not support their views is often overlooked. An example of potential confirmation bias is a doctor diagnosing a patient. The doctor may focus on evidence that supports their suspected diagnosis, while undervaluing evidence that supports another equally plausible diagnosis (Ethics Unwrapped).
Confirmation Bias – Ethics Unwrapped (utexas.edu)
Either or Reasoning: also known as the false dilemma fallacy, this fallacy presents two options as the only options available. When only presenting two options, the full nuanced range of options are seemingly not available. According to Grammarly, either or reasoning can be typically used by people in sales roles. For example, a waitress may offer you fries or a salad for side dish, but there are actually other sides available for an upcharge.
False Dilemma Fallacy | Grammarly Blog
Hasty Generalization Fallacy: the hasty generalization is an informal fallacy that makes a claim on a sample size too small to be sufficient evidence. An example of overgeneralization used by Grammarly is seeing a lot of women at an English major orientation event, so you conclude that all English majors are women.
What Is the Hasty Generalization Fallacy? | Grammarly Blog
Just Plain Folks Fallacy: in lieu of evidence, the speaker appeals to the audience by claiming they are “common folk” or a “regular person,” just like the audience is, and therefore the speaker’s claims are something that fellow common folk should accept. According to Logically Fallacious, a just plain folks fallacy could be:
“My fellow Americans, I am just like you. Sure, I have a few private jets and homes in twelve countries, but I put on my pants one leg at a time, just like you common people. So believe me when I say, this increase in taxes for the common folk is just what we all need.”