Vocabulary of an argument...

1. Vocabulary of an argument... • Basic principles

2. Assertions • a claim or statement of opinion • not a fact • be skeptical • never should stand alone • conclusions without evidence

3. Thesis and Topic Sentences • A really big, main assertion which the whole paper is trying to prove • Body paragraphs contain smaller assertions which prove the larger

4. Assertion

5. Evidence • support • fact, figure, statistic, poll, scientific data, example, testimony from an expert, other forms in literature • proves the assertion • should be accurate, recent, sufficient and fair

6. college poll • interview 5 students about the administration and approval. • report that 4 out of 5 approve • 80% of the campus approves • What’s wrong with the report?

7. 2 Types of Evidence • Primary • Secondary

8. Primary • letters • diaries • first hand accounts, interviews, witnesses • surveys, polls • scientific research from reputable scientist • author, director (sometimes questionable) • in the work (story, drama, poem)

9. Secondary • criticism • journalist’s story • interpretations, explanations

10. Assertion Evidence

11. Assertion Logi c Evidence

12. Logical Reasoning • 2 types • inductive • deductive

13. Inductive • Moves from specific pieces of evidence to a general conclusion • An inductive leap • Common sense • Can never be certain • The better your evidence, the less likely you will be proven wrong

14. Deductive • less common • more certain • based on syllogism - 2 general,true premises lead to 1 valid conclusion • socrates is a man • all men are mortal • Socrates is mortal

15. Deductive • If the premises are true, then the conclusion is 100% valid, in other words, “I win.” • To identify other dogs, all dogs use their noses to sniff other dogs’ butts • My dog meets dogs regularly on our walks • I should not kiss my dog on her nose

16. The problem with logic... • Everybody wants to be logical; everyone thinks they are logical, but not very many people actually ARE logical. • It is a rare quality, but one CAN LEARN to be more logical.

17. Logical Fallacies • Errors in logical thinking • Sometimes difficult to see • Many types • They are EVERYWHERE

18. Top 27 Logical Fallacies • These are the ones most often used • This is not an extensive list

19. Fallacies of Ethos or Pathos • False Authority (False Ethos) - When the authority does not have obvious, pertinent experience • Even Denzel Washington, who portrayed Colin Powell in a movie, believes the US should not be in a war.

20. Fallacies of Ethos or Pathos • Appeal to Pathos (Emotion: Pity, Fear, Patriotism, etc.) - good for persuasion, bad for argument based on REASON. Argumentation is supposed to be objective. USed to make the reader want to act, and if used instead of real evidence for action, it is a fallacy. • Examples

21. Fallacies of Ethos or Pathos • Bandwagon - Appeals to the desire to be popular, or with the “in” crowd. Argues that a person will like something because everyone else likes it. OR Because something is popular, it is right.

22. Fallacies of Distraction • Designed to get you off track, you guys are good at this! • Red Herring - Rubbing a new topic into the argument so opponent follows the scent of the new topic and leaves the old argument (which you are probably losing)

23. Fallacies of Distraction • Ad Hominem (Argument to the person) - type of red herring where you make a personal attack on your opponent to try to get them off track of the true issue. (It usually works because we don’t like to be attacked. It makes us angry, and we can’t think when we are angry.)

24. Fallacies of Distraction • Poisoning the Well - Trying to completely discredit an opponent, making his words suspect. • It’s hard to believe a journalist’s facts when he spent to years in jail for perjury.

25. Fallacies of Distraction • Guilt by Association - Associating opponent with something negative, illogical association • Dr. Spelman was Hitler’s doctor in Germany during WWII.

26. Fallacies of Distraction • Tu Quoque (“You’re another”) - when a person is attacked with an Ad Hominem and counters with another. (This works because the opponent thinks that if he/she doesn’t address the remark then people will believe it is true when the correct response would be to point out the ad hominem.)

27. Fallacies of Distraction • Common Practice (Everybody does it) - When an individual, group, or corporation gets caught doing something wrong but claims that at the time, every individual, group, or corporation was doing it OR that other groups did worse. (You guys are REALLY good at this.)

28. Fallacies of Distraction • Shifting Terms - When you establish one term to discuss an issue, but change to another. (this happens when the opponent is hostile towards the initial term)

29. Fallacies of Distraction • Shifting Ground - Making an assertion, and later changing (usually because he is losing the original assertion)

30. Fallacies of Oversimplification • Ignore the complex situations, try to convince using a false “common sense” • Hasty Generalization - a really bad inductive leap, you do not have enough or the right kind of evidence • Stereotyping - unsubstantiated claims about a whole group using little to no evidence

31. Fallacies of Oversimplification • Post Hoc (False Cause) - Because A happened first, then B happened later, A must have caused B.

32. Fallacies of Oversimplification • Slippery Slope - the title is based on a metaphor - if you take one step down a slippery slope, you will have to take another quicker step to keep from falling, which causes you to speed up and need to take an even quicker step - a series of future false causes, none proven A causes B, B causes C, C causes D, and so on until tragedy occurs.

33. Fallacies of Oversimplification • False Analogy - an analogy is when you compare two very different things, all analogies are false as in they are inherently different. If the argument relies SOLELY upon analogy, you should not trust it. Valuable teaching tool to relate to the audience, but again, all you have to do to win that type of argument is point out the differences in the compared things.

34. Fallacies of Oversimplification • Either, Or - When you want to force your opponent into a single course of action or intellectual position by narrowing all possibilities down to only two and then makes one of them completely undesirable.

35. Fallacies of Unfairness • These distort or dismiss evidence to favor your case or weaken your opponents • Begging the Question - when you make an assertion and then use that assertion as evidence to defend the point without proving it true. • Circular Logic - used interchangeably with “Begging the Question” when you make an assertion and then defend the assertion by rewording the assertion

36. Fallacies of Unfairness • Card Stacking - one of the most common, easily avoided by a concession and counter argument - When you ignore opponent’s strong points

37. Fallacies of Unfairness • Straw Man - When you describe your oponents positions in an unfair (incorrect) manner, making it weaker than it really is. Thus, your argument beats up on a lesser opponent (scarecrow) instead of the real powerful argument (Spiderman).

38. Fallacies of Unfairness • Reductio Ad Absurdum (Arguing to the absurd) - similar to straw man except that instead of weak you make opponent appear absurd, crazy, or evil by pushing arguments to extreme.

39. Fallacies of Unfairness • Self-Contradiction - A 2 or 3 part statement where at least two parts disagree. • We don’t pollute the air with our exhaust, we just drive everywhere we go.

40. Fallacies of Unfairness • Ad Ignoratium (Appeal to Ignorance) - asserts that since there is no evidence to prove my argument false, it is true. Assertion based on no evidence, admits none, but then says that lack of evidence (or ignorance) is proof of truth.

41. Fallacies of Unfairness • Proving a Negative - a relative to Ad Ignorantium, No evidence is possible for an event that did not occur. This is impossible.

42. Fallacies of Unfairness • Out of Context - When a writer cites only a part of a statement in such a way as to distort the overall meaning of the original statement. BE CAREFUL. • However, sometimes the person who says something stupid later claims that it was taken out of context.

43. Fallacies of Unfairness • Ambiguity and Equivocation - when a statement is written in a way that can be understood in more than one way, tricking you into interpreting the text in the one way the writer intends. • President Clinton: “I did not have sex with that woman, Monica Lewinsky, not one time.

44. Fallacies of Unfairness • Non-Sequitur (It doesn’t make sense) - When the conclusion bears no logical relation to the statements which precede it. • Bill Morrison is a great writer, so he will make a great US Senator. • Americans love movies, so Garfield will be very popular.

45. Fallacies of Unfairness