Running head: FALLACY SUMMARY AND APPLICATION PAPER Fallacy Summary and Application Paper Nicole Thompson University of Phoenix Critical Thinking: Strategies in Decision Making MGT 350 William B. Rankin, II AAE January 24, 2005 Fallacy Summary and Application Paper What do you see when you look at Begging the Question, Hasty Generalization, and Appealing to Emotion? When you initially look at these three categories they may not seem to have too much in common. However, when you look deeper you will see that in fact, they are all different types of logical fallacies. Logical fallacies are errors of reasoning, errors that may be recognized and corrected by prudent thinkers (Downes, 1995).
The following quote helps explain why logic is important to us in today’s society. “Logic is not everything.
But it is something-something which can be taught, something which can be learned, something which can help us in some degree to think more sensibly about the dangerous world in which we live (Fischer, 1970, p. 306).” Begging the Question is a type of fallacy that is used quite a bit. It is considered to be a fallacy of assuming when trying to prove something. One of the main things to remember with the use of this fallacy is that the term “Begging the Question” has a very specific meaning. This means that if someone was trying to prove something to us but they are not being specific and leave room for there to be more questions asked then there is a good chance this is an example of a begging the question fallacy. According to Whitman, ‘The fact that we believe pornography should be legal means that it is a valid form of free expression.
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And since it’s free expression, it shouldn’t be banned (Whitman, 2001) ‘ is an example of begging the question. When you are confronted with something that could be a question of Begging the Question you need to think it through and see if what you are seeing or hearing is actually true. Or if it is just an interpretation of what the artist, speaker, or author wants you to believe when exposed to the form of media. An example of Begging the Question is an ad where there are a lot of arms with fingers pointing to a bottle of Pepcid Complete and the arms are clothed in what appears to be medical jackets. Under the picture are the words “Pepcid’s the #1 choice of pharmacists. Get the point?” This ad is implying that we get the point that Pepcid is the #1 choice of pharmacists because there are a bunch of pharmacists pointing at it.
However, another bigger question could be are these people really pharmacists or just a bunch of models since all they show in the picture are a bunch or arms and hands. Hasty generalization is a fallacy that is committed when a person draws a conclusion about a population based on a sample that is not large enough (Downes, 1995).
Small samples will tend to be unrepresentative. The general idea is that small samples are less likely to contain numbers proportional to the whole population. Since Hasty Generalization is committed when the sample is too small, it is important to have samples that are large enough when making a generalization. The most reliable way to do this is to take as large a sample as is practical.
If the population in question were not very diverse then a very small sample would suffice. If the population were very diverse then a fairly large sample would be needed. The size of the sample also depends on the size of the population. A Hasty Generalization, like any fallacy, might have a true conclusion. However, as long as the reasoning is fallacious there is no reason to accept the conclusion based on that People often commit Hasty Generalizations because of bias or prejudice.
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People also commonly commit Hasty Generalizations because of laziness or sloppiness. It is very easy to simply leap to a conclusion and much harder to gather an adequate sample and draw a justified conclusion. Therefore, avoiding this fallacy requires minimizing the influence of bias and taking care to select a sample that is large enough. A great example of this fallacy that everyone has probably experienced is when a teenager is talking to their parent and says, “But why can’t I go to the party… everyone else is allowed to go” when in actuality she or he is referring to just one of their friends but they use the term “everyone” to sound more influential to their parents. There was an ad for hair in a magazine in which an African American male was lifting a weight in his hand and it stated, “Ladies love Duke…
and you ” ll love the look you get with it. Duke has the muscle to help you achieve hair that’s sure to turn a few heads.” This ad was implying that ladies love duke… and that it has the muscle to help you achieve hair that is sure to turn heads. The last time I checked hair had nothing to do with muscles. Appeal to Emotion fallacy is committed when someone manipulates peoples’ emotions in order to get them to accept a claim as being true (Labossiere, 1995).
This is very common in politics and it serves as the basis for a large portion of modern advertising.
Most political speeches are aimed at generating feelings in people so that these feelings will get them to vote or act a certain way. In the case of advertising, the commercials are aimed at evoking emotions that will influence people to buy certain products. However, in many cases it may not be particularly obvious that the person committing the fallacy is attempting to support a claim. In many cases, the user of the fallacy will appear to be attempting to move people to take an action, such as buying a product or fighting in a war.
However, it is possible to determine what sort of claim the person is actually attempting to support. This fallacy is an extremely effective persuasive device because peoples’ emotions often carry much more force than their reason. The use of tactics to inspire emotions is an important skill. Without an appeal to peoples’ emotions, it is often difficult to get people to take action or to perform at their best.
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As long you are able to clearly distinguish between what inspires emotions and what justifies a claim, you are unlikely to fall prey to this fallacy. An example of this fallacy is an ad for World Vision with a child who looked sad and appeared to be living in poverty. The ad stated, “Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God.” And below is a reply form for you to fill out for a donation and the first line on the form is “Yes, my heart is broken by the needs of a child.” This ad is implying that if you do not send money to help these children not only will your heart be broken but also these children will die. As you can see logical fallacies are all around us.
They are in most advertisements that you pick up, in most debates you hear, in many political arenas. Fallacies are not something that will just go away. However, if you know that they exist perhaps you can be wiser than the advertisers and not fall into their marketing traps. Just think before you act – and that is advice you can always use! References Downes, S.
(1995).
Stephen’s Guide to the Logical Fallacies. Retrieved January 19, 2005, from web D. H. (1970).
Historians’ Fallacies: Toward a Logic of Historical Thought.
: Harper & Row. Labossiere, M. C. (1995).
Fallacy Tutorial Pro 3. 0.
Retrieved January 21, 2005, from web G. (2001).
Logical Fallacies and the Art of Debate. Retrieved January 20, 2005, from web.
