Discussion Fallacies

Description

Chapter 6 details common logical fallacies like red herring, bandwagon, slippery slope, false dichotomy, faulty analogy, ad hominem, false authority, questionable causality, and hasty generalization. Start your response by explaining, in your own words, what logical fallacies are and their significance in persuasive writing. Some questions you might consider: What is the relationship between finding descriptive assumptions and finding fallacies? Are there times when ad hominem arguments or slippery slope arguments should not be regarded as fallacies and should influence your beliefs about an issue? Explain. When should we pay attention to ad populum arguments? When should the opinion of the majority most matter? What are some useful clues to use to identify a reasoning fallacy? When are appeals to emotion appropriate, and when are they fallacious? How is a fallacious argument different from a bad argument?  Then, find and identify at least three fallacies in one (or more) persuasive piece. Good places to locate logical fallacies are in advertisements, political speeches, letters to the editor, cartoons, and articles in magazines or newspapers. Name the fallacy type and explain why the example is a fallacy (i.e. What is the flaw in the reasoning?). Lastly, discuss what you learned from completing this activity.