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Chapter 5 - Fallacies of Relevance (1)
Chapter 5 - Fallacies of Relevance (1)
FALLACIES OF RELEVANCE
• Negatively relevant:
– Maggie is studying at a high school. So, Maggie is a
professor.
• Logically irrelevant:
– The earth moves around the sun. Therefore, capital
punishment must be stopped.
Activity: Sort them out
1. Carlos recently gave Amy an engagement ring. So, Carlos loves Amy. PR
2. Thousands of tobacco farm workers will lose their jobs if cigarette taxes are
doubled. Therefore, smoking does not cause cancer. LI
3. Thousands of tobacco farm workers will lose their jobs if cigarette taxes are
doubled. Therefore, cigarette taxes should not be doubled. PR
4. The last three coin tosses have been heads. So, the next coin toss will
surely be tails. NR
5. You should believe in God. You have everything to gain if God does exist,
and little to lose if He doesn’t. PR
6. Peter and his wife are both over 6 feet tall. Therefore, their daughter is likely
to be over 6 feet tall, too. PR
7. Martina partied all night last night. Therefore, she will do well on her critical
thinking test next week. LI
ELEVEN FALLACIES OF RELEVANCE
Common pattern:
Hillary: What we saw and heard on Trump: If you look at Bill Clinton, far
Friday was Donald talking about worse. Mine are words, his was
women, what he thinks about action. His was what he’s done to
women, what he does to women. He women… And I will tell you that when
said the video doesn’t represent Hillary brings up a point like that and
who he is. But I think it’s clear to she talks about words that I said 11
anyone who heard that it represents years ago, I thinks it’s disgraceful,
who he is. and it’s ashamed of herself.
2. Attacking the motive
Common pattern:
X is biased or has questionable motives.
Therefore, X’s argument or claim should be rejected.
Example:
Common pattern:
X fails to follow his or her advice.
Therefore, X’s argument or claim should be rejected.
You drink day and night. You should Good advice from a man with a
.
stop drinking to improve your health. glass of wine in his hand! Why
shouldn’t you stop drinking?
A B
Common pattern:
I did what the other did.
So I didn’t do anything wrong.
Example:
Examples:
5. Scare tactic (appeal to force)
Threatens to harm the listener if conclusion not accepted; this threat is
irrelevant to arguer’s conclusion.
Do you want to
report things to our
teacher? I’ll wait for
you at the school
gate in a moment.
Signed
Mysterious
(An almost school gang leader)
6. Appeal to pity
1.
Common pattern:
1. Lúc ấy tôi thấy bia “vô chủ”, nhiều người lấy nên cũng vô tư làm theo.
2. Thực sự tôi nhặt bia với tâm lý đám đông chứ không nghĩ mình đang
hôi của.)
8. Straw man
Common pattern:
Example 1:
2.
9. Red herring
• draws attention away from the original point
Example: 2nd Presidential Debate, (October, 2016)
TRUMP: No, I didn’t say that at all. I don’t think you understood what was - this
was locker room talk. I’m not proud of it. I apologize to my family… You
know, when we have a world where you have ISIS chopping off heads,
where you have - and, frankly, drowning people in steel cages, where you
have wars and horrible, horrible sights all over, where you have so many
bad things happening, this is like medieval times. Yes, I’m very
embarrassed by it. I hate it. But it’s locker room talk, and it’s one of those
things.
9. Red herring
• draws attention away from the original point.
Example: 2nd Presidential Debate, (October, 2016)
TRUMP: No, I didn’t say that at all. I don’t think you understood what was - this
was locker room talk. I’m not proud of it. I apologize to my family… You
know, when we have a world where you have ISIS chopping off heads,
where you have - and, frankly, drowning people in steel cages, where
you have wars and horrible, horrible sights all over, where you have
so many bad things happening, this is like medieval times. Yes, I’m
very embarrassed by it. I hate it. But it’s locker room talk, and it’s one of
those things.
10. Equivocation
key words used in two or more senses in the same argument
Examples:
Chris Rock: "Jada I love you, 'G.I. Jane 2,' can't wait to see it,"
Will Smith: “Leave my wife's name out of your f**king mouth."
FALLACY OR NOT FALLACY?
“This is the first time I’ve ever seen the media cover black-on-
black crime, so I’m actually quite surprised by this,” Watters said.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/K14vn/posts/5722411761114970
Student’s contribution
Source: https://vnexpress.net/amber-heard-johnny-depp-thuong-doa-giet-toi-4459432.html
Student’s contribution
Source:
https://vnexpress.net/nhan-sac-nguoi-tinh-cua-cuu-chu-tich-taobao-4457839.html?fbclid=IwAR1BeEwWfLG6t5DbqUJLVXOzagHqMnBe6Ipl2dFtQ8ToKO8kdFFOHAulOcw
Student’s contribution
Source: https://camnangbep.com/cau-noi-phan-dame-ngon-tinh-1636498281/
Student’s contribution
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDhx4ejrPPA&list=RDrDhx4ejrPPA&start_radio=1
Student’s contribution
Source: https://www.24h.com.vn/tin-tuc-trong-ngay/vu-thanh-nien-doa-csgt-tam-the-con-ong-chau-cha-len-dinh-
c46a840194.html
Student’s contribution
Source:https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=533510641207572&set=gm.1526190961114830
Student’s contribution
Source: https://nld.com.vn/thoi-su-quoc-te/tuyen-bo-soc-cua-ga-chong-han-danh-vo-viet-gay-xuong-20190710120453288.htm
Student’s contribution
Links to submit:
https://forms.gle/ap22svJf9cVjWefJA
Fallacy type:
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Text 4:
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Text 5:
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ATTENDANCE CHECK
https://forms.office.com/r/LtLm6m7Abs
Thank you