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| can be committed in three different ways. |
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| This fallacy, however (as it’s name implies), cites authorities which are not appropriate or relevant |
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| The first way occurs when a person transfers the authority of some professional from one field to another |
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| You certainly see this occurring in advertising when you see sports figures promoting tires or cell phones, etc. |
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| . Because these figures support the product, does that make it a good product? Of course not! Do these promoters know what they’re talking about? Probably not |
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| You can also find occasions when someone might cite the Bible as an authority about some issue that is NOT Biblical, or you might just be citing your best friend or a relative; individuals who are not experts in the field under discussion, "My dad said so." |
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| The second way of committing this fallacy is to not specify your source or authority at all. Think of the general way in which we communicate information: "I saw on TV that women favor Gore over Bush." How relevant can this claim be when we are not told what program we got the information from? |
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| If it was a news or political program we might give the statement some credibility; but if the information was gathered from a tabloid show, we might discount the claim. |
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| "I read the other day…" – where did this person read about the issue? |
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| committing this fallacy is to cite as an authority or source an individual who is likely to be biased about the topic at hand in one way or another. |
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| A biased source would have a vested interest in convincing or not convincing someone to accept the conclusion. |
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| the person is attempting to persuade others of their conclusion by citing the great number (or few number) of persons who accept the position |
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| having a large number of people agree about some state of affairs is NOT relevant to whether or not a position is a good one or one that is effective, or has merit |
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. For identification purposes you want to be on the look-out for terms like: "everyone," "no one," or numbers or percentages.
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| This fallacy is committed by citing as evidence some former state of affairs as if it were still applicable |
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| The fact that some circumstances used to be the case is not relevant to whether they still are that way |
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| The key term for identification is, "used to be." |
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| is the antithesis of good reasoning because it starts at the end (conclusion) and selectively works backward to find the evidence to support or explain some undeniable conclusion |
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| You might beg and plead and explain how your parents will kill you, you’ll lose your insurance and perhaps your driver’s license as well |
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| What you’re trying to do is to get your opponent to agree with your position, by making them feel sorry for you. |
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| If someone is trying to get their opponent to feel sorry for them |
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| Appeal to Force or Threat |
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| "If you tell Mom, I’ll beat you up!" |
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Appeal to Force or Threat
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| The essence of this fallacy is that not accepting a position will result in negative consequences. |
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| Appeal to Force or Threat |
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| . Intimidation, while not a part of good reasoning, can be very successful, |
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| The essence of this fallacy is to convince someone to accept a position because the position has "always been" that way |
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| Because it’s always been that way, the person should maintain this |
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| that some habit or circumstance exhibited over time is not relevant to its merit or usefulness. |
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Appeal to Personal Circumstances
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| Instead of providing relevant evidence, the person committing this fallacy is going to prey on their opponent’s self interest. |
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| Appeal to Personal Circumstances |
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| The only evidence that is provided has to do with their opponent’s set of circumstances |
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Appeal to Personal Circumstances
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| – it is not the speaker or writer’s circumstances that are at issue but those of the listener or reader (the opponent). |
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Exploitation of Strong Feelings
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| emotional tender spots, those feelings can be manipulated by others. |
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Exploitation of Strong Feelings
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| Out in the world we might call this having our "buttons pushed." |
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Exploitation of Strong Feelings
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| emotions or feelings that can be manipulated: fear, envy, jealousy, anger, hate, love, greed, guilt, and shame. You will also see this occur with group loyalty, family loyalty, and patriotism. |
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| Out in the world we might call this effort "brown nosing" or "buttering them up" or "sweet-talking them into it." |
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| The essence of this fallacy is to use excessive flattery as a substitute for relevant evidence. |
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| the closeness of my friendship with someone is not relevant to whether they should give me a loan |
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