Words
A group of statements consisting of premises and a conclusion
Arguments
Mild, comforting, or evasive words that are often used instead of harsh, blunt, or taboo words are known as
Euphemisms
Rule of thumb for problem solving and decision making
Heuristic
Tendency to seek out and favor evidence that supports pre-existing beliefs
Confirmation bias
Ambiguities that result from faulty grammar of word order are called
Syntactical ambiguities
Stipulative definition
The state of being easy to understand and free of ambiguity
Clarity
Natural, self centered tendency to view the world strictly from one's own perspective
Egocentrism
Weak analogy
Comparing two or more things that aren't really comparable in relevant respects. "That's like comparing apples and oranges"
Appeal to pity fallacy
An arguer attempts to evoke feelings of pity or compassion from listeners or readers rather than offering relevant arguments or evidence
Fallacies of insufficient evidence
Reasoning that, while relevant, fail to provide sufficient evidence for the conclusion
Sentences that can be judged as either true or false
Statements
Literal meaning of a word / Images and feelings associated with a word
Denotation / Connotation
Representative heuristic
Negativity bias
Ambiguities that result from uncertainty about the meaning of an individual word or phrase
Semantic ambiguities
A definition in which the user assigns an accurate meaning to a vague term to avoid misinterpretations
Precising definition
Providing exact and specific details to avoid vagueness
Precision
The blind tendency to view the world from the narrow, biased perspective of one's own social group
Sociocentrism
Relevance
A statement counts for or against another statement. Can be positively, negatively relevant, or logically irrelevant.
Bandwagon argument
Appealing to a person's desire to be popular, accepted, or valued rather than appealing to logic
Inappropriate appeal to authority fallacy
Uncritical reliance on the supposed authority of others
Statements in an argument offered as evidence supporting conclusion
Premises
When the meaning of a word or group of words is fuzzy and inexact
Vague
Frequency judged by the ease that examples come to mind
Availability heuristic
Evaluating the logical strength on an argument based on how believable the conclusion is (not taking into account the actual premises supporting it)
Belief bias
Adding richness, subtlety, and complexity to poetry. Useful when we lack precise information, allowing us to speak cautiously.
This definition typically contains emotional appeals and slanted terms in an attempt to persuade
Persuasive definitions
Being truthful and supported by reliable evidence
Accuracy
Narrow, close minded perspective
Provincialism
Fallacy of relevance
Reasoning that is logically irrelevant to their conclusion
Red herring
Introduction of IRRELEVANT topic to distract an audience from the original issue. Name comes from a technique used to train English foxhounds
Circumstance when a claim made by an authority is unreliable
Incorrect citation of sources, when the issue cannot be settled by expert opinion, source claim conflicts with expert opinion, when the claim is false.
Statement that premises are meant to support / prove
Conclusion
When a word or group of words have multiple distinct interpretations
Ambiguous
Tendency to make an estimate based on the initial starting point
Anchoring & adjustment heuristic
Being influenced by how information is presented
Framing bias
What type of language slants the truth of a subject in order to appeal to the feelings, desires, and needs of an audience
Emotive language
This definition expresses the conventional, dictionary meaning of a word
Lexical definition
Staying directly connected to the issue or question at hand
Relevance
Hatred, distrust, and aversion to reasoning, logical argument, and intellectual discourse
Misology
Fallacy of attacking the motive
Straw man fallacy
Attacking a weaker, distorted version of an opponents argument
Appeal to ignorance
Clues used to spot arguments
Indicator words
Resource that describes the way words were used when this resource was created
Dictionary
Something believed to be true without proof or conclusive evidence
Assumption
Bias where people with limited knowledge overestimate their own ability, while true experts tend to underestimate theirs
Disputes that occur when opponents disagree over relevant facts and not definitions of words
Factual dispute
Showing or explaining something clearly by pointing or giving a direct example
Ostensive definition
Holding beliefs and making statements that do not contradict each other or shift arbitrarily over time
Consistency
The belief that there is no single, independent standard truth to judge from
Relativistic thinking
Fallacy of "look who's talking"
Rejection of another person's claim because that person fails to follow their own advice
Begging the question
An argument's conclusion is assumed inside it's own premises. Also known as circular reasoning. "The Bible is true because it's the world of God, and we know the word of God is true because the Bible says so."
Fallacy of false alternatives
Incorrectly limits the choices available in an argument. Typically poses a false "either/or" choice
Premise indicators
Since, for, because, and given that
Deductive
The idea that what is true for one person is what that person's society believes is true
Cultural relativism
Habit of taking personal credit for successes while attributing failures on external factors
Self-serving bias
Verbal dispute
These definitions provide specific examples of that the word refers to
Enumerative definitions
Ensuring that ideas and conclusions connect in a sensible, non-contradictory way
Logical correctness
Inventing convenient, seemingly logical justifications to explain poor behavior, faulty decisions, or uncomfortable truths
Rationalization
Two wrongs make a right fallacy
A wrongful action is justifiable as a reaction to an earlier wrong
Equivocation fallacy
Shifting the meaning of a word or phrase halfway through an argument to make an invalid conclusion appear correct
Loaded question
A question that contains an unfair or questionable assumption
Conclusion indicators
Therefore, thus, consequently, so.
An argument that argues that it's conclusion is highly likely or probable based on the premises, but does not attempt to offer absolute proof. (Probability, prediction, etc)
Inductive
Allowing a positive impression of a person to positively influence your judgement of their character or abilities
Halo effect
A definition that is buried in metaphorical language and doesn't clearly express the conventional meaning of a word
Figurative
Providing a definition by listing examples of concepts that fall under the category of the primary concept
Definition by subclass
Engaging in deep, thorough, and comprehensive evaluation of an issue while avoiding shallow, superficial, or hasty thought
Completeness
Explains complex events as secret plots of powerful groups
Conspiratorial thought
Mere correlation fallacy
When an arguer assumes, without sufficient evidence, that because A & B regulalry occur together, A must be the cause of B or vice versa. A type of questionable cause fallacy
Logically pertinent / impertinent
Pertinent - Directly relevant to proving or disputing a claim
Impertinent - Irrelevant, fail to support the conclusion
Post hoc fallacy (questionable cause)
A type of questionable cause fallacy. When an arguer claims, without sufficient evidence, that one thing is the cause of something else
Not statements
Question, command, exclamation (excluding rhetorical questions, & ought imperatives)
Occurs when expectations and perceptions influence evaluation of information
Bias
The false consensus effect
An emotional preference for the current state of affairs
Status quo bias
A statement which is a command of reason, telling you what you should do
Ought imperative
Assigns meaning to a word by comparing to another word with the exact same or similar definition
Synonymous definitions
Thinking in a balanced, open-minded manner without hidden bias
Fairness
Habit of avoiding deep mental effort and accepting unexamined answers
Intellectual sloth
Hasty generalization
Drawing a general conclusion from a sample that is biased or too small
Ad hominem
A type of personal attack used to discredit an opponent's argument as opposed to a simple insult or critique of a person's character
Exception to appeal to ignorance
The fact that a search hasn't found something can be evidence the thing isn't there to be found. Example: We searched the car for the stolen items and failed to find them. Therefore, they probably aren't in the car