Fallacies of Ethos
Persuasion through character or credibility
What is Ethos?
Politicians sometimes drape themselves in American flags to convince voters to vote for them.
What is Appeal to Stirring Symbols?
“Cramming for a test really helps. Last week I crammed for a psych test and got an A on it.”
What is Confusing Correlation with Causation
literally means "to the person" in New Latin
What is Ad Hominem?
When someone begins an answer to a question with “Let me tell you a story,”
What is Red Herring?
People who have to have a cup of coffee every morning before they can function have no less a problem than alcoholics who have to have their alcohol each day to sustain them.
What is Faulty Analogy
Politicians do it all the time: “My Opponent wants to let murders out of jail where they’ll be free to kill again.”
What is a Strawman?
This appeal is when someone just uses evidence the audience has no access to
What is Appeal to Ignorance
responses that have nothing to do with the conversation or flawed conclusions “based” on what preceded them.
What is Non Sequitur?
Relies on the statements of a false authority figure, who is framed as a credible authority on the topic being discussed
What is Appeal to False Authority?
In the 1960s, American car companies tried to fight off Japanese manufacturers with ad campaigns that claimed, “Americans like big cars.”
What is Provincialism?
Cultural literacy proponents have been known to say things like, “People can’t flourish without being culturally literate.”
What is Equivocation
The definition of Rhetorical Fallacy
What are Appeals that use reasoning that many consider unfair, unsound, or demonstrating lazy or simple-minded thinking
The three kinds of Appeal to Irrational Premises
What are:
1. Appeal to common practice (everyone else is embezzling, why shouldn’t we?)
2. Appeal to traditional wisdom (we’ve always embezzled)
3. Appeal to popularity (buy the Toyota Camry because it’s the best selling car in the world)
A question with no innocent answer
What is a Complex Question?