Philosophy: Chapter 1

Front 1

Appeal to Force

Back 1

Occurs when an arguer poses a conclusion to another person and tells that person implicitly or explicitly that some harm will come to him or her if he or she does not accept the conclusion.

Ex. "Heroes is a great show; and if you don't believe me, I'm going to punch you in the nose."

Front 2

Appeal to Pity

Back 2

Occurs when an arguer attempts to support a conclusion by merely evoking pity from the reader.

Front 3

Appeal to the People

Back 3

Uses desires to get readers to give in. Almost like a commercial.

Ex. "You want to grow up and be like Wonder Woman, do you not? Then eat your vegetables."

Front 4

ad Hominem Abusive (Against the Person)

Back 4

Verbal abuse.

Ex. "Television entertainer Bill Maher argues that religion is just a lot of foolish nonsense, but Maher is an arrogant, shameless, self-righteous pig. Obviously his arguments are not worth listening to."

Front 5

ad Hominem Circumstancial

Back 5

Discredit the opponent's argument by alluding to certain circumstances.

Ex. "The Dalai Lama argues that China has no business in Tibet and that the West should do something about it. But the Dalai Lama just wants the Chinese to leave so he can return as the leader. Naturally he argues his way. Therefore, we should reject his argument."

Front 6

ad Hominem tu quoque

Back 6

Make opponent seem hypocritical or as though they are arguing in bad faith.

Ex. "Political operative Newt Gingrich has argued about the need to preserve family values. But who is he to talk? Gingrich has been married three times. He divorced his first wife while she was hospitalzed for cancer, and he engaged in an extramarital affair while he was married to his second wife. Clearly, Gingrich's arguments are trash."

Front 7

Accident

Back 7

Committed when a general rule is applied to a specific case it was not intended to cover.

Ex. "Freedom of speech is a constitutionally guaranteed right. Therefore, John Q. Radical should not be arrested for his speech that incited the riot last week.

or "People are obligated to keep their promises. When Jessica married Tyler, she promised to stay with him for life. Therefore, she should stay with him now, even though he has become an abusive spouse addicted to gambling and drugs."

Front 8

Straw Man

Back 8

Committed when an arguer distorts an opponent's argument for the purpose of more easily attacking it.

Ex. "The student status committee has presented us with an argument favoring alcohol privileges on campus. What do the students want? Is it their intention to stay boozed up from the day they enter as freshmen until the day they graduate? Do they expect us to open a bar for them? Or maybe a chain of bars all over campus? Such a proposal is ridiculous!"

Front 9

Red Herring

Back 9

Committed when the arguer diverts the attention of the reader or listener by changing the subject to a different by sometimes subtly related one.

Ex. "Environmentalists are continually harping about the dangers of nuclear power. Unfortunately, electricity is dangerous no matter where it comes from. Every year hundreds of people are electrocuted by accident. Since most of these accidents are caused by carelessness, they could be avoided if people would just exercise greater caution."

Front 10

Inductive

Back 10

Improbable
"Very likely," "Possibly," "Probably," "Plausible."

Front 11

Deductive

Back 11

Impossible
"Necessary," Valid," "Certainly," "Absolutely," "Definitely," "All," "Some."