Fallacies

Fallacies

The use of critical thinking requires one to understand how to comprehend an argument. Part of this comprehension includes the ability to recognize a logical fallacy in an argument. The understanding of logical fallacies will help one become a better critical thinker by enabling them to break apart an argument from an opponent and debate the argument by pointing out the flaws. In this paper I will be discussing the Straw Man fallacy, the Red Herring Fallacy, and the Weak Analogy fallacy and how they relate to critical thinking.

One must understand what an argument is and how it is constructed to understand when and why a logical fallacy is used. As defined in by Bassham et al (2002), “Arguments are composed of one or more premises and a conclusion. Premises are statements that are claimed to provide evidence for another statement, the conclusion. The conclusion is the statement that the premises are claimed to prove or support” (p. 25). When an argument has flawed logic it would be considered to have a logical fallacy. The use of a logical fallacy might be to distract someone from understanding the true issue of an argument, or it might be used because the arguer is has an imperfect argument.

The first logical fallacy we will look at is the Straw Man fallacy. This fallacy is when the argument “misrepresents a person or groups position in order to make that position easier to attack.”(Bassham et al., 2002) An example of the straw man fallacy would be if I said that someone’s opinion is that the local butcher shop has better hotdogs then Oscar Mayer. Then I stated that Oscar Mayer makes the best bologna, so the opinion of the butcher having better hotdogs is not true. The understanding of how the Straw Man fallacy is used will allow one to recognize when it is used in an argument. This understanding will also permit a critical thinker to evaluate the argument and determine if the argument is solid or not. This would become useful in analyzing a problem correctly by identifying any hidden causes to a problem. Once one understands the straw man fallacy and can recognize its use in an argument then he or she can make a more informed decision. It is possible for one to have a straw man fallacy while working in a team environment. While weighing all the solutions for a problem it is possible for a team member to use this flawed logic and make a state...

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...sion-making process useless. A good example of this comes from John Kerry when he said in an interview with Matt Bai “We have to get back to the place we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they're a nuisance," Kerry said. "As a former law-enforcement person, I know we're never going to end prostitution. We're never going to end illegal gambling. But we're going to reduce it, organized crime, to a level where it isn't on the rise. It isn't threatening people's lives every day, and fundamentally, it's something that you continue to fight, but it's not threatening the fabric of your life” (p. 45).

References

Bassham, G., Irwin, W., Nardone, H., & Wallace, J. M., (2002). Critical Thinking: A Student’s Introduction. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Bai, Matt (2004, October). Kerry’s Undeclared War. New York Times Magazine, 38-45, 52, 68, 70.

Curtis, G., (2005). Red Herring. The Fallacy Files. Retrieved March 19, 2005, from http://www.fallacyfiles.org/redherrf.html

Democratic National Committee. (2005) "Cuts": DNC Launches New Radio Ad to Air During Bush Social Security Tour. Retrieved March 20, 2005, from http://www.democrats.org/news/200503040001.html