Attacking Faulty Reasoning Practical Guide to Fallacy-Free Arguments

by Damer, T. Edward

• ISBN13: 9780534605162
• ISBN10: 0534605168
• Edition: 5th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-02-26
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing

Summary

Improve your skills in rational, argumentative discussion with ATTACKING FAULTY REASONING: PRACTICAL GUIDE TO FALLACY-FREE ARGUMENTS! Addressing over 60 fallacies and featuring a wealth of examples and exercises, this philosophy text will help you identify fallacies and craft well-formed arguments.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
Reasons for Using Good Arguments	p. 1
Goals of the Text	p. 2
A Code of Intellectual Conduct	p. 4
An Effective Procedural Standard	p. 4
An Important Ethical Standard	p. 4
A Code of Conduct for Effective Discussion	p. 5
The Fallibility Principle	p. 5
The Truth-Seeking Principle	p. 5
The Clarity Principle	p. 5
The Burden of Proof Principle	p. 5
The Principle of Charity	p. 5
The Structural Principle	p. 6
The Relevance Principle	p. 6
The Acceptability Principle	p. 6
The Sufficiency Principle	p. 6
The Rebuttal Principle	p. 6
The Resolution Principle	p. 6
The Suspension of Judgment Principle	p. 6
The Reconsideration Principle	p. 7
The Fallibility Principle	p. 7
The Truth-Seeking Principle	p. 8
The Clarity Principle	p. 9
Assignments	p. 10
What is an Argument?	p. 11
An Argument Is a Claim Supported by Other Claims	p. 11
Distinguishing Argument from Opinion	p. 12
The Burden of Proof Principle	p. 12
The Standard Form of an Argument	p. 14
The Principle of Charity	p. 16
Deductive Versus Inductive Strength of Arguments	p. 17
Moral Arguments Have a Moral Premise	p. 19
Making the Moral Premise Explicit	p. 21
Assignments	p. 22
What is a Good Argument?	p. 23
A Good Argument Must Meet Five Criteria	p. 23
The Structural Principle	p. 23
The Relevance Principle	p. 25
The Acceptability Principle	p. 26
Criteria of Acceptability	p. 27
Conditions of Unacceptability	p. 28
The Sufficiency Principle	p. 29
The Rebuttal Principle	p. 30
Making Arguments Stronger	p. 32
Applying the Criteria to Arguments	p. 33
The Resolution Principle	p. 39
The Suspension of Judgment Principle	p. 40
The Reconsideration Principle	p. 41
Assignments	p. 41
What is a Fallacy?	p. 43
A Fallacy Is a Violation of a Criterion of a Good Argument	p. 43
Named Versus Unnamed Fallacies	p. 44
Organization of the Fallacies	p. 45
Attacking the Fallacy	p. 47
Rules of the Game	p. 50
Assignments	p. 51
Fallacies That Violate the Structural Criterion	p. 52
Begging-the-Question Fallacies	p. 53
Arguing in a Circle	p. 53
Question-Begging Language	p. 55
Complex Question	p. 57
Question-Begging Definition	p. 59
Assignments	p. 61
Fallacies of Inconsistency	p. 61
Incompatible Premises	p. 62
Contradiction Between Premise and Conclusion	p. 64
Assignments	p. 65
Fallacies of Deductive Inference	p. 66
Denying the Antecedent	p. 66
Affirming the Consequent	p. 68
False Conversion	p. 69
Undistributed Middle Term	p. 71
Illicit Distribution of an End Term	p. 73
Assignments	p. 75
Fallacies that Violate the Relevance Criterion	p. 78
Fallacies of Irrelevance	p. 78
Irrelevant Authority	p. 79
Appeal to Common Opinion	p. 81
Genetic Fallacy	p. 83
Rationalization	p. 84
Drawing the Wrong Conclusion	p. 86
Using the Wrong Reasons	p. 88
Assignments	p. 91
Irrelevant Emotional Appeals	p. 92
Appeal to Force or Threat	p. 92
Appeal to Tradition	p. 93
Appeal to Self-Interest	p. 95
Playing to the Gallery	p. 97
Assignments	p. 101
Fallacies that Violate the Acceptability Criterion	p. 104
Fallacies of Linguistic Confusion	p. 104
Equivocation	p. 105
Ambiguity	p. 107
Misleading Accent	p. 109
Illicit Contrast	p. 111
Argument by Innuendo	p. 113
Misuse of a Vague Expression	p. 115
Distinction Without a Difference	p. 117
Assignments	p. 118
Unwarranted Assumption Fallacies	p. 119
Fallacy of the Continuum	p. 120
Fallacy of Composition	p. 123
Fallacy of Division	p. 124
False Alternatives	p. 126
Is-Ought Fallacy	p. 127
Wishful Thinking	p. 129
Misuse of a Principle	p. 130
Fallacy of the Mean	p. 132
Faulty Analogy	p. 134
Assignments	p. 136
Fallacies that Violate the Sufficiency Criterion	p. 141
Fallacies of Missing Evidence	p. 141
Insufficient Sample	p. 142
Unrepresentative Data	p. 144
Arguing from Ignorance	p. 146
Contrary-to-Fact Hypothesis	p. 148
Fallacy of Popular Wisdom	p. 150
Special Pleading	p. 152
Omission of Key Evidence	p. 154
Assignments	p. 155
Causal Fallacies	p. 156
Confusion of a Necessary with a Sufficient Condition	p. 156
Causal Oversimplification	p. 158
Post Hoc Fallacy	p. 160
Confusion of Cause and Effect	p. 161
Neglect of a Common Cause	p. 163
Domino Fallacy	p. 164
Gambler's Fallacy	p. 166
Assignments	p. 168
Fallacies that Violate the Rebuttal Criterion	p. 171
Fallacies of Counterevidence	p. 171
Denying the Counterevidence	p. 172
Ignoring the Counterevidence	p. 173
Assignments	p. 176
Ad Hominem Fallacies	p. 176
Abusive Ad Hominem	p. 176
Poisoning the Well	p. 178
Two-Wrongs Fallacy	p. 180
Assignments	p. 182
Fallacies of Diversion	p. 182
Attacking a Straw Man	p. 183
Trivial Objections	p. 185
Red Herring	p. 186
Resort to Humor or Ridicule	p. 188
Assignments	p. 190
Writing the Argumentative Essay	p. 194
Researching the Question	p. 194
Stating Your Position	p. 195
Arguing for Your Position	p. 196
Rebutting Objections to Your Position	p. 197
Resolving the Question	p. 197
Sample Argumentative Essay	p. 198
Assignments	p. 205
Letter to Jim	p. 206
Glossary of Fallacies	p. 210
Answers to Selected Assignments	p. 215
Index	p. 223
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