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Reasoning and Logical Fallacies

            "A fallacy is defined as a kind of error in reasoning," (Axelrod and Cooper 621). They can be persuasive and be created both unintentionally and intentionally to deceive others from the truth, and they often indicate a false belief or cause of a false belief. An argument or situation commits a fallacy when the reasons that are offered do not support the conclusion. This defeats the purpose of said argument or situation since its point is to give reason to support the conclusion. Fallacies affect the outcome of our everyday decision-making processes, and people can see examples of each fallacy such as hasty generalizations, overreliance on authority, and begging the question.
             "Hasty generalizations are conclusions based on insufficient or biased evidence. In other words, the consumer is rushing to a conclusion before they have any relevant facts," (Weber and Brizee). For example, in the ad, Garnier Fructis tells us that their shampoo can make the consumer's hair extremely smooth, soft and nourished and even suggests that it can, "Undo up to 1 year's damage in 1 week" (39). This is a hasty generalization because it shows no valid, factual evidence of it making the buyer hair smooth and delicate or that it can fix your hair's damage in a week as portrayed in the ad. To conclude, instead of doing any research and looking up any relevant facts, thus it allowed people to rush to a hasty conclusion of it actually helping the consumer's hair as the ad stated. .
             Similarly, fallacies such as begging the question is that the conclusion is already assumed and not proven. It is simply a form of circular thinking.


Essays Related to Reasoning and Logical Fallacies

1. Logical Fallacies in Othello

According to Vincent Ruggiero's Beyond Feelings: A Guide to Critical Thinking, the term logical fallacies refer to the concept of, "making errors that impairs reasoning and thinking," (87). ... Firstly, one of the logical fallacies that led to Othello's downfall is the error of unwarranted assumptions. ... Unwarranted assumptions are only one of the logical fallacies that lead to Othello's downfall. ... Lastly, a third logical fallacy that leads to the downfall of Othello is the error of making hasty conclusions. ... The act of committing logical fallacies poses a gre...

  • Word Count: 1372
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Has Bibliography

2. Animal Farm Fallacies

Throughout the novel, Orwell effectively displays rhetorical fallacies by appealing to the animals' emotional, ethical, and logical reasoning. ... Emotional fallacies are meant to persuade an audience by appealing to their emotions. ... Orwell chose the overly sentimental appeal because the fallacy helps introduce the idea of a rebellion on Manor Farm. ... Although he is giving the animals what he thinks to be logical reasoning, Squealer ends every argument with the fear of Mr. ... With this distraction, the animals tend to all come together with the same illogical reasoning. ...

  • Word Count: 1129
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Has Bibliography

3. Arguments of persuasion

Who am I reasoning with? ... It seems logical it is hard to argue with the facts. ... This fallacy didn't work because of its absurdity. ... Seems like a "logical" place to start. ... The creator of this fallacy found my weakness. ...

  • Word Count: 675
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

4. M.butterfly

Relevance Fallacies: Testimonial, Transfer, Ad Hominem, Bandwagon, Straw Person, Misleading Analogy or Faulty comparison, Red Herring. ... Believability Fallacies: Incomplete Facts or Card Stacking, Misinterpreted Statistics, Overgeneralization or Hasty Generalization, Questionable Authority, Hypostatization. ... Consistency Fallacies: Appeal to Pity, Appeal to Emotion, Oversimplification or Either/Or argument, Begging the Question or Circular Reasoning, Slippery Slope, Non Sequitur, Post Hoc Ergo propter Hoc. 4. ... Vertical thinking is a straightforward and logical way of thinking about s...

  • Word Count: 388
  • Approx Pages: 2

5. Inductive Reasoning

Inductive Reasoning Inductive thinking also known as the "bottom up" approach, moves from particular observations to a more generalized theory or conclusion, it detects patterns and regularities; as well as, it helps to formulate tenetative hypothesis, from which we derive our generalized theory or conclusion. ... This intern becomes an error in reasoning also known as a fallacy. ... Deductive Reasoning Deductive thinking begins with two or more premises and derives a conclusion that must follow from those premises; the basic form of deductive thinking is a syllogism. A syllogism i...

  • Word Count: 910
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Malcom X Vs. Martin Luther King

Malcolm X uses repetition, logical fallacies, and appeals to emotion to get his point across that violence the path for freedom. ... In Malcolm X's also uses logical fallacies as his evidence and his reasoning. One of the fallacies in his speech is a hasty generalization. ... His redefinition of the term "minority" is the fallacy. ... This is a false cause fallacy. ...

  • Word Count: 1892
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Solid Foundations of Philosophy

Some critics deny this and argue that reasoning is used to mislead others' knowledge. ... The method "follows a logical path that provides premises that can't be left with any skepticism or doubt, therefore when a premise has been proved as truth, or is believed as truth, the conclusion cannot be denied" (Irwin, 1990). ... Secondly, reasoning assists in producing and evaluating arguments. ... To have a valid argument it is important to provide premises that are free of fallacy, a deceptive, misleading, or false notion. ... A counter argument to this is that reasoning can be used to m...

  • Word Count: 839
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

8. Rhetorical Essay: Flailing After Muslims

Herbert achieved this effective argument and convinced his audience with rhetorical devices such as emotional, logical, ethical appeals, even though he had one fallacy. ... With this being said, Herbert's plea with ethical reasoning becomes dependable for his audience. ... Herbert tried to prove King wrong, however, King backed up his argument with his legitimate reasoning. ... Herbert has committed a fallacy. ... By having credible sources (ethos), logical facts (logos), and emotional appeals (pathos), the argument being made was at its full potential. ...

  • Word Count: 907
  • Approx Pages: 4
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9. Why Induction Is Invalid

His reasoning behind this is due to the fact that the conclusion of an inductive argument is never certain. ... The heart of Carnap's argument lies in logical/inductive probability. ... By using induction to justify induction, one is committing one of the basic fallacies of logic. Therefore, the use of the circularity fallacy in and of itself makes Carnap's argument invalid. ... Because of this, I believe that using induction for the purposes of scientific reasoning is not only invalid, but also damaging to the field of science....

  • Word Count: 1180
  • Approx Pages: 5

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