PHI 1101 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Fallacy, The Slippery Slope, Slot Machine

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHI 1101
• Professor: All

Document Summary

Certain types of defective arguments happen so frequently that they have been given names. These are known as fallacies, and such arguments are said to be fallacious". Fallacy: an error in reasoning: fallacies can seem plausible, they are psychologically persuasive, though logically powerless. Common fallacies: appeal to ignorance: arguing that a lack of evidence proves something. Example: my lawyer says that the new treatment for ms is no good. I guess he"s right: the fallacy of appeal to general belief: arguing that a claim must be true merely because a substantial number of people believe it. The vast majority of canadians believe that there"s a supreme being, so how could you doubt it?": the fallacy of appeal to popular attitudes and emotions: peer pressure to believe or do the things the group does. Example: all your friends think your views on politics are ridiculous.