Debating Fallacies
For those of you who enjoy serious debating, here are common fallacies in philosophy and debating, also termed Informal Logic Fallacies
Equivocation: Eg.
Fallacy: If everybody is equal, why are some people more talented than others?
Response: "Equal" may be used in more than one sense.
Ad Hominem: Attacking the person rather than the issue. Eg.
Fallacy: Why should we believe Solomon when he tulls us to be satisfied with 'the wife of your youth'? He wasn't.
Response: Just becuase Solomon wasn't perfect, it doesn't invalidate his adive.
Argument from Ignorance: Eg.
Fallacy: Since you can't prove there is no Bigfoot, it exists.
Response: Not necessarily.
Appeal to Authority: Eg.
Fallacy: Same-sex marriage is right because the Supreme Court said so.
Response: A legal opinion doesn't make something right or wrong.
Genetic Fallacy: Eg.
Fallacy: My grade school French teacher was an ogre. Therefore, everything I learned from her is wrong.
Response: Why? Just because you don't like the source of information, it doesn't mean the information is false.
Begging the Question: Eg.
Fallacy: Miracles violate the laws of nature. Violating the laws of nature is impossible. Therefore, miracles are impossible.
Response: Miracles cannot be defined as impossible without begging the question.
Straw Man: Eg.
Fallacy: If the universe needs a cause, then God needs a cause. If God doesn't need a cause, the neither does the universe.
Response: Not necessarily. Causality may apply to the universe but not to God.
Red Herring/Diverting the Issue: Eg.
Fallacy: Maybe God exists, but look at all the bad things done in the name of religion.
Response: This changes the subject.
Hasty Generalization: Eg.
Fallacy: That used car salesman sold me a lemon. All used car salesmen are crooks!
Response: Just because there may be one or more dishonest used car salesmen, it doesn't follow that they're all dishonest.
Reductive Fallacy: Eg.
Fallacy: Consciousnes is nothing but neurological activity.
Response: This proposition reduces consciousness to a purely physical phenomenon without proper evidence.
False Analogy: Eg.
Fallacy: The world is like a watch. Since, a watch has a designer, so does the world.
Response: There are many ways in which the world is unlike a watch: the world is unique, we don't observe world being built, watches are sometimes made by multiple craftsmen, not just one designer, etc.
False Dilemma: Eg.
Fallacy: You're either a liberal or a conservative.
Response: There are more than two options
Slippery Slope: Eg.
Fallacy: If we legalize stem cell research, it's only a matter of time before we begin cloning human beings.
Response: Not necessarily. And even if true, is the bottome of hte slope bad? There is a difference between therapeutic cloning and reproductive cloning. Are both objectionable and, if so, why?
Fallacy of Composition: Eg.
Fallacy: Since every player on the team is a good player, it is a good team.
Response: Not necessarily. The individual players may not work well together.
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