Trigger warning for Mello

MikeDamone said:

HuskyJW said:

MikeDamone said:

HuskyJW said:

Donald Trump’s son is standing up for his father?

Thanks for the link. I would’ve thought for sure he would go in the other direction

Nice logical fallacy. What’s your counter argument?

Why would I have a counter argument? I thanked the OP for providing a link.

You wouldn’t have a counter argument because you can’t provide one. That’s why you tossed a logical fallacy out.

The playbook:

Begging the question: assumes a debatable part of an argument is already agreed upon. Example: the heavily polluted Cape Fear River can't provide adequate drinking water for Wilmington (assumes river is heavily polluted).

Non sequitur: occurs when a conclusion doesn't logically follow its premises. Example: because you borrowed my psyche notes, I flunked my Spanish test (no connection between premise and conclusion).

Red herring: introduces unrelated information to distract the audience's attention. Example: you should just extend the due date since the Panthers are playing tonight (the Panthers' game is an unrelated distraction from the real issue).

False authority: using a non-authority in an appeal to authority. Example: Britney Spears recommends we give end-of-year tests to all school children (Britney Spears isn't an education expert).

Bandwagon: appeals to people's desire to conform to the larger group. Example: you should try marijuana because over 50% of Americans have tried it (the fact that many people have done something doesn't automatically make that something justifiable).

Ad populum: inappropriately appeals to people's general feelings of love, hate, patriotism, fear, etc. Example: if you're a true-blooded American you won't criticize my ideas (doesn't address the merits of the ideas).

Ad hominem: distracts from argument by attacking the person or persons making the argument. Example: don't listen to Bill Clinton's advice on economic policy because he cheated on his wife (personal attack distracts from merits of suggestion).

Hasty generalization: reaching a generalized conclusion from too little evidence. Example: Susie didn't say hello to me when we passed in the hallway. She hates me! (there isn't enough evidence to reach the conclusion).

Post hoc: assuming that since A happened before B, A must have caused B. Example: After eating a cheeseburger, I wrecked my car. The cheeseburger must have made me wreck my car (no clear connection between A and .

False analogy: making implausible comparisons to prove a point. Example: Teachers are like doctors; so don't grade my paper, just heal it (not sufficient evidence to support comparison).

Either/or: assuming there are only two conclusions that can be reached. Example: I'll either get an A in this class, or I'll flunk (doesn't acknowledge other possibilities).

Straw man: ignores a person's actual position and substitutes a distorted, exaggerated or misrepresented version of that position. This sort of "reasoning" has the following pattern:

Person A has position X.
Person B presents position Y (which is a distorted version of X).
Person B attacks position Y.
Therefore X is false/incorrect/flawed.

Example: Senator Doe believes that we should have a program that will offer undocumented immigrants in our country a path toward citizenship. I do not believe that we should just hand this country over to illegal aliens.