logical fallacies exit continue… a logical fallacy is a statement that contains faulty reasoning....
TRANSCRIPT
Logical Fallacies
EXIT
Continue…
A logical fallacy is a statement that contains faulty reasoning. Don’t give your reader a reason to doubt your information. Persuasive writing especially requires sound logic to support opinions.
MENU
Logical Fallacies
EXIT
What’s wrong with this statement?
If I don’t get the summer internship at the newspaper, I won’t have a career in journalism when I graduate.
Click to see an analysis
A logical fallacy is a statement that contains faulty reasoning. Don’t give your reader a reason to doubt your information. Persuasive writing especially requires sound logic to support opinions.
PREVIOUS MENU
Logical Fallacies
EXIT
This statement sets up only two options although many strategies for starting a career in journalism exist. It is too extreme to seem reasonable.
If I don’t get the summer internship at the newspaper, I won’t have a career in journalism when I graduate.
A logical fallacy is a statement that contains faulty reasoning. Don’t give your reader a reason to doubt your information. Persuasive writing especially requires sound logic to support opinions.
Next
PREVIOUS MENU
Common logical fallacies include the following. Click to choose the fallacy you want to explore.
EXIT
MENU
Logical Fallacies
MENU
•Overgeneralization
•Circular reasoning
•False analogy
•Either/or reasoning
•Single cause
•False cause
EXIT
Logical Fallacies
Continue…
OvergeneralizationAn overgeneralization is a statement so broad that it can easily be disproved. Look for words like all, everyone, no one, always, never, none, when you revise.
MENU
EXIT
Logical Fallacies
OvergeneralizationAn overgeneralization is a statement so broad that it can easily be disproved. Look for words like all, everyone, no one, always, never, none, when you revise.
What is the overgeneralization in this sentence?
People who go to the beach always get sunburns.
Click to see the overgeneralization
PREVIOUS MENU
EXIT
Logical Fallacies
OvergeneralizationAn overgeneralization is a statement so broad that it can easily be disproved. Look for words like all, everyone, no one, always, never, none, when you revise.
What is the overgeneralization in this sentence?
People who go to the beach always get sunburns.
Click to see a revision
PREVIOUS MENU
EXIT
Logical Fallacies
OvergeneralizationAn overgeneralization is a statement so broad that it can easily be disproved. Look for words like all, everyone, no one, always, never, none, when you revise.
People who go to the beach always get sunburns. ORIGINAL
People who go to the beach often get sunburns.
REVISED
Menu
PREVIOUS MENU
EXIT
Continue…
Logical Fallacies
Circular ReasoningAn attempt to prove a statement by simply repeating it in different words is circular reasoning.
MENU
EXIT
Logical Fallacies
Click to see the repeated idea
Circular ReasoningAn attempt to prove a statement by simply repeating it in different words is circular reasoning.
What is the repeated idea in this sentence?
Term limits are a good idea because politicians should remain in office only for a certain amount of time.
PREVIOUS MENU
EXIT
Logical Fallacies
Circular ReasoningAn attempt to prove a statement by simply repeating it in different words is circular reasoning.
What is the repeated idea in this sentence?
Term limits are a good idea because politicians should remain in office only for a certain amount of time.
Continue…
PREVIOUS MENU
EXIT
Logical Fallacies
Circular ReasoningAn attempt to prove a statement by simply repeating it in different words is circular reasoning.
How would you revise to avoid this circular reasoning?
Term limits are a good idea because politicians should remain in office only for a certain amount of time.
Click to see a revision
PREVIOUS MENU
EXIT
Logical Fallacies
Circular ReasoningAn attempt to prove a statement by simply repeating it in different words is circular reasoning.
Term limits are a good idea because politicians should remain in office only for a certain amount of time.
PREVIOUS MENU
politicians shouldremain in office only for a certain amount of time.
EXIT
Logical Fallacies
Circular ReasoningAn attempt to prove a statement by simply repeating it in different words is circular reasoning.
Term limits are a good idea because
PREVIOUS MENU
EXIT
Logical Fallacies
Circular ReasoningAn attempt to prove a statement by simply repeating it in different words is circular reasoning.
Term limits are a good idea because
PREVIOUS MENU
voters should be givenmany opportunities for political change.
EXIT
Logical Fallacies
Circular ReasoningAn attempt to prove a statement by simply repeating it in different words is circular reasoning.
This revised sentence gives specific information about why term limits are a good idea.
Menu
PREVIOUS MENU
Term limits are a good idea because voters should be givenmany opportunities for political change.
EXIT
Logical Fallacies
Continue…
False AnalogyA false analogy is a comparison between two things that are different in some essential way.
MENU
EXIT
Logical Fallacies
False AnalogyA false analogy is a comparison between two things that are different in some essential way.
What is wrong with this comparison?
Employees are like nails. You have to keep hammering them to make them work.
Click to see an analysis
PREVIOUS MENU
EXIT
Logical Fallacies
False AnalogyA false analogy is a comparison between two things that are different in some essential way.
This argument compares people to nails. The two are completely different. It may sound clever but has little meaning.
Employees are like nails. You have to keep hammering them to make them work.
Menu
PREVIOUS MENU
EXIT
Logical Fallacies
Continue…
Either/Or ReasoningAn either/or fallacy is a statement suggesting that there are only two possible ways to view a situation or only two options to choose from.
MENU
EXIT
Logical Fallacies
Either/Or ReasoningAn either/or fallacy is a statement suggesting that there are only two possible ways to view a situation or only two options to choose from.
What other possibilities can you imagine for this example?
We must either allow scientists to continue running tests on animals, or we’ll have no new medicines in the future.
Click to see an analysis
PREVIOUS MENU
EXIT
Logical Fallacies
Either/Or ReasoningAn either/or fallacy is a statement suggesting that there are only two possible ways to view a situation or only two options to choose from.
There are many ways for scientists to develop new medicines in addition to running tests on animals.
We must either allow scientists to continue running tests on animals, or we’ll have no new medicines in the future.
Click to see a revision
PREVIOUS MENU
EXIT
Logical Fallacies
Either/Or ReasoningAn either/or fallacy is a statement suggesting that there are only two possible ways to view a situation or only two options to choose from.
We must either allow scientists to continue running tests on animals, or we’ll have no new medicines in the future.
ORIGINAL
Allowing scientists to continue running tests on animals will allow them to use an important tool in developing new medicines.
REVISED
Menu
This revision removes the limited options and presents a more reasonable statement.
PREVIOUS MENU
EXIT
Logical Fallacies
Continue…
Single CauseIn a single cause fallacy, the writer assumes that an event has just one cause when there are actually multiple causes.
MENU
EXIT
Logical Fallacies
Single CauseIn a single cause fallacy, the writer assumes that an event has just one cause when there are actually multiple causes.
Can you think of other possible reasons why many species of animals are at risk of extinction?
Many species of animals are at risk of extinction because of overhunting.
Click to see a revision
PREVIOUS MENU
EXIT
Logical Fallacies
Single CauseIn a single cause fallacy, the writer assumes that an event has just one cause when there are actually multiple causes.
Many species of animals are at risk of extinction because of overhunting.
ORIGINAL
Many species of animals are at risk of extinction because of the destruction of their habitat, overhunting, air and water pollution, and other causes.
REVISED
Menu
PREVIOUS MENU
EXIT
Logical Fallacies
Continue…
False CauseJust because one event occurred after another in time, the first event may not have caused the second event. Don’t let that kind of false cause reasoning show up in your writing.
MENU
EXIT
Logical Fallacies
False CauseJust because one event occurred after another in time, the first event may not have caused the second event. Don’t let that kind of false cause reasoning show up in your writing.
What might be the true causes in this situation?
Crime rates dropped as a result of the mayor’s get-tough speeches.
Click to see an analysis
PREVIOUS MENU
EXIT
Logical Fallacies
False CauseJust because one event occurred after another in time, the first event may not have caused the second event. Don’t let that kind of false cause reasoning show up in your writing.
A drop in the crime rate might be the result of many factors, such as a crackdown by police, hiring more police officers, and more community involvement. The mayor’s speeches may have had little or nothing to do with it.
Crime rates dropped as a result of the mayor’s get-tough speeches.
Click to see a revision
PREVIOUS MENU
EXIT
Logical Fallacies
False CauseJust because one event occurred after another in time, the first event may not have caused the second event. Don’t let that kind of false cause reasoning show up in your writing.
Crime rates dropped as a result of the mayor’s get-tough speeches.
ORIGINAL
Crime rates dropped as a result of a crackdown by police, the hiring of additional police officers, and more community involvement.
REVISED
Menu
PREVIOUS MENU