FALLACIES OF
RELEVANCE
Group 3:
Patawaran, Vincent
Garcia, Icy Cleo
Guiterez, Jelly May
Molenilla, Ma Jonalyn
Quirona, Mariane
What is
Fallacy?
A (logical) fallacy is an argument
that contains a mistake in
reasoning.
Fallacies can be divided
into general types.
⚫ 1. Fallacies of relevance
⚫ 1.1. Personal Attack (Ad Hominem)
⚫ 1.2. Attacking the motive
⚫ 1.3. Look who’s talking (tu qouque)
⚫ 1.4. Two wrongs make a right
⚫ 1.5. Appeal to Emotion
⚫ 1.6. Scare tactics
⚫ 1.7. Bandwagon Argument (Ad Populum)
⚫ 1.8. Red Herring
⚫ 1.9. Equivocation
Fallacies of relevance
- Arguments in which the premises
are logically irrelevant to the
conclusion.
“There is nothing so stupid as an
educated man if you get him off the
things he was educated in” – Will
Rogers
Personal Attack (Ad Hominem)
- When an arguer rejects a person’s argument or claim by
attacking the person’s character rather than examining the worth
of the argument or claim itself.
Example: Professor Quiboloy has argued for more emphasis on
music in our F2F classes to facilitate creativity. But Quiboloy is a
selfish bigheaded fool. I absolutely refuse to listen to him.
Pattern:
1. X is a bad person
2.Therefore, X’s argument must be bad.
Attacking the motive
- When an arguer criticizes a person’s motivation for offering a
particular argument or claim, rather than examining the worth of
the argument or claim itself.
Example: Vince has argued that we need to build a new
campus. But Trump is the owner of Vince’s Construction
Company. He’ll make a fortune if his company is picked to build
the new campus. Obviously, Vince’s argument is a lot of self-
serving nonsense.
Pattern:
X has biased or has questionable motive
Therefore, X’s arguments or claims should be rejected.
Look who’s talking (tu qouque)
- When an arguer rejects another person’s argument or claim
because that person is a hypocrite.
Example:
Doctor: You should quit smoking.
Patient: look who’s talking! I’ll quit when you do, Dr.
Smokestack!
Pattern:
X fails to follow his or her own advice.
Therefore, X’s claim or argument should be rejected.
Two wrongs make a right
- When an arguer attempts to justify a wrongful act by claiming
that some other act is just as bad or worse.
Examples:
“I don’t feel guilty about cheating on Sir Jm’s online quiz. Half the
class cheats on his quiz.”
“Why pick on me, officer? Everyone else is using drugs.”
Pattern:
Others are committing worse or equally bad acts
Therefore, my wrongful acts are justified.
Appeal to Emotion
- When an arguer attempts to evoke feelings of pity or
compassion, when such feelings, however understandable, are
not related to the truth of the arguer’s conclusion.
Example:
Student to lecturer: I know I missed half your classes and failed
all my quizzes and assignments. First, my cat die. Then my
girlfriend told me she has found someone else. With all I went
through this semester, I don’t think I really deserve an F. any
chance you might cut me some slack and change my grade to a
C or a D?
Scare tactics
- When an arguer threatens harm to a reader or listener
and this threat is irrelevant to the truth of the arguer’s
conclusion.
Example:
Diplomat to diplomat: I’m sure you’ll agree that we are the
rightful rulers of Iraq. It would be regrettable if we had to
send armed forces to demonstrate the validity of our claim.
Fear is a powerful motivator – so powerful that it often
causes us to think and behave irrationally.
Bandwagon Argument (Ad Populum)
- When an arguer appeals to a person’s desire to be
popular, accepted, or valued, rather than to logically
relevant reasons or evidence.
Example:
All the really cool Taylors students smoke cigarettes,
therefore, you should.
Pattern:
1.Most (or a select group of) people believe or do X.
2.Therefore, you should believe or do X.
Red Herring
- When an arguer tries to sidetrack his audience by raising an irrelevant
issue, and then claims that the original issue has been effectively settled by
the irrelevant diversion.
Example:
“I think there is great in making the requirements stricter for the graduate
students. I recommend that you support it, too. After all, we are in a budget
crisis and we do not want our salaries affected.”
Pattern:
1.Topic A is under discussion.
2. Topic B is introduced under the guise of being relevant to topic a (when
topic B is actually not relevant to topic A).
3. Topic A is abandoned.
Equivocation
- When an arguer uses a key word in an
argument in two (or more) different
senses.
Example:
Human walk by their legs. The table has
legs, Therefore the table walks by its legs.
Thank you for
Listening!!!
