Chapter 1: Thinking Critically

Chapter 1: Thinking Critically Assignment #1 – Unit 1A Recognizing Fallacies Pages 14 - 18

Answer ALL of the questions below:

1. What is logic? Briefly explain how logic can be useful?

Logic is the study of the methods and principles of reasoning.

2. How do we define argument? What is the basic structure of an argument?

An argument uses a set of facts or assumptions, called premises, to support a conclusion.

3. What is a fallacy? Why is it important to be able to recognize fallacies?

A fallacy is a deceptive argument – an argument in which the conclusion is not well supported by the premises.

4. Choose three examples of fallacies from this unit and, in your own words, describe how the given argument is deceptive.

1. “Ford makes the best pickup trucks in the world. After all, more people drive Ford pickups than any other light truck.”- the reasoning is faulty because the fact that more people drive Ford pickups does not necessarily mean that they are the best trucks.

2. “I placed the quartz crystal on my forehead, and in five minutes my headache was gone. The crystal made my headache go away.” – This argument suffers from the fallacy of false cause – in which the fact that one event came before another is incorrectly taken as evidence that the first event caused the second event. 3. In a commercial for Michelin tired, a picture of a baby is shown with the words “because so much is riding on your tires.” – This argument makes no appeal to logic. The advertisers hope that the love you feel for a baby will make you want to buy their tires – Fallacy of appeal to emotion. Sometimes the appeal is to both positive and negative emotions.