Discussion 1: Fallacies and Biases

Prior to answering this week's discussion prompt, complete the Buying a Car. interactive scenario. In the car buying scenario, just like in real life, you were presented with an argument for making a different purchase than you had originally intended. Notice any similarities between the arguments offered by the car salesman and the kinds of arguments you have read about in the assigned readings. Consider how you can apply what you have learned in the class so far to the kinds of arguments given by the salesman. Keep these sorts of considerations in mind as you complete this discussion.

Your instructor will choose the discussion question and post it as the first post in the discussion forum. The requirements for the discussion this week are a minimum of four posts on four separate days including responses to at least two classmates.. The total combined word count for all of your posts, counted together, should be at least 600 words. Answer all the questions in the prompt, and read any resources that are required to complete the discussion properly.

In order to satisfy the posting requirements for the week, complete your initial post by Day 3 (Thursday) and your other posts by Day 7 (Monday). We recommend that you get into the discussion early and spread out your posts over the course of the week. Reply to your classmates and instructor. Take the conversation further by examining their claims or arguments in more depth or responding to the posts that they make to you. Keep the discussion on target, and analyze examples in as much detail as you can.

For further instruction about how to address discussion prompts in the new format, view the key terms and Discussion Videos visible in the Week One Standard Form Arguments discussion.

Discussion Board 1: Instructor's choice prompt option 1:

Identify Three Fallacies

Once you learn the names of the major logical fallacies, you will probably start noticing them all over the place, including in advertisements, movies, TV shows, and everyday conversations. This can be both fascinating and frustrating, but it can certainly help you to avoid certain pitfalls in reasoning that are unfortunately very common. This exercise gives you a chance to practice identifying fallacies as they occur in daily life.

Prepare: To prepare to address this prompt, carefully read through Chapter 7 of our book, paying special attention to learning the names of common fallacies, biases, and rhetorical tricks. Take a look as well at the required resources from this week.

Reflect: Search through common media sources looking for examples of fallacies. Some common places to find fallacies include advertisements, opinion pieces in news media, and arguments about politics, religion, and other controversial issues. You may also notice fallacies in your daily life.

Write: Present three distinct informal logical fallacies you have discovered in these types of sources or in your life. Make sure to identify the specific fallacy committed by each example. Explain how the fallacies were used and the context in which they occurred. Then, explain how the person should have presented the argument to have avoided committing this logical error.

Guided Response: Read the fallacies presented by your classmates and analyze the reasoning that they have presented. Respond in a way that furthers the discussion. For example, you might comment on any of the following types of questions: Have ever seen or fallen for similar fallacies in your own life? Are any of the cases presented also instances of some other type of fallacy? Is there a sense in which the reasoning might not be fallacious in some cases? What can people do to avoid falling for such fallacies in the future?

I will send classmate fallacies when posted.

Two helpful videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhhJAGjBIEw&t=9s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sjZVwAnwPA

George Bernard Shaw's funny fallacy...

When we drink, we get drunk.

When we get drunk, we fall asleep.

When we fall asleep, we commit no sin.

When we commit no sin, we go to heaven.

So, let's all get drunk and go to heaven!

(This is a hypothetical syllogism that has its own crazy logic. Laughs aside, it is an invalid deductive argument.