Question

After reading Common Logical Fallacies, choose three of the common “fallacies” described in the reading, and write one short essay defining and explaining each of these three fallacies.

Three common fallacies are BANDWAGON, BEGGING THE QUESTION & STRAW MAN

Answer 1

Common Fallacies-

1. Bandwagon fallacy- it means that one must accept or select an argument because of everyone else that accepts it or rejects it. It is similar to peer pressure. It is an appeal to common belief or appeal to the masses because it is all about getting people to do or think something because everyone else is doing it or everyone else thinks this. Peer pressure or popularity of things or works as being the basis of bandwagon fallacy argument. The bandwagon effect originates in politics, where people vote for the candidate who appears to have the most support because they want to be part of the majority.

For example- in the late nineties “Rachel” haircut was wildly popular, everyone is taking this haircut.

2. Begging the question fallacy- it is an informal fallacy that occurs when an argument’s premises assume the truth of the conclusion, instead of supporting it. It is also considered as arguing in a circle or circular reasoning. It is a fallacy in which a claim is made and accepted to be true, but one must accept the premise to be true for the claim to be true.

For examples- killing people is wrong, so the death penalty is wrong; smoking cigarettes can kill you because cigarettes are deadly; everyone wants the new iPhone because it is the hottest new gadget in the market.

3. Straw man fallacy- it is an informal fallacy of having the impression of refuting an argument, meanwhile the proper idea of argument under discussion was not addressed or properly refuted. It is logical fallacy. It is considered as a distorted version of what the person believes. It occurs when someone takes another person’s argument, distorts it or exaggerates it in some kind of extreme way, and after that attacks the extreme distortion, as if that is really the claim that the first person is making.

For example- biology teacher begins teaching evolution by stating that all things evolve. Student says he just cannot accept that humans came from bugs.