Choose one (1) fallacy from each group below for a total of two (2):
Group A: red herring, subjectivist fallacy, appeal to popularity (ad populum), appeal to fear (ad metum), appeal to the stick (ad baculum), appeal to pity (ad misericordiam), appeal to anger/indignation, appeal to ignorance (ad ignorantiam), appeal to authority (ispe dixit)
Group B: personal attack (ad hominem abusive), ad hominem circumstantial, genetic fallacy, straw man, false dilemma, false dichotomy, perfectionist fallacy, line-drawing, slippery slope, begging the question, equivocation
For each fallacy you chose, do the following:
First Part: Preparatory Work
Quote and cite the definition of the chosen fallacy from the readings. (If no explicit definition is given in the readings, still use quotes from the readings to generate an acceptable definition.)
Explain that definition.
Explain why the chosen fallacy is effective.
Using at least one example not from the readings, explain how a statement might appear to be an abuse of the chosen fallacy when in fact that statement is acceptable.
Second Part: Concrete Example
Find and quote one example of a fallacious use of this fallacy.
Explain the context in which the chosen example was used.
By reference to your explanations in the First Part (above), explain why your example is fallacious.
Provided sufficient reference information for me to find the source. If it’s a video or radio source, provide a link where I can watch or listen to it, along with the approximate time (hours:minutes:second). If it’s a written source, provide a link to the website on which it appears, or bibliographical information for examples not on the web. Not providing this information will result in failing this portion of the assignment.
Your answers for the Second Part must include at least one concrete example from a sitting American politician or a news anchor/journalist from a major news source. For the other fallacy, if you want to include an example from your life, email me a written record and descriiption of the conversation at least five (5) days before the deadline so that I can OK it. If I don’t OK the example, it will not count, and you will fail this portion of the assignment. Otherwise, you will need a second example from a sitting American politician or a news anchor/journalist from a major news source.
A “sitting politician” means a politician who is currently in office.
What counts as a major news source for our purposes: NO BLOGS AND NO TALK-SHOWS, except those from major news sources. Examples of major news sources include: Associate Press (AP), Al Jazeera, BBC, CNN, Democracy Now!, Le Figaro, Fox News, France 24, MSNBC, National Public Radio (NPR), The New York Times, Reuters, Russian Times (RT), Der Spiegel, Times of India, Voice of America, The Wall Street Journal, etc. If you’re not sure if something you want to use counts, ask me ASAP.
Requirements:
You will be graded relative first, to class lectures, and second, to the readings. Make sure you don’t commit the mistakes laid out in the readings regarding arguments that appear fallacious but are not.
Cite every quote or paraphrase (no exceptions).
Provide a “Works Cited” page of the sources you use in your paper, except for class readings. If you are led to an example through a different source, include that source under “Works Consulted” (failure to do so constitutes a breach of academic integrity).
ANSWER IN ESSAY FORMAT, NOT IN BULLET POINTS. While it’s your responsibility to produce clearly written, well organized responses, answering the questions in order should make organization fairly simple.
Word count: 600 words. In commonly accepted fonts and font sizes, this translates to about one page per fallacy. It’s more important that you answer the prompt successfully than that you hit the word count.
Only submit .doc and .docx (MS Word) file types.
Submit the finished product on Canvas’ Turnitin dropbox for “Informal Fallacies Paper”. You only get one chance to submit, so make sure a) that it’s finished, and b) that it’s the correct file type.
