Critical Thinking: Chapter 6

1
Critical Thinking Chapter 6

• More Rhetorical Devices Psychological and
  Related Devices

2
Psychological and Related Devices

• A good argument provides a justification for
  accepting its conclusion.

3
Psychological and Related Devices

• Some rhetorical devices can be made to look like
  arguments containing premises and conclusions.
  But they dont really provide legitimate proof of
  what they supposedly are proving.
• This is called pseudoreasoning.

4
The argument from outrage

• A fallacy is a mistake in reasoning.
• It is a mistake to think that something is wrong
  simply because it makes us angry.

5
The argument from outrage

• The argument from outrage consists in
  inflammatory words (or thoughts) followed by a
  conclusion of some sort.
• It substitutes anger for reason and judgment in
  considering an issue.

6
The argument from outrage

• Scapegoating is a breed of argument from
  outrage in which one person, or a group, gets
  blamed for everything bad.

7
The argument from outrage

• Example Dear Editors When Al Jones wrote in to
  criticize city workers, he didnt mention his
  occupation. Maybe hes a millionaire without a
  care in the world, that he has the time to
  criticize people working for him--if hes even a
  taxpayer.

8
Scare Tactics

• When the emotion appealed to is fear, rather than
  anger, this is the fallacy known as a scare
  tactic. A rhetorical device that uses a threat
  instead of good reasons to get someone to accept
  a claim.

9
Scare Tactics

• In a special case of scare tactics, the
  argument by force amounts to saying, Agree
  with me or I will hurt you.

10
Scare Tactics

• Legitimate warnings are not scare tactics even
  though they may be scary.
• If you dont check your parachute before
  jumping, you may die is an excellent argument!

11
Scare Tactics

• Example You bet Ill explain why Fantasy Land
  an adult bookstore should be closed down! You
  go in there, and well send your license plate
  number to the newspaper. Are you going to like
  people knowing what kind of stuff you read?

12
Argument from Pity

• Argument from pity. You need a job and although
  you are not qualified you try to get it by making
  the employer feel bad for you. The name of a
  rhetorical device that plays on your compassion
  to get you to accept a claim instead of relying
  on sound reasons.

13
Argument from Pity

• Example Ladies and gentlemen of the jury My
  client stands before you accused of three bank
  robberies. But the prosecution has not told you
  about three little children in this story, who
  will have a hard time getting food on their table
  if their daddy goes to prison.

14
Apple Polishing Fallacy

• The apple polishing fallacy is when we allow
  praise of ourselves to substitute for judgment
  about the truth of a claim, or when we do this to
  others.

15
Apple Polishing Fallacy

• Officer Excuse me, sir. Do you know how fast you
  were going? Driver I never get over the sight of
  you mounted policemen. How do you leap down off
  the horses back so fast? And you must have them
  well trained, not to run away when you dismount.

16
Wishful Thinking Fallacy

• Wishful thinking Happens when we accept or
  reject a claim simply because it would be
  pleasant (or unpleasant) if it were true.

17
Wishful Thinking Fallacy

• Example There must be life on other planets.
  Imagine how lonely well find the universe if we
  discover that were the only ones here.

18
Peer Pressure Fallacy

• Peer pressure argument Plays on our desire for
  acceptance and our fear of rejection. It is the
  name of the rhetorical device that argues for a
  course of action on the grounds that taking this
  course will win the approval of others and
  especially of ones friends.

19
Peer Pressure Fallacy

• Example Are you telling me that youre
  twenty-one years old and still a virgin? Id keep
  quiet about that if I were you--youd be the
  laughing stock of the dorm if that were widely
  known.

20
Group Think Fallacy

• Group think fallacy occurs when someone lets
  identification with a group take the place of
  reason and deliberation when arriving at a
  position on an issue.

21
Group Think Fallacy

• Example My country right or wrong.
• Example Pynchon is where its at. All the Alpha
  Kappas read him.

22
Fallacies based on emotions

• Remember When arguments evoke emotions that
  make us want to accept the conclusion without
  support, look for fallacies and rhetoric.

23
Rationalizing

• Rationalizing is when we use a false pretext to
  satisfy our own desires or interests.
• Rationalizing involves a confusion in thinking.
  It involves an element of self-deception about
  our true motivation.

24
Rationalizing

• Example Shell be glad I spent the night out
  drinking. Im giving her some personal space.

25
Argument From Popularity

• Argument from popularity is when we accept the
  conclusion of an argument because a lot of other
  people have accepted the same conclusion. The
  name of a rhetorical device that encourages the
  acceptance of a claim on the grounds that it is
  already accepted by some substantial number of
  others.

26
Argument From Popularity

• Example There must be an afterlife. Wherever you
  find human beings you find their minds naturally
  returning to this thought.
• Example Obviously it was right for the United
  States to attack Iraq in 1991. Polls at the time
  showed that over 90 percent of Americans thought
  the war was justified.

27
Argument From Popularity

• Example My opponent would like to see TV
  networks label their programming, on the grounds
  that violent shows make children who watch them
  violent. But everyone knows a couple of shows
  cant change your personality.

28
Common Practice Fallacy

• The name of a rhetorical device that tries to
  justify an action on the grounds that it is
  normal behavior, accepted by all or most people.
• Example Why do you take a bus to work when most
  people drive?

29
Relativism

• Review of Chapter 1 Truth is relative.
  Opinions are relative, but not factual claims.
  Remember factual claims can be tested or
  verified.

30
Subjectivist Fallacy

• The name of a rhetorical device that is based on
  the view called relativism, that what is true for
  one is not true for another.

31
Subjectivist Fallacy

• Example Professor I gave you a D on your essay
  because your grammar was faulty and your
  organization was difficult to follow. Student
  Thats just your opinion!

32
Subjectivist Fallacy

• Example Biker I refuse to buy a Japanese
  motorcycle. I dont believe in doing business
  with Communist countries. Reporter But Japan
  isnt communist. Biker Well to me they are.

33
Two wrongs make a right

• Two wrongs make a right is a fallacy because
  wrongful behavior on someone elses part doesnt
  convert wrongful behavior on your part into
  rightful behavior.

34
Two wrongs make a right

• Example Well! Finally after all these years, the
  telephone company makes an error on my bill in my
  favor! And Im surely not going to point it out
  to them. Theyve been gouging me since the
  telephones first came into existence.

35
Red Herring

• A red herring fallacy is caused when a person
  brings a topic into a conversation that distracts
  from the original point, especially if the new
  topic is introduced in order to distract.

36
Red Herring

• Example Its clear enough to me that Senator
  John McCain would have made a great president.
  Look, it isnt often that we get a chance to
  elect a guy whos a war hero, a prisoner of war
  in an enemy prison camp, and we ought to have
  done it when we had the chance.

37
Smokescreen

• Basically the same as a red herring. A
  smokescreen is when you pile up so many issues
  the original issue gets lost. The name of a
  rhetorical device that tries to side-track
  someone by bringing up a related but irrelevant
  topic.

38
Smokescreen

• To the people who brought you The Great
  American Smokeout, we make The Great American
  Challenge. We challenge the American Cancer
  Society to clean up the air in its smoke free
  offices. We are willing to bet there isnt much
  cigarette smoking at American Cancer Society
  offices. But, according to a recent study from
  the National Institute for Occupational Safety
  and Health (NIOSH), cigarette smoke also wasnt
  the problem in 98 percent of 203 buildings
  reported to have indoor air problems. . . .
  Indoor air inspections resulting from worker
  complaints typically find viruses, fungal spores,
  bacteria, gases, closed fresh air ducts, and
  ventilation systems in need of maintenance.
• Full-page ad in USA Today, sponsored by the
  Tobacco Institute

39
Smokescreen

• A real, literal smokescreen! The Tobacco
  Institute is playing off reports of dangerous
  office environments, but the ad is meant to
  divert attention away from the even greater
  dangers of cigarette smoking. The ad may also
  hint that those who feel ill at the office should
  not blame the smoker but the Smokeout was
  directed to actual smokers.

40
Exercises

• Identify instances of pseudoreasoning in the
  following passages
• Listen, Higgins. I need your vote in the next
  department election or I may not get elected
  chair. Remember, if I do get elected, it will be
  me who decides what hours your classes meet next
  year.

41
Exercises

• Listen, Higgins. I need your vote in the next
  department election or I may not get elected
  chair. Remember, if I do get elected, it will be
  me who decides what hours your classes meet next
  year.
• Scare tactics

42
Exercises

• When several people in Harveys department get
  new computers, he is annoyed because he is not
  among them. Ill tell you what, Harvey says to
  his wife, if they want to rip me off by not
  getting a new computer for me, Ill just rip them
  off for extra office supplies. Theyve got a lot
  of stuff at work we could use around here, and
  theyll have no way of knowing that its gone.
  Turnabouts fair play.

43
Exercises

• When several people in Harveys department get
  new computers, he is annoyed because he is not
  among them. Ill tell you what, Harvey says to
  his wife, if they want to rip me off by not
  getting a new computer for me, Ill just rip them
  off for extra office supplies. Theyve got a lot
  of stuff at work we could use around here, and
  theyll have no way of knowing that its gone.
  Turnabouts fair play.
• Two wrongs

44
Exercises

• You saw what the former governor of Illinois did
  He declared a moratorium on executions in the
  state. It was a good thing, too, because it turns
  out that a large number of the inmates on death
  row had to be turned loose because DNA evidence
  proved them innocent beyond a shadow of a doubt.
  Its about time we got serious about the fact
  that weve been convicting innocent people and
  sentencing them to death.

45
Exercises

• You saw what the former governor of Illinois did
  He declared a moratorium on executions in the
  state. It was a good thing, too, because it turns
  out that a large number of the inmates on death
  row had to be turned loose because DNA evidence
  proved them innocent beyond a shadow of a doubt.
  Its about time we got serious about the fact
  that weve been convicting innocent people and
  sentencing them to death.
• No fallacy. I think its about time too.

46
Exercises

• No, I do NOT believe that a murderer has a right
  to live, and heres why. The criminal justice
  system in this country has gotten completely out
  of control, what with rapists, murderers, you
  name itall getting off scot-free. Its got to
  change!

47
Exercises

• No, I do NOT believe that a murderer has a right
  to live, and heres why. The criminal justice
  system in this country has gotten completely out
  of control, what with rapists, murderers, you
  name itall getting off scot-free. Its got to
  change!
• Red herring

48
Exercises

• Those four officers who killed the innocent man
  in New York by mistake should be found not guilty
  of any crime. None of them had ever been in any
  kind of trouble before, and, tragically, this
  kind of thing is just going to happen when we
  have aggressive police work.

49
Exercises

• Those four officers who killed the innocent man
  in New York by mistake should be found not guilty
  of any crime. None of them had ever been in any
  kind of trouble before, and, tragically, this
  kind of thing is just going to happen when we
  have aggressive police work.
• Red herring in fact, two red herrings

50
Exercises

• Gays in the military? No way. Clinton promoted
  the idea just to get the homosexual vote.

51
Exercises

• Gays in the military? No way. Clinton promoted
  the idea just to get the homosexual vote.
• Red herring

52
Exercises

• Gays in the military? Yes. There are no valid
  grounds for opposing the measure, as can be seen
  in the fact that policies of nondiscrimination to
  gays are common practice throughout Western
  democracies.

53
Exercises

• Gays in the military? Yes. There are no valid
  grounds for opposing the measure, as can be seen
  in the fact that policies of nondiscrimination to
  gays are common practice throughout Western
  democracies.
• Common practice

54
Exercises

• From a prosecutors closing statement at a trial
  In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
  there can be absolutely no doubt that this
  defendant committed these terrible murders. Look
  at the mother of the victim, sitting over there,
  and the fathertheir lives are forever destroyed
  by this evil deed. Never again will they know the
  peace and happiness that was their due. Put
  yourselves in their shoes, and you will know
  whether or not this man is guilty.

55
Exercises

• From a prosecutors closing statement at a trial
  In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
  there can be absolutely no doubt that this
  defendant committed these terrible murders. Look
  at the mother of the victim, sitting over there,
  and the fathertheir lives are forever destroyed
  by this evil deed. Never again will they know the
  peace and happiness that was their due. Put
  yourselves in their shoes, and you will know
  whether or not this man is guilty.
• Red herring

56
Exercises

• Is the president guilty of sexual harassment, as
  the Republicans are yelping? Hey, give me a
  break! Whats important is jobs, health care,
  welfare reform.

57
Exercises

• Is the president guilty of sexual harassment, as
  the Republicans are yelping? Hey, give me a
  break! Whats important is jobs, health care,
  welfare reform.
• Red herring

58
Exercises

• No, I dont believe that Uncle Bob is really gone
  forever. He was like a father to me, and I
  believe that someday, somehow or other, well see
  one another again I dont think I could go on if
  I didnt believe that.

59
Exercises

• No, I dont believe that Uncle Bob is really gone
  forever. He was like a father to me, and I
  believe that someday, somehow or other, well see
  one another again I dont think I could go on if
  I didnt believe that.
• Wishful thinking

60
Exercises

• Listen, friends, its our money the board of
  supervisors wants to spend putting sewers and
  other improvements out there in that Antelope
  Creek development. And you know whos going to
  profit from it the most? The developers, who
  dont even live around here. I tell you, we have
  sat back and done nothing long enough! Its high
  time we told these out-of-town interlopers or
  antelopers or whatever they are to go mess with
  somebody elses town. I wont stand for it any
  more!

61
Exercises

• Listen, friends, its our money the board of
  supervisors wants to spend putting sewers and
  other improvements out there in that Antelope
  Creek development. And you know whos going to
  profit from it the most? The developers, who
  dont even live around here. I tell you, we have
  sat back and done nothing long enough! Its high
  time we told these out-of-town interlopers or
  antelopers or whatever they are to go mess with
  somebody elses town. I wont stand for it any
  more!
• Argument from outrage (There is a relevant
  appeal here, but the speaker is clearly trying to
  evoke outrage from his audience as well.)

62
Exercises

• Ill tell you why a hundred dollars is enough
  child support. You go into court and ask for
  more, and Ill have my lawyer file a countersuit
  that will set you back a bundle in legal fees!

63
Exercises

• Ill tell you why a hundred dollars is enough
  child support. You go into court and ask for
  more, and Ill have my lawyer file a countersuit
  that will set you back a bundle in legal fees!
• Scare tactics

64
Exercises

• I know it was not very nice to overcharge them
  like that for the room, but alls fair in love,
  war, and business, my dear. Besides, if the
  situation were reversed and we were desperate for
  lodging, they would have bled us for all were
  worth.

65
Exercises

• I know it was not very nice to overcharge them
  like that for the room, but alls fair in love,
  war, and business, my dear. Besides, if the
  situation were reversed and we were desperate for
  lodging, they would have bled us for all were
  worth.
• Two wrongs make a right

66
Exercises

• George, I speak for the rest of the neighbors on
  our street. Frankly, your front yard is a mess,
  and wed appreciate it if you would do something
  about it. We put the time and money into making
  our places look nice, but the effort is largely
  ruined by one awful looking place right here in
  the middle of the block. We hope youll do
  something about it.

67
Exercises

• George, I speak for the rest of the neighbors on
  our street. Frankly, your front yard is a mess,
  and wed appreciate it if you would do something
  about it. We put the time and money into making
  our places look nice, but the effort is largely
  ruined by one awful looking place right here in
  the middle of the block. We hope youll do
  something about it.
• This might look like peer pressure or common
  practice, but I dont believe its a fallacy at
  all.

68
Exercises

• Letter to the editor Your food section
  frequently features recipes with veal, and you
  say veal is a wholesome, nutritious dish. I
  disagree. Do you know how veal comes to be on
  your plate? At birth a newborn calf is separated
  from its mother, placed in a dark enclosure, and
  chained by its neck so that it cannot move
  freely. This limits muscular development so that
  the animal is tender. It is kept in the dark pen
  until the day it is cruelly slaughtered.
• Cascade News

69
Exercises

• Letter to the editor Your food section
  frequently features recipes with veal, and you
  say veal is a wholesome, nutritious dish. I
  disagree. Do you know how veal comes to be on
  your plate? At birth a newborn calf is separated
  from its mother, placed in a dark enclosure, and
  chained by its neck so that it cannot move
  freely. This limits muscular development so that
  the animal is tender. It is kept in the dark pen
  until the day it is cruelly slaughtered.
• Cascade News
• Argument from pity

70
Exercises

• Letter to the editor Your food section
  frequently features recipes with veal, and you
  say veal is a wholesome, nutritious dish. It may
  be wholesome and nutritious, but it is produced
  in a gruesome, inhumane way. At birth a newborn
  calf is separated from its mother, placed in a
  dark enclosure, and chained by its neck so that
  it cannot move freely. This limits muscular
  development so that the animal is tender. It is
  kept in the dark pen until the day it is cruelly
  slaughtered.
• Cascade News

71
Exercises

• Letter to the editor Your food section
  frequently features recipes with veal, and you
  say veal is a wholesome, nutritious dish. It may
  be wholesome and nutritious, but it is produced
  in a gruesome, inhumane way. At birth a newborn
  calf is separated from its mother, placed in a
  dark enclosure, and chained by its neck so that
  it cannot move freely. This limits muscular
  development so that the animal is tender. It is
  kept in the dark pen until the day it is cruelly
  slaughtered.
• Cascade News
• No fallacy. What is the difference?

72
Exercises

• Ad for a store that sells pianos Pianos are our
  only business. Youll get the best deal at the
  piano experts.

73
Exercises

• Ad for a store that sells pianos Pianos are our
  only business. Youll get the best deal at the
  piano experts.
• Red herring (That they sell nothing but pianos
  is irrelevant to how much they sell them for.)

74
Exercises

• Frankly, I dont think you would be satisfied
  with anything less than our Model 24, which
  allows for more expansion than any other personal
  computer in its class. The way you catch on to
  thingssomething I can tell just from the
  questions youve asked here in the storeyoure
  not going to be happy with a machine whose limits
  youll soon reach.

75
Exercises

• Frankly, I dont think you would be satisfied
  with anything less than our Model 24, which
  allows for more expansion than any other personal
  computer in its class. The way you catch on to
  thingssomething I can tell just from the
  questions youve asked here in the storeyoure
  not going to be happy with a machine whose limits
  youll soon reach.
• Apple polishing

76
Exercises

• Sure, driving after youve been drinking can get
  you into trouble with the law, but if youre
  careful I dont think theres anything wrong with
  it. After all, everyone does it, right?

77
Exercises

• Sure, driving after youve been drinking can get
  you into trouble with the law, but if youre
  careful I dont think theres anything wrong with
  it. After all, everyone does it, right?
• Common practice

78
Exercises

• Getting on Senator Daviss case about the
  propriety of some of his financial dealings
  strikes me as just plain carping. Davis made a
  considerable economic sacrifice when he left
  private industry and entered politics the people
  of this district are lucky to have him there.

79
Exercises

• Getting on Senator Daviss case about the
  propriety of some of his financial dealings
  strikes me as just plain carping. Davis made a
  considerable economic sacrifice when he left
  private industry and entered politics the people
  of this district are lucky to have him there.
• Red herring

80
Exercises

• From a letter to the editor Theyre wrong
  again, the doctors who say that the sun causes
  cancer. The four substances for all life are
  water, food, air, and sun. Everybody knows the
  sun opens the pores of your skin to release
  poisons it cannot cause cancer. Cancer is caused
  by the toxins man puts in the air, not by
  sunlight.
• Cascade News

81
Exercises

• From a letter to the editor Theyre wrong
  again, the doctors who say that the sun causes
  cancer. The four substances for all life are
  water, food, air, and sun. Everybody knows the
  sun opens the pores of your skin to release
  poisons it cannot cause cancer. Cancer is caused
  by the toxins man puts in the air, not by
  sunlight.
• Cascade News
• Argument from popularity, although I dont think
  this view is popular among many

82
Exercises

• Listen. As long as youre going to live here at
  home and let your mother and me support you, you
  can rest assured that youre going to cooperate.
  And that goes for your opinions as well as for
  your behavior.

83
Exercises

• Listen. As long as youre going to live here at
  home and let your mother and me support you, you
  can rest assured that youre going to cooperate.
  And that goes for your opinions as well as for
  your behavior.
• Scare tactics

84
Exercises

• Its clear enough to me that Senator John McCain
  would have made a great president. Look, it isnt
  often that we get a chance to elect a guy whos a
  war hero, a prisoner of war in an enemy prison
  camp, and we ought to have done it when we had
  the chance.

85
Exercises

• Its clear enough to me that Senator John McCain
  would have made a great president. Look, it isnt
  often that we get a chance to elect a guy whos a
  war hero, a prisoner of war in an enemy prison
  camp, and we ought to have done it when we had
  the chance.
• Reference to the prisoner-of-war experience
  remains a red herring until its at least
  indicated how it is relevant to performance as
  president.

86
Exercises

• Look, you can argue about it all day long, but I
  believe that Carmichael is the best person for
  the job, and I hope he gets it. Thats my
  opinion, and its as good as any other opinion,
  so we may as well change the subject. .

87
Exercises

• Look, you can argue about it all day long, but I
  believe that Carmichael is the best person for
  the job, and I hope he gets it. Thats my
  opinion, and its as good as any other opinion,
  so we may as well change the subject.
• A version of the subjectivism. One person may be
  as good as another, and one may have as much
  right to an opinion as another, but not all
  opinions are created equal those with better
  reasons are better opinions.

88
Exercises

• Toads do too cause warts. People have known that
  for centuries.

89
Exercises

• Toads do too cause warts. People have known that
  for centuries.
• A version of appeal to popularity

90
Exercises

• It says here that smoke from wood-burning
  stoves, no matter how airtight theyre supposed
  to be, gets into your house and is a health
  hazard.
• No way. We just spent close to a thousand
  dollars on this new stove what youre reading
  cant be true.

91
Exercises

• It says here that smoke from wood-burning
  stoves, no matter how airtight theyre supposed
  to be, gets into your house and is a health
  hazard.
• No way. We just spent close to a thousand
  dollars on this new stove what youre reading
  cant be true.
• Wishful thinking

92
Exercises

• Greyhound reminds you that when you travel by
  car, you take chances, especially if you are
  traveling alone. Anything can happen dangerous
  thunderstorms sound effect thunder, engine
  trouble sound of car failing to start, blowouts
  tire blowing out, car screeching to a stop.
  Next time upbeat music dont take chances. Its
  time to go Greyhound and leave the driving to
  us.
• Greyhound advertisement

93
Exercises

• Greyhound reminds you that when you travel by
  car, you take chances, especially if you are
  traveling alone. Anything can happen dangerous
  thunderstorms sound effect thunder, engine
  trouble sound of car failing to start, blowouts
  tire blowing out, car screeching to a stop.
  Next time upbeat music dont take chances. Its
  time to go Greyhound and leave the driving to
  us.
• Greyhound advertisement
• This may look like scare tactics, but the points
  made are relevant to the claim that alternatives
  to the automobile may be safer. Of course it
  doesnt follow that Greyhound is the best
  alternative.

94
Exercises

• MARTY If we keep on the way we are going, we
  will destroy civilization on this planet.
• TRACY Thats so depressing. I think we need to
  think well of things.

95
Exercises

• MARTY If we keep on the way we are going, we
  will destroy civilization on this planet.
• TRACY Thats so depressing. I think we need to
  think well of things.
• Wishful thinking

96
Exercises

• he Well, things didnt work out quite the way I
  wanted, but thats the way life often is.
• she Thats not my philosophy. Your dreams will
  come true if you want them to, but you really
  have to want them to.

97
Exercises

• he Well, things didnt work out quite the way I
  wanted, but thats the way life often is.
• she Thats not my philosophy. Your dreams will
  come true if you want them to, but you really
  have to want them to.
• Wishful thinking

98
Exercises

• first speaker Think about it. A seven-day
  waiting period to buy a gun would give people a
  chance to cool off it would also give police a
  chance to make background checks. Are seven days
  that much of an inconvenience?
• second speaker I wouldnt talk that way around
  here, friend. Lots of people round here own
  guns, and they dont take kindly to people who
  want to make them register their guns.

99
Exercises

• first speaker Think about it. A seven-day
  waiting period to buy a gun would give people a
  chance to cool off it would also give police a
  chance to make background checks. Are seven days
  that much of an inconvenience?
• second speaker I wouldnt talk that way around
  here, friend. Lots of people round here own
  guns, and they dont take kindly to people who
  want to make them register their guns.
• Scare tactics