Fallacies of Relevance

• This type of argument is known by several names, including appeal to the masses, appeal to belief, appeal to the majority, appeal to democracy, appeal to popularity, argument by consensus, consensus fallacy, authority of the many, and bandwagon fallacy, also known as a vox populi.
• This fallacy is sometimes committed while trying to convince a person that a widely popular thought is true.

1)Chairman of the Board: "All those opposed to my arguments for the opening of a new department, signify by saying, ‘I resign.’"

2)I'm sure you can support the proposal to diversify into the fast food industry because if I receive any opposition on this initiative, I will personally see that you are transferred to the janitorial division of this corporation.. 

3)The basis of an ad baculum concerns the fate of medieval philosopher and astronomer Giordano Bruno. Bruno (1548-1600) envisioned a multitude of solar systems in limitless space and believed in the astronomical hypothesis of Copernicus. The Medieval Inquissition threatened his life unless he changed his views. Bruno refused to accept the conclusion of the ad baculum as so was burned at the stake.

1)You should support the new housing bill. We can't continue to see people living in the streets; we must have cheaper housing. (We may agree that housing is important even though we disagree with the housing bill.)

2)I say we should support affirmative action. White males have run the country for 500 years. They run most of government and industry today. You can't deny that this sort of discrimination is intolerable. (The author has proven that there is discrimination, but not that affirmative action will end that discrimination.)

Fallacies of Relevance

4.Argumentum ad Hominem ( Abusive and Circumstantial

1. Argumentum ad Ignorantiam (Argument from ignorance)

7.Argumentum ad Baculum (Appeal to force)

• The fallacy committed when one appeals to force or the threat of force to bring about the acceptance of a conclusion.

The fallacy of attacking the character or circumstances of an individual who is advancing a statement or an argument instead of trying to disprove the truth of the statement or the soundness of the argument. Often the argument is characterized simply as a personal attack.

The fallacy that a proposition is truly simply on the basis that it has not been proved false or that it is false simply because it has not been proved true. This error in reasoning is often expressed with influential rhetoric.

EXAMPLES:

3.Argumentum ad Crumenam

(also known as: appeal to poverty or argumentum ad lazarum [form of - when poor=right])

Concluding that the truth value of the argument is true or false based on the financial status of the author of the argument.

EXAMPLES:

1)Mike: Did you know that the author of the book, “Logically Fallacious,” made a fortune on the Internet?

Jon: So?

Mike: That means that this book must be awesome!

2)Simon is very poor. Simon says that the secret to life is giving up all your material possessions, and living off the government’s material possessions. Simon must be very enlightened.

EXAMPLES:

3)If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich?

I think Mary is a good role model. She’s pretty rich so she must be doing something right.

This new law is a good idea. Most of the people against it are riff-raff who make less than $20,000 a year.

EXAMPLES:

1.A prosecutor asks the judge to not admit the testimony of a burglar because burglars are not trustworthy.

2.Francis Bacon's philosophy should be dismissed since Bacon was removed from his chancellorship for dishonesty.

3.I can't see that we should listen to Governor Smith's proposal to increase the sales tax on automobiles. He has spent the last twenty years in state government and is hardly an unbiased source.

1.You can’t prove that there aren’t Martians living in caves under the surface of Mars, so it is reasonable for me to believe there are.

2.A cat who has roamed freely around a house speaks to a mouse who is hiding behind the wall. Through the hole in the wall, the cat says to the mouse, "Come on out! All the furniture out here is made of cheese!"

3.No matter what, a batter should always bunt the ball to try to score in that inning. You can’t prove that there isn’t a mirror universe of our own, so there must be one out there somewhere!

8. Ignoratio Elenchi (Irrelevant Conclusion)

6. Argumentum ad Misericordian (Appeal to pity)

2.Argumentum ad Verecundiam (Appeal to inappropriate authority)

5.Argumentum ad Populum (Appeal to emotion)

The fallacy of appealing to the testimony of an authority outside his special field. Anyone can give opinions or advice; the fallacy only occurs when the reason for assenting to the conclusion is based on following the recommendation or advice of an improper authority.

• An appeal to pity (also called argumentum ad misericordiam or the Galileo argument is a fallacy in which someone tries to win support for an argument or idea by exploiting his or her opponent's feelings of pity or guilt. It is a specific kind of appeal to emotion. The name "Galileo argument" refers to the scientist's suffering as a result of his house arrest by the Inquisition.

• The fallacy of proving a conclusion not pertinent and quite different from that which was intended or required.

• In argumentation theory, an argumentum ad populum (Latin for "appeal to the people") is a fallacious argument that concludes that a proposition is true because many or most people believe it.

EXAMPLES:

1.The brilliant William Jenkins, the recent Nobel Prize winner in physics, states uncategorically that the flu virus will be controlled in essentially all of its forms in the next two decades. The opinion of such a noted scientist cannot be disregarded.

2.The United States policy toward mainland China in the 1980's was surely mistaken because Shirley McLaine, the well-known actress, emphasized at the time she had grave misgivings about it.

3. My friend heard on the news the other day that Canada will declare war on Serbia. (This is a case of hearsay; in fact, the reporter said that Canada would not declare war.)

EXAMPLES:

1)"You must have graded my exam incorrectly. I studied very hard for weeks specifically because I knew my career depended on getting a good grade. If you give me a failing grade I'm ruined!"

2)"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, look at this miserable man, in a wheelchair, unable to use his legs. Could such a man really be guilty of embezzlement?"

3)"Lord Byron shouldn't win the poetry competition: he doesn't need the prize money."

1)Nine out of ten of my constituents oppose the bill, therefore it is a bad idea.

2)In a court of law, the jury vote by majority; therefore they will always make the correct decision.

3)Many people buy extended warranties, therefore it is wise to buy them.

3)A situation where A and B are debating whether the law permits A to do something.

A: I want to use the unwritten law (the right of a cuckolded husband to kill his unfaithful wife's lover) to kill C.

B: But the law in this state specifically doesn't recognize the unwritten law.

A: Well, it ought to recognize it.

A's attempt to support his position with an argument that the law ought to allow him to do this, would make him guilty of ignoratio elenchi.[9] (And if he did do that, probably guilty of premeditated murder.)