Fallacy Summary and Application Paper

Have you ever been in a room or a conversation with someone and they made a fallacy statement? A fallacy is a false notion or a statement or an argument based on a false or invalid inference. There many types of logical fallacies. To name a few there are Attacking the Person, Appeal to Ignorance, and Appeal to Authority. There are three logical fallacies that I will discuss. Which are Black and White or Slippery Slope, Division, and Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc.

The Black and White fallacy or Slippery Slope is a line of reasoning in which there is no gray area or middle ground. It states that x, y, and zs are implicit in step A. The primary characteristic is that it fails to distinguish between (or among) degrees of difference. It argues for (or against) the first step because if you take the first step, you will inevitably follow through to the last. Example: We can't allow students any voice in decision making on campus; if we do, it would not be long before they are in total control (Master List of Logical Fallacies, 2004). The fallacy of Black and White Thinking mimics reasoning by process of elimination, but it eliminates too much too quickly, i.e. it places options out of consideration before they have truly been eliminated. The fallacy of Black and White Thinking mimics reasoning by process of elimination, but it eliminates too much too quickly, i.e. it places options out of consideration before they have truly been eliminated (Arnauld). I have my own personal Black and White fallacy. I feel like one drink or an occasional drink of alcohol can lead to alcoholism. I have seem so many people start off having one drink or just drinking socially and turn out to be alcoholics. I also feel the same about drugs. The result of people drinking helped me decide on the way I want to live my life, which is drug and alcohol free. By having the Black and White fallacy about alcohol leads me to think if I take one drink I will become an alcoholic later down the road.

Next, is the Division fallacy that I will discuss. Division fallacy is committed when we concluded that any part of a particular whole must have a characteristic because the whole has that characteristic. Example: I am sure that Karen plays the piano well, since her family is so musical (Master List of Logical Fallacies, 2004). The division fallacy is almost like stereotyping in my opinion. I hear this fallacy so many times in daily conversations. I hear people talk about there children, using this fallacy. They say, "James is going to be an atheletic because, his father was in the National Football League. They will also say, "Amaya, is going to be short because her mother is short. This fallacy or examples are not necessarily true. Just because, James, father was a football player it does not mean he will be in the NFL when he grows up. The way division fallacy effect my everyday decision, I try not to judge people or try to predict their future basic on what there parents were like. Merely because a group as a whole has a characteristic, it often doesn't follow that individuals in the group have that characteristic. If you suppose that it does follow, when it doesn't, you commit the fallacy of division. It is the converse of the composition fallacy (Dowden, 2004).

The finial fallacy I would like to discuss is the Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc fallacy. It is a form of a hasty generalization in which it is inferred that because one event followed an other it is necessarily caused by that event. Example: Mary joined our class and the next week we all did poorly on the quiz. It must be her fault (Master List of Logical Fallacies, 2004). People are quick to point the finger to shift the blame on someone else. A post hoc fallacy is based on a person superstition and beliefs. Post hoc fallacy effects critical