Fallacy Summary

Fallacy Summary

A fallacy is defined as a defect, other then false premise, in an argument, which causes an argument to be invalid or weak. Fallacies are an all to common problem in today’s world and can be found in all aspects of life and work. When fallacies occur in the work place they can affect decision-making and can eliminate critical thinking. This leads to biased and incorrect decisions and judgments. It also can take away from the ability to have proper debates. These types of debates, if done professionally and respectfully, can lead to the best possible solution to any problems that are faced. Fallacies can also remove the ability for people to see all possibilities because they allow people’s focus to be narrow and only focus on what they believe is right. This, like all other fallacies, can lead to one common problem, the lack of critical thinking. Without critical thinking decision-making is hampered and biased and can impact an organization in many negative ways. (About, 2005)

The first fallacy that will be discussed is the fallacy that is known as appeal to emotion. This fallacy is a fallacy that aims to arouse the emotions of the audience so that the effected person accepts the conclusion that is established. This causes people to ignore the facts and focus on anything other then logic. It also causes a removal of critical thinking, which can lead to unsound decisions. Decisions that are reached this way are unfair to all involved because they don’t focus on logic, they focus on things that are not relevant such as where a person is from rather then their skill level or experience. If managers were to use this method of hiring they may chose someone that has a similar background as them, for example military veterans that only hire military veterans, instead of choosing someone that is more qualified. This kind of practice can negatively affect the workplace in many ways including employees that aren’t qualified to perform their job and fellow employees that resent them for that very reason. If managers did not let the fallacy of appeal to emotion affect then they would ignore their emotional connection to fellow veterans and hire whoever is qualified. Unfortunately that is not always the case. Many times managers and employees alike let this fallacy cloud their judgment and cause them to make unsound decisions based on poor logic. (Fallacy Files, 2005)

False dilemma is a fallacy that only allows for two possibilities in an argument that are the opposite ends of the spectrum. For example if a person were to believe that if they hire a person that graduates from an online school they will either be a self-disciplined hard worker or they will be lazy and need constant supervision, then they are making a decision that is using false dilemma. This fallacy also does not allow for sound judgment or critical thinking because it removes all possibilities and leaves only two in which to occur. If this is done then critical thinking will not be applied because critical thinking looks at all possibilities and choose which is best based on sound logic. If a manager were to use this fallacy as logic then he or she could be setting him or her self up for failure by placing new employees in positions that they think they can handle rather then what they can handle based on their experience. This also works in reverse; a manager could hold someone back based on this fallacy and not allow him or her to perform to the best of their ability. When this is done it could cause an employee to become frustrated and thusly quit. A consequence that could have been avoided if a manager were to use sound judgment and critical thinking to make hiring, promotion, and assignment decisions and not a fallacy such as false dilemma. (Drury, 2005)

Another fallacy that leads to improper judgments is the fallacy of hasty generalization. Hasty generalization is a fallacy that is based on only a few cases or examples. For instance if a manager were to decide that he did not want to hire anymore people that served in the United States Navy because he hired and fired two employees in the last two years that formerly served in the Navy then that manager would be using the fallacy of hasty generalization. This is another fallacy that does not allow