Blog: Logical Fallacies

In this blog entry, you will identify and discuss logical fallacies.

Chapter 16 details ten common logical fallacies: red herring, bandwagon, slippery slope, false dichotomy, faulty analogy, ad hominem, false authority, questionable causality, hasty generalization, and exaggerated danger. Your research may identify others.

Start your blog by explaining, in your own words, what logical fallacies are and why they should be avoided in persuasive writing. For example, how might logical fallacies affect a writer’s appeal to ethos and logos? How is a fallacious argument different from a bad argument?

Then, find and identify at least three fallacies in one (or more) persuasive piece. Good places to locate logical fallacies are in advertisements, political speeches, letters to the editor, cartoons, and articles in magazines or newspapers. Name the fallacy type and explain why the example is a fallacy (i.e. What is the flaw in the reasoning?).

Lastly, discuss what you learned from completing this blog activity.