Bad Arguments - Ali Almossawi

Argument from consequences

    Quality that's attached to an effect is not transferable to the cause

    Without the existence of an omnipotent God, world would go berserk. Hence, God exists. 

    World may or may not become unliveable, if no one believes in God. But, it still needs to be proven that God exists.

Straw Man

    Misrepresent, misquote, misconstrue - then attack

    
    Kejriwal claims that Narendra Modi lied about his degree.

   Kejriwal says that to be a good PM, one needs a degree (misconstrue).  (Then attack) PM needs vision and leadership, which Modi has, not education and degrees

    The argument should be about whether a PM lied during a constitutional process or not.

Appeal to Irrelevant Authority

    Appeal to an authority who is not an expert on the issue at hand

    GM foods are bad. Our ancestors always recommended natural ways for healthier lives. GM foods have artificially modified DNA

    Ancestors are no authority on effects of food with Genetically Engineered DNA

Equivocation

    Use different meanings of a word to draw desired conclusion

    Science is supposed to explain us 'why' certain things happen. Can it ever explain us 'why' do we exist? It can't. Hence, we need religion.

    The former 'why' is 'cause'. And, the later 'why' is 'purpose'

False Dilemma

    Create a dilemma, when none actually exists

    POTUS: You are with us or you are with the terrorists

    When in fact, one could have been neutral or could sympathise with both

Not a Cause for a Cause

    After this, therefore because of this

    Petrol prices have gone down in the last few quarters. New Government is doing a great job

   New Government may be doing a great job. But, that doesn't automatically mean that all good things happened are due to that. Neither are all the bad things

Appeal to Fear

    Plays on the fears of an audience by imagining a scary future that would be of their making if some proposition were accepted

    Donald Trump

Hasty Generalization

    Too small or too special sample set, to be representative of a population

    I spoke to a friend from Delhi. After Kejriwal came to power, corruption reduced. I spoke to another friend from Gujrat, Modi did a tremendous job with the infrastructure there.

    Those friends might be right/wrong. But, definitely too small a sample to add any value to an argument.

Appeal to Ignorance

    Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence

    All that we see around is a master plan made by God. Come on, how can you say No? Can you prove it wrong? No! So, it's right.

    The burden-of-proof always lies with the person making a claim

No True Scotsman

    A general claim made about a category of things

    Members of party X are communal

    But, Mr A is from that party! He is not communal

    Well, Mr A is not a True X member.

    What exactly is a True member, other than being the member of that party!

Genetic Fallacy

    An argument's origins or the origins of the person making it have no effect whatsoever on the argument's validity

    A member from opposition criticises Government's way of handling a certain issue

    Ah! Just look at him, who is preaching! His party had handled so many things wrong

    His party might have handled so many things badly. But, the current discussion is about an issue that the current Government is handling

Guilt by Association

    Discredit an argument for proposing an idea that is shared by some socially demonized individual or group

    Kejriwal demands central Government to approve a certain thing

    Do you know who else demand it? None other than Maoists

    Whether there is a merit in demand or not is not discussed

Affirming the consequent

    If A then C, C; hence A.

    Congress-men(A) don't talk about Augusta Westland case(C). Kejriwal doesn't talk about it(C). So, he is a congress-man(A)

    C doesn't imply A

Appeal to Hypocrisy

    Counter a charge with a charge

    You are corrupt.

    You too!

Slippery Slope

    Discredit a proposition by arguing that its acceptance will undoubtedly lead to a sequence of events

    We should never allow Homo-sexuality. It kills morality in the society. It creates monsters and will lead to apocalypse

    There is no proof that such sequence of events will happen. But, they apparently are assumed

Appeal to the Bandwagon

    Appeal to people, though it doesn't make any sense whatsoever

    Invite a thousand well to do people, and feed them an expensive and terribly unhealthy food at a wedding, though you can't actually afford it. Because, that's considered as a great thing to do

    It may be a win-win for all, if that's not done. But, never explored. Because, it's not appealing to others

Ad Hominem

    Attacks a person's character rather than what he or she is saying with the intention of diverting the discussion

    CBI raids Kejriwal's office. He calls Modi a coward and psychopath. 

    CBI raid could be with a malicious intention. But, talking about Modi's character won't help the case in hand

Circular Reasoning

    Because X, therefore X

 

    Subramanian Swami's recent tirade against Raghuram Rajan - The consumer price index has not declined because of high retail prices

    A consumer price index (CPI) measures changes in the price level of a market basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households. So, high CPI and high retail prices are same