WEEK 4 IDENTIFY THREE FALLACIES

WEEK4: IDENTIFY THREE FALLACIES

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Week4: Identify Three Fallacies

Inthis discussion, I present three fallacies that include hastygeneralizations, false clause and appeal to inadequate whileexemplifying on the various ways in which they are demonstrated inthe society.

Onemost dominant logical fallacy that emerges in our media is hastygeneralizations. As a fallacy, the hasty generalization is seen wherean individual concludes on something based on the use of a biasedsample size that is not representative of the full sample.Essentially, the use of the fallacy is used to make arguments basedon generalizations that cannot be asserted. A major example of hastygeneralizations was seen in the past US general elections, where thethen presidential candidate, Donald Trump, argued that all immigrantsare criminals. In his argument, Trump used a sample of drug dealersand criminals to generalize that all immigrants are criminals.However, to avoid this fallacy, Trump should have relied on arepresentative data population of immigrants rather than reach aconclusion that was biased.

Falseclause is a fallacy whereby a person assumes that since two thingsappear to be related, then one must be definitely the cause of theother. False clause is demonstrated where people might useinformation or statistics on something to prove or assert thananother thing is likewise a definite cause. For instance, duringtheir 2015 partnership with “Mothers Against Drunk Driving”(MADD), Uber concluded since there are reliable means oftransportation, more lives are saved. In this example, Uber falselyconcluded that since there were reliable cab services like theirs,then it was only logical that lives were saved from drunk driving(Michael, 2015). In this instance, the fallacy could have beenavoided through a provision of statistics that link Uber directly toreduced drunk accidents and saved lives.

Finally,another fallacy is the appeal to inadequate authority that isfeatured by celebrities. This fallacy uses an authority to assertthat a specific claim is true just because the figures say they areso. A great example has been seen in music videos whereby artists areshown using various brands such as “Beats by Dre” and “Chanel.”In most of these videos, the viewers are not shown the advantages ofthese products or the factors that make them the best alternatives.The fallacy can be avoided by the attachment of more information onthe products or a disclaimer aside from the outward promotion thatshows their grandness rather than applicability.

References

Michael.(January 27, 2015). Making Our Roads Safer—For Everyone. UBERNewsroom.https://newsroom.uber.com/making-our-roads-safer-for-everyone-2/