Fallacies - Assignment Example

Download file to see previous pages... One common source of fallacies is the media and this paper seeks to examine two exemplary and common fallacies from this source and illustrate how this source construes information to convince the audience.
This is a common fallacy that is committed over the television. Ignoratio elenchi directly translates to "irrelevant thesis", which in formal perspective refers to a negation that fails to concentrate on the central argument (Destiny 2008). As commonly seen in televised political debates between presidential candidates, the interviewer might ask one of the candidates how he can handle the rising unemployment rates should he or she become the president, then the candidate may answer “I am glad you asked, since unemployment is a major problem facing our country, however, my opponent’s strategy to handle this situation is entirely insufficient,” (Destiny 2008). As illustrated from this example, the presidential candidate completely negated the question.
This is a potent and a simple form of illogical fallacy. It occurs when an individual misinterprets the position held by the opponent (Destiny 2008). Such an argument was televised in the year 2001 when President George Bush assumed office he advocated for a new system of testing in schools, and then formed an argument that those opposing such a system were not interested in holding the schools responsible for their poor performance. On subjection to retrospection, such an assertion was not true, and it is dismissed on the basis that other political opponents had offered other adequate alternatives. After having studied logic, I explicitly understand how to distinguish between firmly grounded arguments that in essence have a basis from fallacious statements. Therefore, I do not think that I will be fooled by these fallacies. Presenters of fallacious arguments essentially construe information to appeal to the viewer, and as such they generally assume ...Download file to see next pagesRead More