Searching for 15 Fallacies - Research Paper Example

Topic: due: Fallacies used by the media in daily coverage A fallacy is an idea or belief that is false butmany people think is true. One can also explain a fallacy as a mistake in an argument or idea that makes it false.1. Make love not war. This is a fallacy of false dilemma. One has two limited options and is forced to choose one out of the two.2. You need it we have it. This falls in the category of Argument from popularity. This is because the title has made people believe that they have everything when it is not necessarily the truth.3. Smart people read the star.

This statement falls under the type of fallacy called poisoning the well. This is because the newspaper called The Star, has put fore itself that it is for smart people. Therefore, not everyone else who does not read The Star is smart. This makes the opponent newspapers to lose market.4. “Lowest unemployment in thirty years”. This statement means that there are no jobs in the job market. It is a type of fallacy called the Argument form popularity. This is because many have looked for jobs and they have secured good jobs for themselves.

This is a fallacy because there are others who have been able to get jobs.5. Our society is becoming more dangerous. This is a fallacy of Scare tactics. It makes people believe that the world is no longer a good and safe place for anyone. It forces people into taking action to secure themselves against the insecurities of the world.6. Nothing is true. This statement falls under the category of fallacies called Appeal to ignorance. Truth is relative to everyone. There is no evidence to show whether something is true or not.7. “This has not traditionally been a partisan issue.

Lincoln laid the rails during the course of a civil war. Eisen however built the interstate highway system. Both parties have always believed that America should have the best of everything” This was a statement by Barrack Obama about infrastructure. This is a fallacy of tradition. This is because the speaker is basing their argument on past events.8. Our Mayor’s opinion about local crime is worthless. He cannot even manage to hold his household together having been married and divorced three times already.

This is a type of fallacy called Ad hominen. This statement attacks the mayor’s personal life and not his opinion on local crime.9. Why pay more on advertising when you can pay less with us. This is a rationalizing fallacy. The newspaper is using false pretext for its own benefit. It could be that they are more expensive.10. We need to spend more on education. Just because the Russians are, increasing military spending does not mean we should. The future of the nation depends on the children of today.

This is a fallacy of Red herring. The person changes the topic.11. There have been thousands of years of accounts of ghosts and haunting. This is an appeal to ignorance. This is because there is no evidence of ghosts.12. Segregation is a natural instinct of all animals including man. This is a fallacy of generalisation. This is because all animals and man have the attribute of segregation.13. Every human group dies, born, declines and dies as it is must if it is an aggregation of individual living beings.

This is a genetic fallacy. This is because of history.14. The market knows best. It is a fallacy of Burden of proof. This is because the market must approve or disapprove the product.15. Why suffer the embarrassment of morning mouth? Use xyz toothpaste every evening and wake up to a fresh, exiting mouth. This is a slippery slope fallacy. This is because it has the option of using the toothpaste but one may use something else for fresh breath. ReferencesHowie Carr, "A Flying Squirrel", New York Post, 4/19/2004Rob Windoffer, Chicago, "Letters", Time, February 28, 2000.

The New Republic, May 15, 1989, p. 12.Terre Haute Tribune-StarNicholas Confessore, The American Prospect, December 20, 1999, pp. 24-5.Steven Hayward, "Suburban Legends", National Review, March 22, 1999, p. 36.Gil Alexander-Moegerle, James Dobsons War on America (Prometheus Press, 1997), pp. 75-8.Nicholas Confessore, The American Prospect, December 20, 1999, pp. 24-5.Merritt Clifton, "PCB Homecoming", Greenpeace, November/December, 1989, p. 21.The New Republic, May 15, 1989, p. 15Phillip Abbott, quoted by Helen M.

Alvaré in "Abortion is Immoral", from The Abortion Controversy, Greenhaven, 1995, p. 25.