Argument Mechanics - The Realm of Reason Part II (Fallacy)

Fallacy - Argument Evaluation
“to study the abnormal is the best way of understanding the normal” William James.
non sequitur - “it does not follow”
A fallacy is a bad way of arguing.

oversimplify - distorting the facts by making them simpler than they actually are.
smoke-screen - incapacitating thought by diversion.
- to neglect significant or potentially significant facts is to oversimplify
when in doubt, suspect the question (improper questions)

Any question expresses what could be called assumptions.
“complex question” = “many questions”, i.e. Have you stopped beating your wife?
- provided that the false assumptions poked into them (complex questions) are recognised, complex questions are easy to counter: Attack the question by dividing the question, and then deny the false assumption.
false dilemma = the phony either - or. As people tend to answer a question before examining the question itself, so they tend to choose either the “either” or the “or” option w/out examining the pair of options itself.
Ways to cope with a false dilemma (1) reject both options, (2) choose a new option (“going between the horns” of the dilemma)

“poisoning the wells”- an opponent gets the “choice” of drinking at one of two or more wells, all but one of which the arguer has unfairly tainted, usually by name calling or caricature.
When attacking a general position there can be no excuse for not attacking the position’s strongest version.

A “straw man” argument attacks what may look like the position, but what is really only a simple version, or part of the position or a ridiculous exaggeration.
- there is a difference between exaggerating a position and carrying a position to its logical conclusion.
To show a position to be self-refuting, or to lead to untenable consequences, is to create a reductio ad adsurdum: accept the argument (temporarily) and show that on its own grounds the argument is reduced to absurdity.
- the careful thinker weighs generalities not only against fact, but also against themselves.
“There are no absolutes; everything is relative” Ans. “Are you absolutely sure”

infinite regress - a manoeuvre which undercuts an attempted explanation by showing that it systematically must leave something else unexplained.
Instead of confronting opponents as individuals, the stereotyper gives them labels, types them, puts them in pigeon holes, thus making use of the various association which the labels evoke.
In general our malevolent side exercises itself less with individuals and specific proposals than with groups and ideologues.
“projecting an image” - forget what the product is, and project a simple fantasy picture instead.
To overcome stereotyping, emphasise the variety which the oversimplification ignores.