Fallacies are defects that weaken arguments.

By learning to look for them in you r own and others' writing, you can strengthen your ability to evaluate the argum ents you make, read, and hear. It is important to realize two things about falla cies: First, fallacious arguments are very, very common and can be quite persuas ive, at least to the casual reader or listener. You can find dozens of examples of fallacious reasoning in newspapers, advertisements, and other sources. fallac ious arguments are very, very common and can be quite persuasive, at least to th e casual reader or listener. You can find dozens of examples of fallacious reaso ning in newspapers, advertisements, and other sources. Second, it is sometimes h ard to evaluate whether an argument is fallacious. Second, it is sometimes hard to evaluate whether an argument is fallacious. An argument might be very weak, s omewhat weak, somewhat strong, or very strong. An argument that has several stag es or parts might have some strong sections and some weak ones. The goal of this handout, then, is not to teach you how to label arguments as f allacious or fallacy-free, but to help you look critically at your own arguments and move them away from the "weak" and toward the "strong" end of the continuum .Ad Hominem Tu Quoque This fallacy is committed when it is concluded that a person's claim is false be cause 1) it is inconsistent with something else a person has said or 2) what a p erson says is inconsistent with her actions. This type of "argument" has the fol lowing form: 1. Person A makes claim X. 2. Person B asserts that A's actions or past claims are inconsistent with the truth of claim X. 3. Therefore X is false. The fact that a person makes inconsistent claims does not make any particular cl aim he makes false (although of any pair of inconsistent claims only one can be true - but both can be false). Also, the fact that a person's claims are not con sistent with his actions might indicate that the person is a hypocrite but this does not prove his claims are false. Examples of Appeal to Authority 1. Bill and Jane are arguing about the morality of abortion: Bill: "I believe that abortion is morally acceptable. After all, a woman should have a right to her own body." Jane: "I disagree completely. Dr. Johan Skarn say s that abortion is always morally wrong, regardless of the situation. He has to be right, after all, he is a respected expert in his field." Bill: "I've never h eard of Dr. Skarn. Who is he?" Jane: "He's the guy that won the Nobel Prize in p hysics for his work on cold fusion." Bill: "I see. Does he have any expertise in morality or ethics?" Jane: "I don't know. But he's a world famous expert, so I believe him."