Logical Fallacies in Oral Addresses

As we read Inherit the Wind, we will analyze the arguments on both sides. What are logical fallacies? Define these terms: ad hominem, false causality, red herring, overgeneralization, and bandwagon effect.

Logical fallacy properly refers to a formal fallacy: a flaw in the structure of adeductive argument which renders the argument invalid.

ad hominem - an argument which links the validity of a premise to a characteristic or belief of the person advocating the premise

false causality - the fallacy committed when an argument mistakenly attempt to establish a causal connection

red herring - is a fallacy in which an irrelevant topic is presented in order to divert attention from the original issue

overgeneralization - claims which use words like all, never, most, and seldom not as figures of speech but as ways of avoiding assessing or questioning the likeliness of an event which is part of the claim

bandwagon effect - is the observation that people often do (or believe) things because many other people do (or believe) the same