A particularly famous example of an appeal to popularity can be found in the title of Elvis Presley’s ninth album: 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can’t Be Wrong. Appeals to popularity are quite common in advertising and political campaigns.
the particular nouns, adjectives, tone of voice, emphasis, implied connotations, etc). the set of reasons attempting to justify the conclusion) from the language used to express the argument (i.e. Emotive language is ubiquitous in persuasive written and verbal communication, and great care must be taken to separate out the actual argument (i.e. Appeals to emotion: this is probably the most common red herring, and occurs when emotive words and phrases are used to cast some person, thing, or situation in a particular light, often either highly positive or highly negative.Some of the most common types red herrings include: Unlike certain other logical fallacies, red herrings are typically not subtle mistakes in reasoning, but rather are fairly blatant assertions of an often rhetorically powerful but logically irrelevant point. A red herring often seems significant at first glance, but usually its lack of genuine relevance is quite readily evident upon reflection.
But wholesale character assassination remains a rhetorical ploy of the propagandist or demagogue.A red herring is an argument or assertion that is irrelevant to the subject under discussion, but is raised (intentionally or unintentionally) as a distraction or diversion.
For example, when somebody is running for political office or for a judgeship, casting doubt on his or her character may be appropriate- if one has facts to back it up-since it relates to job expectations. Similarly, while personal attacks ( ad hominem) in most cases are unfair and considered fallacious, there are special situations in which a person’s character may be directly relevant to his or her qualifications. So whether that fallacy has been committed depends upon what the author has done (or failed to do) to support his claim. There are indeed some genuine slippery slopes, where an initial decision or action may have both great and inevitable repercussions. In addition, something that looks as if it is a fallacy may turn out not to be on closer examination.įor example, not everything that smacks of slippery slope is fallacious. We need to be critically aware of the techniques of persuasion being used on us, but since we expect advertisements, political speeches, and editorials on public policy or ethical issues to try to sway us emotionally, perhaps only extreme examples deserve to be judged harshly for being fallacious. Since persuasion is ever-present, it is good to be on guard against various hidden persuaders.īut whether a persuasive strategy is considered fallacious may be dependent on context.Įditorials and advertisements-both political and commercial-frequently use such strategies as transfer and appeals to popularity. Once we become familiar with fallacies we may start to see them everywhere. (Also called a stirring symbols fallacy): The communicator distracts the readers or listeners with symbols that are very meaningful to them, with strong associations or connotations.Įxample: This fallacy is referred to in the sentence “That politician always wraps himself in the flag.” Appeal to traditionįallacies can crop up whenever definitions, inferences, and facts are at issue. Making an unsupported or inadequately supported claim that “One thing inevitably leads to another.” This may be considered a fallacy of logos as well as pathos but is placed in this section because it often is used to evoke the emotion of fear.Įxample: “We can’t legalize marijuana if we do, then the next thing you know people will be strung out on heroin.” Appeal to the people Urging audience to follow a course of action because “everyone does it.”Įxample: “Nine out of ten shoppers have switched to Blindingly-Bright-Smile Toothpaste.” Slippery Slope Trying to evoke an emotional reaction that will cause the audience to behave sympathetically even if it means disregarding the issue at hand.Įxample: “I know I missed assignments, but if you fail me, I will lose my financial aid and have to drop out.” Appeal to popularity (bandwagon)
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