I need help with undersatnding fallies. Example of a sentence to list fallicies: You're either a critical thinker or you're not.
Fallacies are defects in an argument - other than false premises - which cause an argument to be invalid, unsound or weak. Fallacies can be separated into two general groups formal and informal.
Your example assumes everyone is either/or. Which of these fallacies seem to indicate that everything is either black or white?
Fallacy Types
Ad hominem
Group Think
Guilt Trip
Hasty Generalization
Poisoning the well
Post hoc
Red Herring
Scare Tactics
Strawman
Wishful Thinking
Check your text materials for definitions of these fallacies.
Sure! The sentence you provided is an example of a logical fallacy called a false dilemma or a false dichotomy. This fallacy occurs when someone presents only two options as if they are the only possibilities, ignoring or excluding other potential options or viewpoints.
To identify this fallacy, you can break down the sentence into its components and evaluate whether there could be more than just two options. In this case, the sentence suggests that there are only two choices: being a critical thinker or not being one. However, there is a range of possibilities between these extremes. People can possess varying degrees of critical thinking skills or can be critical thinkers in some situations but not in others.
To avoid this fallacy, it's important to recognize that many concepts or traits exist on a spectrum rather than as an either-or scenario. Critical thinking, like many skills, can be developed and improved over time, allowing for different levels of proficiency.
If you encounter this fallacy in an argument or discussion, you can point out that the options presented are overly simplistic and fail to account for the complexity and nuance of reality.