Fallacies Of Relevance In The Media

Fallacies of relevance are statements that do not offer solid evidence that can prove the truth of a certain conclusion made. Thus it is a requirement that conclusive evidence should be provided in order to claim that a statement is true. Fallacies can either be formal or informal. Formal fallacies are defined as deductive forms of arguments that are invalid. Informal fallacies are ways of reasoning that are clearly incorrect. There are different varieties of informal fallacies. Fallacies of relevance involve expressions that are emotionally relevant but are irrelevant logically. Some of these expressions are used in the media. Thus, critical thinking and careful evaluation of evidence is needed so as to know whether a statement is absolutely true.

There are many examples of fallacies of relevance in the media. Ad hominem fallacy is one of them which refer to an attack on the person who is advancing their argument and failing to attack the validity of the evidence being pointed out. The ad Hominem attack is commonly used in political campaigns. For instance in an interview with NBC news in September 2009, former president of America, Jimmy Carter used Ad hominem expressions to hit out at racists who showed animosity to President Barrack Obama because he is an African-American. CITATION Ric09 l 1033 (Larsen)Another example of fallacy relevance in the mediais the fallacy of affirming the consequent. In this type, a sub-category of a subject is used to confuse or complicate the general idea. For instance Sigmund Feud once argued that believe in God was an illusion and had its origins in infantile needs.CITATION Man09 p 268 l 1033 (Velasquez 268).

Argument from authority is another example. This refers to arguments which are usually made by authorities or by people with expertise in certain disciplines. Most people may end up believing that their arguments are true given that they touch on their professional fields. In 1990, the chief medical officer of the government, Sir Donald Acheson claimed that “Beef can be eaten by everyone both adults and children including patients from the National Health Service”.CITATION Lou10 p 173 l 1033 (Cummings 173).

Argument from non-testable hypothesis or ignorance another is also a relevant fallacy. Thisrefers to the arguments or claimsthat are taken to be true but have not yet been roven. These claims are almost impossible to be proved if true or false and are therefore accepted. Religious myths are accepted the way they are by believers who cannot proof them using mathematical or logic formulae. In 1988, de Cornulier stated that “If it were true, I would know it” in his explanation of the epistemic closureCITATION Dou10 p 147 l 1033 (Walton, Arguments from Ignorance 147).

The fallacy of band wagon is another example. This is an expression that suggests that popular or common ideas tend to be right. An advertisement once appeared in the dailies which stated “The perfume of the new millennium. Women of our country choose a subtle feminine fragrance. Carfoor is the most popular choice of the millennial woman. Career women say, ‘It’s feminine, but discrete. “Delightful, subtly feminine-and you can work, work, and play. Successful women choose this perfume”CITATION Tru13 p 163 l 1033 (Govier 163).

Another fallacy is dogmatism. This refers to total opposition of another person’s argument and not willing to even listen to that argument. This fallacy is common when a person holds a personal opinion that is either new or not yet popular among the majority. The great philosopher, Hegel once wrote” true philosopher has necessarily a negative side which is directed to all limited “which can be seen as absolute CITATION Ioa12 l 1033 (Trisokkas).

Emotional appeal is another fallacy of relevance in the media. This refers to the use of motions to try and win an argument. Emotional expressions often dominate in the argument rather than the validity of the ideas or suggestions being put across. In 1991, former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela said in front of television cameras “I lead a life where I hardly get time to think”CITATION Eil12 p 65 l 1033 (Gambrill 65).

Fallacy of exclusion is another example. This refers to expressions which associate certain behaviors with only specific groups of people. Most tend to focus on their group behaviors and think such behaviors are uniquely of their group. A great scholar, Williams once said that “ This religion makes it harshly clear that belonging Jesus upsets other states of belongings-of status, of family and even membership of the children of Abraham” CITATION Den12 p 252 l 1033 (Dennis Doyle 252).

Fallacy of faulty analogy is also an example. This uses the analogy of comparing two different things and trying to relate them. This fallacy tries to make an idea appear valid by comparing it another different idea .Former president George Bush once said this statement while still in power “We should all open our our eyes and realize how dangerous Saddam Hussein is. He planned and executed attacks on Iran in the year 1980. He is also responsible for attacks on Israel, Kuwait and Iraq during which many civilians were killed”CITATION Nic09 p 49 l 1033 (Haase 49).

The fallacy of misunderstanding statistics is also relevant in the media. This is a fallacy where a small incident, mistake or error is mistaken for a large one. Small issues in reality can be taken as big and serious by others depending on their level of judgment. The great philosopher, Freud once said “the prerequisite for mental health is work and love”. Modern psychiatrists may not agree with this statement because of the statistical proof they haveCITATION Edg13 p 65 l 1033 (Levenson 65).

Moral equivalency is a fallacy that tries to equate moral issues that appear to be similar. This fallacy has an assumption that two or more moral issues usually weigh equally and are therefore more or less similar. Winston Churchill once said” A prisoner of war is a man who tries to kill you and fails and then asks you not to kill him”CITATION Jan10 p 69 l 1033 (J. Johnson 69).

Another example of fallacy relevance in media is the use of non sequitur. This fallacy refers to the expressions that point out the deviations of the conclusions from the evidences provides. They argue that there is no link between the conclusion given and the premises stated earlier on. Isaac Watts once write that “the eighteenth century despite giants like Hume and Kant was another dark age for logic with only a few immature strings behind the scenes from writers like Saccheri and Ploucquet to give promise to the future” CITATION Dov12 p 564 l 1033 (Dov M. Gabbay 564).

Faulty Causality is another example of fallacy used in the media. This fallacy is used to argue the co-relations between events. It involves a mistaken claim that one event caused another event or one situation led to another situation because they all happen in a sequential manner. In 1994 author Don Trent Jacobs accused Rush Limbaugh of being unfair to astrophysics Carl SaganCITATION DrH11 p 259 l 1033 (Dr Herbert W Simons 259).

Another example of fallacy relevance in media is the use of red herring. This fallacy refers to the use of expressions that suggest sudden change of a topic mid-debate so as to argue about a sub-topic that came up during the discussion. Morris .S.E. wrote once that” watching television should not be seen as causing harm to children because it occupies their minds for hours and keeps them off the streets” CITATION Mar12 p 269 l 1033 (Mayfield 269).

Semantics is another relevant fallacy used in the media some times. This refers to use of the ambiguous nature of language to create distractions from the main ideas under discussion. Sometimes, a deliberate rephrasing of contrary opinion is done incorrectly and then addressing the incorrect rephrase is done. Norman Malcolm once asked “what purpose could someone have in pronouncing,” I am a human being” “CITATION Esa07 p 13 l 1033 (Saarinen 13).

Slippery slope is another example. This fallacy involves putting across an argument that one change or situation will consequently lead to another. A writer once said this about gamblers “given the low probability and the many problems winners face, there must be other solutions if you have money to burn”CITATION Cin10 p 464 l 1033 (Griffin 464).

Straw Man is another relevant fallacy. This refers to presenting one side of an opinion to be very extreme so that everyone will be forced to disagree with it. According to Van E and Grootendorst in 1987” It is a rule of crucial discussion that any attacks on any standpoint should relate to the standpoint that has reallybeen advanced by its roper proponent”CITATION Dou13 p 29 l 1033 (Walton, Methods of Argumentation 29)Another example of relevance of fallacies in media is the use of glittering generality. This refers to the use of certain words with broad definitions such as patriotism or love in such a manner that they become meaningless. A newspaper column in 1991 read” Two weeks ago, Ajax pharmacy was robbed and the suspect was a black man. Yesterday, a black teenager snatched an old lady’s purse while she was standing at the corner bus stop. Clearly blacks are nothing but a pack of criminals”

Failing Occam’s razor is another example of fallacy that can be used in the media. This fallacy holds an opinion that in any scientific formulae or principle the most simple. Moore and Parker pointed out “anecdotes proof nothing “CITATION Lou09 p 39 l 1033 (Groarke 39).

Excluded middle fallacy is also an example of a relevant fallacy that is used in media. It refers to the picturing of one issue or idea as one between two given extremes with no presence of a neutral ground. Wright committed exclusion of middle fallacy by writing” If Jesus is not the last prophet then He is a false prophet”CITATION Luk13 p 56 l 1033 (L. T. Johnson 56).

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