Finding Fallacies
One of the best ways to study logical fallacies is examine how they are employed in real-life. Though fallacies can be found in many forums, some of the most fruitful places to look are in advertisements, personal arguments, and letters to the editor. The Web is a great tool for investigating the use of logical fallacies since it provides easy access to so many arguments (so-called arguments?). Use the Web links listed here to investigate various advertisements, personal arguments and letters to the editor. See how many examples of each type of logical fallacy you can find. Do you think these are used purposely or accidentally? How effective do you find these fallacious arguments?
MSNBC Cover- Try the Opinions page.
Yahoo! News and Media; Links to hundreds of local newspapers
One of the most prominent media events of the recent past was the coverage of the shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton Colorado. This tragedy along with the string of other school shootings has led people to search for the causal agents to answer the question “why?” and to find ways to prevent future violence. One of the causal factors people have investigated is the violence in the media, specifically in music, movies, television, and video games. While acknowledging that causal connections are extraordinarily difficult to prove, some people suggest that we should censure the violence in music and video games to stem the tide of violence among young people. Follow these links and evaluate whether any causal connections are proven, or, are these arguments committing fallacies of Hasty Generalization and False Cause? What do you think?
VIDEO STORE RECORDS SEIZED IN COLUMBINE PROBE
