Logical Fallacies
...ut two weeks before the company issued a disappointing earnings forecast that drove its stock price down almost 16 percent by mid-July. (Katz, 2005) Note that in this example there is a common pattern: 1. X is biased or has questionable motives. 2. Therefore, X’s argument or claim should be rejected. In this article, Frist has questionable motives because he has so much to gain monetarily by selling his stocks on its 52-week high prices, thus maximizing his gains. Frist in saying that he had no insider information is highly doubtful. Knowing when to sell all of his 2.3 million shares on a specific timeframe without any help from an insider is very questionable. The fallacy of the attacking the motive consist in criticizing an arguer’s motives rather than offering a rational critique of the argument itself. This applies in the decision-making model by evaluating the effects and identifying the cause of the problem. (steps 3 – 4). Appeal to Force Fear is powerful motivator – so powerful that it often causes us to think and behave irrationally. The fallacy of appeal to force is committed when an arguer threatens harm to a reader or listener and this threat is irrelevant to the truth of the arguer’s conclusion. Former FEMA Director Michael Brown said yesterday that he should have sought help faster from the Pentagon after Hurricane Katrina hit, and he accused state and local officials of constant infighting during the crisis. Brown spoke to congressional aides from both parties a day before he is scheduled to testify before a special House committee investigating the government’s response to the August 29 disaster. Brown came to symbolize the halting federal efforts to rescue victims of the storm and flooding that followed in which more than 1,000 people died in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. He was highly criticized for being a Bush administration political appointee without deep emergency-management experience, and left amid accusations that he padded his resume, which he vehemently denied. (AP, SDUT, 2005). This is an appeal to force fallacy because Michael Brown was pressured and criticized by state and local officials on his failure to respond on time when Hurricane Katrina hit. Therefore, Brown was caused to behave irrationally by quitting his position as Director of FEMA because of all the criticism and accusations of failure to perform his duties. In connection to the Nine-Step decision making model, this is considered step 6, Evaluate impacts of alternative, impact on the organization, others; implications; probability of success. Look Who’s Talking The fallacy of look who’s talking is committed when an arguer rejects ano...