Argumentation and Logical Fallacies

By: Sean Savoie

             The argument contains three elements not found in a thesis essay: a concession (partial agreement), a refutation (showing something is incorrect), and a solution (answer to the problem). Please take a look at the first segment on argumentation to review these elements.

            One useful technique for developing an argument is to Play the Devil’s Advocate, which basically means to disagree with or challenge any and every idea. Friends or relatives may do this with you when you have a fixed idea. If, for example, you want to change jobs, a friend may disagree with you simply to uncover aspects of your decision that you have not thought about. It is possible to play the devil’s advocate alone, yet this requires both open-minded, creative thinking and a suspension of firm beliefs that you may have. Try to think like a person who strongly disagrees with your position. Often the two sides will completely contradict each other. We should jump right in and try this together in this article in order to make the concept perfectly clear. Bilingual education, the use of two languages to educate children, is a controversial topic that will serve us well to develop an argument. 

Step one:  Decide on the scope and focus of the argument and choose one side.

             Bilingual education for children in America:  Against this policy 

Step two:  Write out supporting reasons for and against the opinion.

            For bilingual education:

1. Helps immigrant children adjust to life in America
2. Makes America more ethnically diverse
3. Creates a more fair competition for entrance to college
4. Encourages Americans to study foreign languages
5. Is protected by the 1^st Amendment to the Constitution (Freedom of Speech)

Against bilingual education:

1. Delays immigrant children’s adaptation to life in America
2. Divides the nation
3. Creates more communication problems
4. Creates more legal problems
5. Fosters a lack of interest in American customs and traditions

Step three:  Decide which ideas of the opposing opinion are most damaging to your argument and determine how to deal with them. Example:

            Refute that it helps immigrant children adjust to life in America

            Refute that it makes America more ethnically diverse

            Concede that it may make competition for college more fair

            Concede that it may encourage Americans to study foreign languages

            Refute that it is protected by the 1^st Amendment to the Constitution 

Step four:  Consider and organize how the structure and order of the paragraphs will be most effective to influence the thinking of your reader. 

Step five:  Decide which quotes, statistics, anecdotes, etc… are most useful for the essay and in which paragraphs this information should be presented.  

Step six:  Begin writing the first draft. 

            Because an argument depends so heavily on logical reasoning, it is important to understand the most common mistakes beginning writers make when they attempt to write a strong argument. Try to avoid these mistakes, often called logical fallacies: 

Ad Hominem argument:  Attacking the person who has another opinion instead of attacking the issue itself, attempting to make the opponent less credible.  

Begging the question:  Arguing something other than the main point in the hopes of confusing the reader about the real issue by changing directions in the argument. 

Either-or reasoning:  Stating that only two opposite or extreme possibilities exist, when in fact compromise or other choices may be available. 

False analogy:  Using an analogy (related example) in a way that does not address or over-simplifies the issue. 

False authority:  Using the quote or idea of a famous person who is not an expert in the topic of the argument. 

Non sequitur:  Meaning that something ‘does not follow’ and fails to make a logical connection to the issue. 

Post hoc reasoning:  Saying that because two events occurred around the same time, one event caused the other, when this may not be true. 

Straw man:  Addressing and refuting an irrelevant point instead of the main argument. 

            Understanding how to argue effectively is extremely helpful in day-to-day life. Recognizing logical fallacies will also help you to spot weak arguments more easily. Take some time to write an essay about bilingual education. I will write an argument containing logical fallacies for next week’s issue. Then we can see some things to avoid doing before we tackle the challenging project of producing an excellent argument.