Faulty Arguments in the Field of Herbalism, “Natural” Cures and Plant Medicine (40 points)

It is time for you to dive into this vast mountain of literature! You will be searching for examples of the faulty arguments and poor reasoning types listed below. Make sure you have studied the PowerPoint on this subject before attempting this assignment!

Some great places to start: Google any of the following or find your own sources:

• Mercola
• Oz
• Natural cures
• Herbs are better than pills
• Wild claims for herbs

You will find a huge array of information, ranging from the credible to the fantastic. Scan for the following faulty arguments and write down the example of what you found and the source and exactly WHY you think the reasoning is poor. Some of them will be easier to find than others. Find at least 10 in the literature and citations. There is no specific word count and you may use as many literature sources as you need. You may make up the rest of the faulty arguments using the field of plant medicine as your platform. Make sure you label the ones you create as your own.

1. Poor Logic
2. Emotional Appeal
3. Ad Hominem
4. Ad Populum
5. Appeal to Authority
6. Faulty Statistics
7. Research by Exegesis
8. Slippery Slope
9. Red Herring
10. Straw Man
11. Testimonial
12. Circular Reasoning
13. Non Sequiter
14. Equivocation
15. False Dichotomy
16. Hasty Generalization
17. Glittering Generality
18. Prejudice and Stereotypes
19. Faulty Analogy
20. Dogmatism
21. Post Hoc
22. Tu Quoque
23. Jargon

Here is an example:

Dr. Perlmutter is a board-certified neurologist and a fellow of the American College of Nutrition (ACN). He also has a clinic in Naples, Florida, and he’s been very active in publishing his findings in peer-reviewed medical journals. He says, “We’re now recognizing from research at our most well-respected institutions from around the globe that the gut bacteria (Links to an external site.) are wielding this very powerful sword of Damocles,” he says.

They determine whether we’re going to have a healthy brain or not, whether our brain is going to function well or not, and whether our brain is going to become diseased or not. Who knew that we’d be referring back to the gut?”

The source is Dr. Mercola http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/05/17/gut-bacteria-brain-health.aspx (Links to an external site.)

This is an example of slippery slop, appeal to authority and false dichotomy. The reasoning is poor because it is an over-stretched analogy that is unproven scientifically and no literature studies are cited. Its also an oversimplification that relies on jargon to confuse non-medically trained desperately ill

Faulty Arguments,
Logical Fallacies
and
Poor Reasoning

Faulty Arguments

• This PowerPoint contains some of the common errors people make in reasoning.
• If you listen, you will hear many of these fallacies in everyday conversation.
• The “natural” cure and herbal medicine literature is rife with glaring examples of poor argumentation.
• Study these generic examples and you will be able to spot them in the assigned articles with ease.

Poor Logic

Emotional Appeal

• This is an attempt to sway the listener by getting him emotionally involved.
• Emotions shut down reason!
• Sick or scared people are especially vulnerable.

Ad Hominem/ Personal Attack

• Arguments of this kind focus on the character of the person advancing it; they seek to discredit positions by discrediting those who hold them.
• They attack the arguers rather than the arguments.
• Politicians are often subjected to ad hominem attacks

Bandwagon/ Ad Populum

• The difference between the two is that the bandwagon fallacy places an emphasis on current fads and trends, whereas the ad populum suggests that an idea must be true simply because it is widely held.

Appeal to Authority

• For example, an appeal to authority argument seeks to persuade by citing what someone else, a perceived authority, thinks on the subject, as if that resolves the question. The degree of support that such an appeal lends to a claim varies depending on the particular authority in question, the relevance of their expertise to the claim, and other factors, but in all cases is limited.

Appeal to Authority

• An appeal to authority argument seeks to persuade by citing what someone else, a perceived authority, thinks on the subject, as if that resolves the question.
• Celebrity endorsements sell products.
• Even worse, celebrity endorsements of political figures win votes. Yikes!

Faulty Statistics

• Misunderstanding or misusing statistics to shore up a weak argument.
• Example: “We must fund our schools better! Half our children are below average on their math tests!”
• People pull bogus statistics out of thin air to sound impressive.

Research by Exegesis

• Research by exegesis is using a book as an infallible reference source.
• Usually it refers to the supposedly infallible Bible, but not always.
• People cite Bible verses to convince people that being gay is wrong.

Either/Or & Slippery Slope

• Slippery slope arguments falsely assume that one thing must lead to another.
• They begin by suggesting that if we do one thing then that will lead to another, and before we know it we’ll be doing something that we don’t want to do.
• They conclude that we therefore shouldn’t do the first thing.
• The problem with these arguments is that it is possible to do the first thing that they mention without going on to do the other things; restraint is possible.

Slippery Slope Example

• “If you go out with that kind of guy, you will get pregnant and end up dropping out of college.”
• Either you stay in school or you won’t get a good job.

Red Herring

• The red herring is as much a debate tactic as it is a logical fallacy.
• It is a fallacy of distraction, and is committed when a listener attempts to divert an arguer from his argument by introducing another topic.
• This can be one of the most frustrating, and effective, fallacies to observe.
• The fallacy gets its name from fox hunting, specifically from the practice of using smoked herrings, which are red, to distract hounds from the scent of their quarry.
• Just as a hound may be prevented from catching a fox by distracting it with a red herring, so an arguer may be prevented from proving his point by distracting him with a tangential issue.

Red Herring Example

• “You may think that he cheated on the test, but look at the poor man! How would he feel if you made him take it again?”
• This red herring also includes an appeal to pity.

Straw Man

• The straw man fallacy occurs when a statement misrepresents or invents an opponent’s view (sometimes even the opponent is invented) in order to easily discredit it.
• The straw man argument is intended to give the appearance of successfully refuting the original argument, thus creating the impression that it has refuted a position that someone actually holds.
• A straw man is constructed expressly for the purpose of knocking it down.

Straw Man Examples

 

(1) Trinitarianism holds that three equals one.

(2) Three does not equal one.

Therefore:

(3) Trinitarianism is false.

• (Trinitarianism does not actually say that 3 =1)

 

Can you find the straw man in this?:

• Republicans attack Democrats for spending too much tax money.”

Testimonial

• Personal statements and anecdotal stories are mistaken for scientific proof.
• Example: “I lost 100 pounds on Diet drink and you can too!”

Circular Reasoning/ Begging the Question

• An argument is circular if its conclusion is among its premises, if it assumes (either explicitly or not) what it is trying to prove. Such arguments are said to beg the question.
• “We’re all good Christians here…”
• (1) The Bible affirms that it is inerrant.
• (2) Whatever the Bible says is true.
• Therefore:
• 3) The Bible is inerrant.

More Examples of Circular Reasoning

• Typical examples of circular arguments include rights or claims.
• I have a right to choose whether to have an abortion or not, therefore abortion should be allowed
• The unborn has a right to life, therefore abortion is immoral.
• Having a right to X is the same as other people having an obligation to allow you to have X, so each of these arguments begs the question, assuming exactly what it is trying to prove.

Non Sequiter

• Literally this means, “It does not follow”
• Ex. Giving up our nuclear arsenal in the 1980’s weakened the United States’ military.
• Giving up nuclear weaponry also weakened China in the 1990s.
• For this reason, it is wrong to try to outlaw pistols and rifles in the United States today

Equivocation

1) Nothing is better than eternal happiness.

2) A ham sandwich is better than nothing.

Therefore:

3)A ham sandwich is better than eternal happiness.

(Nothing means different things.)

“I didn’t have sex with her” (She performed a sex act on me, but hey…)

False Dilemma

The bifurcation fallacy is committed when a false dilemma is presented, i.e. when someone is asked to choose between two options when there is at least one other option available.

 

(1) Either a Creator brought the universe into existence, or the universe came into existence out of nothing.

(2) The universe didn’t come into existence out of nothing (because nothing comes from nothing).

Therefore:

(3) A Creator brought the universe into existence.

False Dilemma Example

“Do I trust the word of a madman and forget the lessons of September the 11th, or take action to defend America? Given that choice, I will defend America every time.—

Bush 9/3/04

Hasty Generalization:
(Jumping to conclusions)

• Ex. “Susan failed Biology 101.
• Herman failed Biology 101.
• Jose failed Biology 101.
• I therefore conclude that most students who take Biology 101 will fail it.”

Glittering Generalities

• Use attractive, but vague words that make speeches and other communications sound good, but in practice say nothing in particular.
• Example: We are fighting for truth and freedom!

Prejudice & Stereotypes

• Any statement that starts (or implies) with “All…” or “Most…” or implies
• Asian women are such poor drivers!
• Men are dogs.

Faulty Analogy

• • A faulty or weak analogy tries to relate two disparate things.

 

• An expert suggests that a watch and the universe are similar (both display order and complexity), and therefore infers from the fact that watches are the product of intelligent design that the universe must be a product of intelligent design too.

Dogmatism

• This is a tendency to express strongly held opinions in a way that suggests they should be accepted without question.
• “I believe that women should stay at home and raise the children or else our moral values in this country will go to hell!”

Post Hoc

• The Latin phrase post hoc ergo propter hoc means, literally, after this therefore because of this.
• The post hoc fallacy is committed when it is assumed that because one thing occurred after another, it must have occurred as a result of it.
• Mere temporal succession, however, does not entail causal succession.
• Just because one thing follows another does not mean that it was caused by it.

Post Hoc Example

• Nestle, the makers of the breakfast cereal Shredded Wheat, once ran an advertising campaign in which the key phrase was this: “People who eat Shredded Wheat tend to have healthy hearts.”

Another Post Hoc Example

• (1) Most people who are read the last rites die shortly afterwards.

Therefore:

• (2) Priests are going around killing people with magic words!

Tu Quoque
(Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right)

• The tu quoque fallacy is committed when it is assumed that because someone else has done a thing there is nothing wrong with doing it.
• This fallacy is classically committed by children who, when scolded, respond with, “So and so did it too!” with the implied conclusion that there is nothing wrong with doing whatever it is that they have done.
• Do you remember the A&F tee shirt that read, “Two Wongs don’t make a white” ?

Tu Quoque Example

(1) The Romans kept slaves.

Therefore:

(2) We can keep slaves too.

Ex. “But Susie did it….., why can’t I?”

Jargon

• Technical and hard to understand language is often used to persuade unsuspecting people that a product is scientifically proven to be effective.
• A good rule of thumb is that if you can’t understand it and it was written for the public, then you aren’t supposed to understand it! Someone is counting on you NOT understanding anything.

Occam’s Razor

• William of Ockham was a medieval (ca 1300) English philosopher
• He proposed that if 2 theories explain the same thing, always choose the simplest.
• We know this today as K.I.S.S. (keep it simple, stupid)