Blog #1

Something that really stood out to me from the textbook and class discussions are the fallacies.  Before this class, I was not familiar with slippery slope, ad hominem attacks, straw person arguments and the red herring fallacy.   When we had to come up with examples for these I thought it was going to be difficult because I did not think these ideas were that common.  Once we started discussing these in further detail, I realized that a lot of fallacies can show up in many type of debates and just normal conversations without even realizing it.  

A fallacy that I have found a examples of is the red herring fallacy.  The textbook refers to the red herring fallacy as “when the speaker or writer distracts an audience from a flaw or misstep in argumentation by making an observation that is unrelated or irrelevant” (58).  I interrupt this as bringing up something that is unrelated to avoid the actual argument. This fallacy can be seen in many movies and politics.

An example of a red herring fallacy can be seen in the movie The Campaign with Will Ferrell.  Ferrell’s character is asked how he would bring jobs back to North Carolina.  Instead of actually giving a legit reason to how he can help this issue, he just talks for a little bit about nothing that is actually a solution. He responds by telling the mediator what a great question it was and how strong America is.  Here is a link to the scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJCqjKk4-jo.   

Another fallacy that I am familiar with is ad hominem attacks.  Ad hominem attacks take place when someone attacks the person, and not the actual argument.  I think these are very common and can be found in the media, politics, and everyday life at home and school.  Something that I think almost everyone can relate to is sibling fights. As mean as it sounds, I know that when my sister picks a fight with me, I get back at her by saying mean things that affect her directly and not the actual argument. This can be seen in a scene from Friends when Ross and Monica get in a fight.  Instead of focusing on the argument at hand, Monica decides to throw in all the other bad things Ross did while they were growing up.  I chose this scene because I think it includes ad hominem and red herring. When Monica puts all the pressure on Ross, he says things to throw Monica under the bus to take some of the attention away from him.  Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5LPuZrQryc.