It is particularly easy to slip up and commit a fallacy when you have strong feelings about your topic-if a conclusion seems obvious to you, you’re more likely to just assume that it is true and to be careless with your evidence. If you’re having trouble developing your argument, check to see if a fallacy is part of the problem. This handout describes some ways in which arguments often fail to do the things listed above these failings are called fallacies. See our handouts on argument and organization for some tips that will improve your arguments. You also need to be sure that you present all of your ideas in an orderly fashion that readers can follow. not making claims that are so strong or sweeping that you can’t really support them.checking that you have addressed the most important or relevant aspects of the issue (that is, that your premises and conclusion focus on what is really important to the issue), and.making sure your premises provide good support for your conclusion (and not some other conclusion, or no conclusion at all),.using good premises (ones you have good reason to believe are both true and relevant to the issue at hand),.Learning to make the best arguments you can is an ongoing process, but it isn’t impossible: “Being logical” is something anyone can do, with practice.Įach argument you make is composed of premises (this is a term for statements that express your reasons or evidence) that are arranged in the right way to support your conclusion (the main claim or interpretation you are offering). And you may have worried that you simply aren’t a logical person or wondered what it means for an argument to be strong. You may have been told that you need to make your arguments more logical or stronger. Most academic writing tasks require you to make an argument-that is, to present reasons for a particular claim or interpretation you are putting forward. The handout provides definitions, examples, and tips on avoiding these fallacies. This handout discusses common logical fallacies that you may encounter in your own writing or the writing of others.
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