CRITICAL THINKING GLOSSARY
Affirming the consequent
Example -If it's raining then the streets are wet.
The streets are wet. Therefore, it's raining.
If p then q.
q.
Therefore, p.
Argument from ignorance this fallacy is committed if it is argued that since p has not been proved true, it must be false (or that since p has not been proved false, it must be true).
Argument
1 The building blocks of arguments
The purpose of an argument
 establishing, rather than simply stating a point
Attacking the person this fallacy is committed if it is argued that p is false on the grounds that it is advanced by a particular person, for example because that person stands to gain from our acceptance of it as true or because that person’s behaviour is not consistent with the truth of p.
CogencyCogency
The characteristic of a cogent argument.
A cogent argument is one such that if the premisses are true, then the conclusion is more likely to be true than false. Both valid and strong inductive arguments are cogent.
Deductive argument an argument which attempts to prove certain conclusions based on what is contained in the premises alone, eg ‘All cats have tails. Felix is a cat therefore Felix has a tail.’
Denying the antecedent occurs when a premiss of an argument denies the truth of the antecedent of a conditional premiss, then concludes by denying the truth of the conditional premiss' consequent (see the Form). This form of argument is non-validating
If p then q.
p.
Therefore, q
False dilemma this fallacy is committed if, in the course of an argument, it is presumed without argument that p and q are the only two possibilities, when in fact there are other possibilities.
Formal fallacy
A Formal Fallacy is a type of argument the logical form of which is non-validating, distinction between a Formal and an Informal Fallacy is that a formal fallacy is