When you recognize these fallacies being committed you should question the credibility of the speaker and the legitimacy of the argument. Some of the more common techniques are described below. 2).īeyond lying about their own credentials, authors may employ a number of tricks or fallacies to lure you to their point of view. 1) and “one of the nation’s most experienced College Admissions Deans” (para. However, on her website ( ) she is still promoting herself as “a sought after speaker, consultant and author” (para. After 28 years of employment, it was determined that she never graduated from college (Lewin, 2007). At the time of discovery, she was Dean of Admissions at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Others have become infamous for claiming academic degrees that they didn’t earn as in the case of Marilee Jones. Brian Williams was fired as anchor of the NBC Nightly News for exaggerating his role in the Iraq War. Janet Cooke’s Pulitzer Prize was revoked after it was discovered that she made up “Jimmy,” an eight-year old heroin addict (Prince, 2010). Janet Cooke, Stephen Glass, Jayson Blair, and Brian Williams all lost their jobs for plagiarizing or fabricated part of their news stories. You would expect that news reporters would be objective and tell new stories based upon the facts. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. In a perfect world, everyone would tell the truth and we could depend upon the credibility of speakers and authors. Recognizing a Manipulative Appeal to Ethos In fact, illogical thinking and the misuse of evidence may lead an audience to draw conclusions not only about the person making the argument but also about the logic of an argument. Some of the above questions may strike you as relevant to an evaluation of logos as well as ethos-questions about the completeness and accuracy of information and whether it is used fairly. Does her education or experience give her credibility as someone who should be listened to on this issue?.Does she acknowledge that an issue may be complex or multifaceted?.Does she accurately convey the positions of people with whom she disagrees?.Does she avoid excessive reliance on emotional appeals?.Does she speak respectfully about people who may have opinions and perspectives different from her own?.Does she use the evidence fairly? Does she avoid selective use of evidence or other types of manipulation of data?.Does she provide complete and accurate information about the issue?.Does she demonstrate familiarity with different opinions and perspectives?.Has the writer or speaker cited her sources or in some way made it possible for the audience to access further information on the issue?.Some of the questions you can ask yourself as you evaluate an author’s ethos may include the following:
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