Location
University of Windsor
Document Type
Paper
Keywords
ad hominem, ad populum, ad verecundiam, cognitive biases, cognitive pragmatics, epistemic vigilance, fallacies, information processing, relevance
Start Date
22-5-2013 9:00 AM
End Date
25-5-2013 5:00 PM
Abstract
This paper advances a cognitive account of the rhetorical effectiveness of fallacious arguments and takes the example of source-related fallacies. Drawing on cognitive psychology and evolutionary linguistics, we claim that a fallacy enforces accessibility and epistemic cognitive constraints on argument processing targeted at preventing the addressee from spotting its fallaciousness, by managing to prevent or circumvent critical reactions. We address the evolutionary bases of biases and the way that these are exploited in fallacious argumentation.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Response to Submission
Pierre J. Boulos, Commentary on: Steve Oswald and Christopher Hart's "Trust based on bias: Cognitive constraints on source-related fallacies"
Reader's Reactions
Pierre J. Boulos, Commentary on: Steve Oswald and Christopher Hart's "Trust based on bias: Cognitive constraints on source-related fallacies" (May 2013)
Included in
Trust based on bias: Cognitive constraints on source-related fallacies
University of Windsor
This paper advances a cognitive account of the rhetorical effectiveness of fallacious arguments and takes the example of source-related fallacies. Drawing on cognitive psychology and evolutionary linguistics, we claim that a fallacy enforces accessibility and epistemic cognitive constraints on argument processing targeted at preventing the addressee from spotting its fallaciousness, by managing to prevent or circumvent critical reactions. We address the evolutionary bases of biases and the way that these are exploited in fallacious argumentation.
