Fallacy Summary and Application

A person may ask why it is important to know the logical fallacies. Fallacies in an argument can undermine the critical thinking process. Knowing and understanding the various logical fallacies helps a person to differentiate the facts from the fallacies in an argument. Otherwise, it is all to easy to be fooled by invalid arguments.
Understanding the logical fallacies is also essential to effective decision-making. Fallacies can either be present by mistake or can be deliberately used to distract a person from the facts. In order to make the best possible decision in a given situation, one must be able to distinguish the fallacies from the truth in an argument.
Remember, logic can help a person think more clearly about the world around him/her. However, logical fallacies exist that can trip up a person's ability to think critically in a given situation. Three such fallacies are: the fallacy of equivocation, the loaded question fallacy, and the straw man fallacy. It is important that society understands the fallacies and how they can impact critical thinking and decision-making. Once the fallacies have been filtered out and eliminated, one can think more critically and make better decisions.
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