Ethics Of Human Trafficking - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1586 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2019/05/07 Category Society Essay Level High school Tags: Human Trafficking Essay Did you like this example? There is a huge problem that has been constantly growing in the United States and worldwide. It has of become so dangerous that hundreds of thousands of individuals are becoming victims of this tragedy every single year. This problem is of real humans becoming victims and being trafficked in and out of countries such as the United States and used for a variety of things completely against their will. This is a hidden business that has involved different restaurants, agriculture productions, factories, the commercial sex industry, and sometimes even adoption facilities. A large majority of these individuals that are being trafficked are female which means that this problem could only get worse if a stop is not put to it. Exploiting a persons race, ethnic culture, sexual identification, or gender is never acceptable. Which is why I am going to apply utilitarian and deontological perspectives to the question of human trafficking, and to make it evident that the ethical response to this awful crime is one of the worst possible engagements a person can commit to. Human trafficking is one of the most wickedly evil and mortifying things that could ever happen to any single human being. The thing is that anyone could be the one who is unfortunate enough to have to experience this living hell and get caught up in this net of human destruction. We have all heard the stories of slavery of the African American people back in the 1800s and how awful that was a how we eventually abolished it in America in hopes of never having to experience slavery again. However, in todays time we are now hearing stories of modern-day slavery that will bring chills to your bones. No matter if it is labor, domestic, or sexual, the experiences that these men, women, and sometimes children have to witness first-hand go through every day will leave you cringing. The thing about human trafficking that really surprised me the most was the fact these acts of violence/crimes happen in ou r every day lives without any of us even realizing it, it happens while we are living in comfort and not thinking twice about our surroundings. It also makes you feel thankful for the law enforcement officers and health care physicians who are constantly on the lookout to apprehend and put a stop to this these complex cases and have to see firsthand how it affects the survivors. It should be no surprise to anyone then that there has been a huge outcry from many citizens across the nation to try to convince our legislators to make laws stricter or create laws where they are desperately needed. Since 1999 alone the United States has spent well over 150 million dollars to help in order to prevent the trafficking of human beings (McNamara, 2015). While it is great that they are putting forth an effort in order to decrease the number of trafficking victims, it is also important to know that it is not just one specific type of person that they go after, anyone could be a potential vic tim. Human trafficking is the illegal selling or trading of a human for labor though abduction, it can be done though the threatening force or using force. It can also be done though deception or fraud for the use of sexual crimes. Societies most members that are the most at risk just happen to be the easiest targets for these Traffickers. People who are burdened by a disability, are discriminated against, or those who are in poverty are mainly targeted. Human trafficking is a complex, multi-faceted crime with no single solution. Many countries are affected by it in some way, and Australia, as a destination country for trafficking victims, is no exception (Healey, 2012). What Healey says is proof that human trafficking doesnt just happen in the cozy confines of the United States, it is spread globally in the forms of labor, sex, and organs. The continual growing of this awful business has allowed it to turn into an organized billion-dollar industry. Even though it is so large and for the main part it is well-known, victims are still getting lured in through false promises that they can have a better life, or into a false sense of safety in the people that eventually capture them. With social media being a big influence in many peoples every day lives, it is making the traffickers job easier and it is becoming all around easier to influence people. This is just one of the ways that traffickers use in order to pry there victims away from there comfort zone. I will now discuss human trafficking from an ethical standpoint starting with utilitarianism. When a person wants to determine whether an act or action is the right thing to do or the wrong thing to do then they will generally look at the end outcome of each action. In Utilitarianism they like to argue that depending on which action shows the best results for the greatest number affected, then that action would be the best one to choose. However, when you look at human trafficking from this point of view where happiness for the greatest number of people is what you want, then it can be extremely easy to assess. While Utilitarianism is a very natural way to look at a situation, the only people really benefiting from this disaster at all is the traffickers who are snatching the victims. They are taking advantage of a person who is looking to better their life which is making them easy prey for the traffickers. Human trafficking is estimated to bring in around a whopping 32 billion dollars worldwide, however only the people in charge are the ones who benefit, but there benefiting off the misery of the ones they captured in their line of work (Smith 2014). There are also way more victims than traffickers which would make utilitarianism invalid due to the fact that it is not filling the goal of happiness for the greatest number. The other ethical theory I wanted to discuss was deontology. Deontology focuses more on why an action is done rather than the consequence of an action a nd what is the best decision. When it comes to a human trafficker, everything they do is focused on greed so that they can gain. From the moment that someone consents or agrees to be payed to smuggle an individual somewhere outside of there general living area, they are building on that greed and getting caught in a web of trafficking. Deontologist argue that we have a certain duty or obligation as some like to say to treat others with complete respect. However, when they are doing this, they have to take that persons dignity into consideration. Human trafficking though goes against every human right ever known and through deontology it is viewed as definitely immoral and wrong. When a victim gets abducted it is taking away there freedom thus also taking away also their dignity. This also means that deontology is not valid in this situation either. With all the bad and morally wrong things that human trafficking does, it is hard to find a bright side to it. The only real bright s ide to this issue it seems is that it helps provide cheap, inexpensive labor for overseas farmers and businessmen so that products such as sugar, coffee, corn, or broccoli can be produced for us to enjoy. However, this bright side to this issue is really anything to brag about, these slaves may be useful to those people to help them make money, but they are also being torn away from their families, potentially their job, there hometown, and their dreams. Some people may try to make a point that some of these people may be taken out of the poverty where they lived before and brought to a better life. Do you really think that a life of labor, or sex trafficking is better for them though? The victims would find absolutely no benefit what so ever in being relocated thousands of miles away to where they dont know where they are. Human trafficking is just plain terrible. To just take a person unwillingly away from there family and home because of possibly their race, gender, sexual ide ntification, or ethnic culture is not allowed in an upholding society. The impact that it makes on both the citizens around us and our nation is tremendous, however we know that our local law enforcement, government agencies, and the common person is working together in order to gain ground in defeating the problem that is growing bigger by the day. While it may seem like it is very possible that there are great things that can make headway toward an overall solution, there are always obstacles that will be in the way. Human trafficking from a utilitarian point of view isnt moral and isnt benefitting the greater number. On the other hand, the deontology point of view is also not moral and is in no way treating anyone with dignity or respect. It will always be immoral to lure someone in to a false sense of security only to snatch them up to take them to some foreign land for their own profit. All in all, a victim of any sort of trafficking is losing their entire life and everything t hat is important to them all so that someone can turn an easy profit. In no way ever will this be morally ethical at any point in time. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Ethics Of Human Trafficking" essay for you Create order Ethics of Human Trafficking - Free Essay Example Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1586 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2019/05/07 Category Society Essay Level High school Topics: Human Trafficking Essay Did you like this example? There is a huge problem that has been constantly growing in the United States and worldwide. It has of become so dangerous that it is estimated that almost 14,500 and 17,500 individuals are victims of this every single year. This problem is of real humans becoming victims and being trafficked in and out of countries such as the United States and used for a variety of things completely against their will. This is a hidden business that has involved different restaurants, agriculture productions, factories, the commercial sex industry, and sometimes even adoption facilities. A large majority of these individuals that are being trafficked are female which means that this problem could only get worse if a stop is not put to it. Exploiting a persons race, ethnic culture, sexual identification, or gender is never acceptable. Which is why I am going to apply utilitarian and deontological perspectives to the question of human trafficking, and to make it evident that the ethical re sponse to this awful crime is one of the worst possible engagements a person can commit to. Human trafficking is one of the most wickedly evil and mortifying things that could ever happen to any single human being. The thing is that anyone could be the one who is unfortunate enough to have to experience this living hell and get caught up in this net of human destruction. We have all heard the stories of slavery of the African American people back in the 1800s and how awful that was a how we eventually abolished it in America in hopes of never having to experience slavery again. However, in todays time we are now hearing stories of modern-day slavery that will bring chills to your bones. No matter if it is labor, domestic, or sexual, the experiences that these men, women, and sometimes children have to witness first-hand go through every day will leave you cringing. The thing about human trafficking that really surprised me the most was the fact these acts of violence/crimes happe n in our every day lives without any of us even realizing it, it happens while we are living in comfort and not thinking twice about our surroundings. It also makes you feel thankful for the law enforcement officers and health care physicians who are constantly on the lookout to apprehend and put a stop to this these complex cases and have to see firsthand how it affects the survivors. It should be no surprise to anyone then that there has been a huge outcry from many citizens across the nation to try to convince our legislators to make laws stricter or create laws where they are desperately needed. Since 1999 alone the United States has spent well over 150 million dollars to help in order to prevent the trafficking of human beings (McNamara, 2015). While it is great that they are putting forth an effort in order to decrease the number of trafficking victims, it is also important to know that it is not just one specific type of person that they go after, anyone could be a potenti al victim. Human trafficking is the illegal selling or trading of a human for labor though abduction, it can be done though the threatening force or using force. It can also be done though deception or fraud for the use of sexual crimes. Societies most members that are the most at risk just happen to be the easiest targets for these Traffickers. People who are burdened by a disability, are discriminated against, or those who are in poverty are mainly targeted. Human trafficking is a complex, multi-faceted crime with no single solution. Many countries are affected by it in some way, and Australia, as a destination country for trafficking victims, is no exception (Healey, 2012). What Healey says is proof that human trafficking doesnt just happen in the cozy confines of the United States, it is spread globally in the forms of labor, sex, and organs. The continual growing of this awful business has allowed it to turn into an organized billion-dollar industry. Even though it is so lar ge and for the main part it is well-known, victims are still getting lured in through false promises that they can have a better life, or into a false sense of safety in the people that eventually capture them. With social media being a big influence in many peoples every day lives, it is making the traffickers job easier and it is becoming all around easier to influence people. This is just one of the ways that traffickers use in order to pry there victims away from there comfort zone. I will now discuss human trafficking from an ethical standpoint starting with utilitarianism. When a person wants to determine whether an act or action is the right thing to do or the wrong thing to do then they will generally look at the end outcome of each action. In Utilitarianism they like to argue that depending on which action shows the best results for the greatest number affected, then that action would be the best one to choose. However, when you look at human trafficking from this point of view where happiness for the greatest number of people is what you want, then it can be extremely easy to assess. While Utilitarianism is a very natural way to look at a situation, the only people really benefiting from this disaster at all is the traffickers who are snatching the victims. They are taking advantage of a person who is looking to better their life which is making them easy prey for the traffickers. Human trafficking is estimated to bring in around a whopping 32 billion dollars worldwide, however only the people in charge are the ones who benefit, but there benefiting off the misery of the ones they captured in their line of work (Smith 2014). There are also way more victims than traffickers which would make utilitarianism invalid due to the fact that it is not filling the goal of happiness for the greatest number. The other ethical theory I wanted to discuss was deontology. Deontology focuses more on why an action is done rather than the consequence of an action an d what is the best decision. When it comes to a human trafficker, everything they do is focused on greed so that they can gain. From the moment that someone consents or agrees to be payed to smuggle an individual somewhere outside of there general living area, they are building on that greed and getting caught in a web of trafficking. Deontologist argue that we have a certain duty or obligation as some like to say to treat others with complete respect. However, when they are doing this, they have to take that persons dignity into consideration. Human trafficking though goes against every human right ever known and through deontology it is viewed as definitely immoral and wrong. When a victim gets abducted it is taking away there freedom thus also taking away also their dignity. This also means that deontology is not valid in this situation either. With all the bad and morally wrong things that human trafficking does, it is hard to find a bright side to it. The only real bright si de to this issue it seems is that it helps provide cheap, inexpensive labor for overseas farmers and businessmen so that products such as sugar, coffee, corn, or broccoli can be produced for us to enjoy. However, this bright side to this issue is really anything to brag about, these slaves may be useful to those people to help them make money, but they are also being torn away from their families, potentially their job, there hometown, and their dreams. Some people may try to make a point that some of these people may be taken out of the poverty where they lived before and brought to a better life. Do you really think that a life of labor, or sex trafficking is better for them though? The victims would find absolutely no benefit what so ever in being relocated thousands of miles away to where they dont know where they are. Human trafficking is just plain terrible. To just take a person unwillingly away from there family and home because of possibly their race, gender, sexual iden tification, or ethnic culture is not allowed in an upholding society. The impact that it makes on both the citizens around us and our nation is tremendous, however we know that our local law enforcement, government agencies, and the common person is working together in order to gain ground in defeating the problem that is growing bigger by the day. While it may seem like it is very possible that there are great things that can make headway toward an overall solution, there are always obstacles that will be in the way. Human trafficking from a utilitarian point of view isnt moral and isnt benefitting the greater number. On the other hand, the deontology point of view is also not moral and is in no way treating anyone with dignity or respect. It will always be immoral to lure someone in to a false sense of security only to snatch them up to take them to some foreign land for their own profit. All in all, a victim of any sort of trafficking is losing their entire life and everything th at is important to them all so that someone can turn an easy profit. In no way ever will this be morally ethical at any point in time. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Ethics of Human Trafficking" essay for you Create order

Personal Statement Motivation And Motivation Essay

Throughout my life, I have had many situations where I was put in a group and had to interact with people that I did not know. However, these interactions have changed me as a whole. These communications also helped me discover my weaknesses and strengths. Through all of my group interactions, I have established the sense of responsibility, gained motivation and willpower, and developed a network of relationships. I believe that group strengths are being prompt with my work and pre-planning my tasks. Being prompt with my work has allowed my group work to progress faster and pre-planning allowed me to lower my stress of work load. Additionally, I believe that my group weaknesses are having anxiety and being indecisive about choosing tasks. Furthermore, others believe that my group strength is that I am informative. Usually some group members would forget what they have to do to complete their task and I would help by reminding them. Others perceive my group weakness to being not so t alkative. I usually stay silent in group discussions or wait until my group members ask me questions. According to the Mastering Group Skills: How Competent Are You? Exercise on page 109, I am competent in most of the skills. I would rate my communication competence as competent. I did notice a pattern in my responses, most of the skills that correlate with speaking directly to group members were rated as either weak or competent. My verbal competencies are weaker than my nonverbalShow MoreRelatedPersonal Statement : Motivation And Motivation986 Words   |  4 PagesWhen I think about motivation, I think about what drives me to do something or what my goal might be when I have a task to complete. For me, motivation might come from that extra prayer that I say during the day or it might be the feeling of accomplishment when I have checked off all of the items on a to do. I look for motivation in my surroundings, whether that is friends, faith or even my students. I also look for m otivation within myself, maybe searching for the motivation to tackle a task thatRead MorePersonal Statement : Inspiration And Motivation1459 Words   |  6 PagesAsher Kim 9/18/2015 Period 3 Inspiration/Motivation Inspiring itself is the act of making others feel strongly interested and enthusiastic, and then convincing to do things, such as achieving a personal goal or joining a team and working for a team. Inspiration is one of the key points of leadership. Leaders take charge and support themselves and motivate others to do the right thing for the common goal by presenting a clear goal, providing precise instructions and resources, creating a goodRead MorePersonal Statement On Motivation Management995 Words   |  4 Pagescareer, such as intrinsic and external motivation. 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For this paper, I have chosen to highlight motivation, cultural awareness, leadership, and change because these four issues are the most frequent issues that I face regularly in my leadership position. One of the challenges that have interested me for a long time is how to motivate the people who work for me. Prior to doing my first paper on motivation, I believed that money is what motivates employees and it was the responsibility of the employeeRead MorePersonal Statement : Motivation Is Not Worth It Through My High School And College Career1856 Words   |  8 PagesI was very quick to realize motivation is a necessity to make it through my high school and college career. I believe that I am one of the lucky ones that received many sources of motivation. At first, my intentions were very simplistic. It was a simple thought—graduate. I was a good student, but coming to this school teaches that you need to be more than â€Å"good† to make it. Coming from a household where I was neglected I felt a sense to prove myself. I was self-motivated to prove myself to my familyRead MorePersonal Vision Statement : My Vision751 Words   |  4 PagesVision Statement Introduction I am writing this statement as a declaration of my personal vision. It will serve as a guide to help ensure that my actions are corresponding to what I envision. This personal vision statement is designed to help facilitate my purpose, unforeseen obstacles, and how to manage theses obstacles. A great deal of thought has gone into constructing this vision statement and I hope that within time these endeavors fill me with a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. MyRead MoreMotivation And Its Impact On Performance860 Words   |  4 PagesMotivation and its Impact on Performance Tony Mcalphin, Student Eastern Florida State College A persons’ performance is dependent on their willingness to accomplish a goal. There are different aspects that make up motivation and performance. In this paper, we will learn what defines both motivation and performance, and how they affect each other. What is Motivation? A person’s motivation is what drives them to set a goal and accomplish it. Merriam-Webster(2013) describes motivation as, â€Å"the generalRead MoreMotivation Analysis : Organization Behavior1576 Words   |  7 Pages Running Head: MOTIVATION Week 6: Motivation Analysis . Course: Organization Behavior Leadership 6012_91B Instructor: Dr. Charles W. Creamer Date Submitted: June 24, 2017 Student’s Name: Shaquana Robotham Abstract In a rapidly changing workforce motivation is needed to help companies compete. It is the belief that motivation begins at the top of an organization and as CEO ensuring that employees feel motivated is of vital importance. Motivating workforces include aspects such as job security

Ethical Compensation Free Essays

Employees expect companies to stick to certain standards that represent fairness (Compensation Dilemmas: An Exercise In Ethical Decision-Making 1995). Early efforts of economic views have studied compensation systems over the years. The all-encompassing view at the time was that the best possible compensation systems met the fair days wage for a fair days work criteria. We will write a custom essay sample on Ethical Compensation or any similar topic only for you Order Now The key for managers and others who design pay systems Is to ensure that pay accurately reflected the economic value added to the firm by a worker. This is where fairness is expressed only in economic terms. Since that time management scholars have developed a much richer understanding of what fairness means to employees and how views of fairness affect their attitudes and behaviors. Compensation systems also play Important social and representational roles in organizations and through these roles pay systems affect a variety of Important outcomes such as the nature of employee commitment and performance and work relationships. Given the essential role that compensation systems play in employment relationships, it is also very likely hat they play an important role in shaping whether people feel they are treated with respect, trust, and dignity and whether they believe the values and customs of the organization are worthy of their fullest commitment and highest efforts (Bloom, M. 2004). Could executive compensation be redefined by performance management? â€Å"When no performance measures are defined and documented for company executives, this places no accountability on the CEO to produce measurable results. On the other hand, if performance measures are defined, documented and accountability is laced on the CEO and is tied to compensation this could prove to be beneficial for all involved. While employees are paid based on established Job classification systems, Coo’s however arbitrarily negotiate salaries where there Is no cap, but benefactor. The company is injured by way of a harmful image in the eyes of the industry. The consumers of the company’s products or services are also hurt. The company may also experience retention problems and stockholders may suffer from financial loss. Also employees are left to deal with disappointment, bitterness and owe morale (Carter, C. 2009). Americans are fuming right now. Pummel by the bind of a painful recession and furious over oversized executive compensation packages at the very Wall Street firms widely blamed for the economic chaos, they gradually distrust key establishments and individual leaders. Americans are angered at the financial services region. They believe that these institutions have rigged the game so that top level executives are rewarded substantially even when they fail. Americans want action to restore fairness to the system and get pay back in line. The variety of experts and activists of political leaders and ordinary citizens, there is a belief that executive incentives have exaggerated short-term performance, supported unnecessary risk-taking, and failed to discipline poor performance. Many believe that incentive plans have tempted some Coos to put personal financial interests in front of good stewardship that provides the long-term interests of their organizations (Ethics Resource Center, 2010). In recent years it has become common for corporate board of directors to recruit a star chief executive officer with an executive severance cage. The severance agreement becomes part of a contractual commitment that is often unrelated to the circumstances of the executive’s eventual firing. To complicate matters, severance is often structured as deferred compensation for an executive’s earlier successes, before things would eventually fall apart. When a CEO is discredited they always argue that they were not overpaid at termination because the rise in share price they achieved for stockholders during their tenure with the company. Companies should not make severance commitments when hiring executives. This will come back to haunt them. This style could make it difficult for firms trying to hire top talent. A CEO with ethics would be embarrassed when receiving an abundant severance after their decisions caused severe anguish to the employees and shareholders (Kipling, K. 2008). Addressing specific errors in compensation plans is critical and identifying the best metrics for measuring performance is part of the answer. Maybe creating an ethical organization is a critical first step that sets the stage for effective compensation plans. Ethical performance should be one of the metrics for determining compel;sensation. Many of the problems credited to failed compensation plans are really about ethical slip ups. I’m not saying that executives intentionally engage in bad conduct. But it can mean that a lack of continuous focus on ethics can induce bad behavior. This behavior can turn into rationalizing decisions without truly centering on the allegations for the long-term well-being of the customers, its employees, shareholders and the company as a whole (Ethics Resource Center, 2010). Executive compensation is not illegal. However the actions of some Coo’s and executives can be ethically questionable. From the viewpoint of economic effectiveness, restructuring or even downsizing may be required in order to arrive at specific business goals. Although, making the decision to eliminate Jobs while the CEO is overly compensated for providing inadequate performance is not only feeble make a incredible impact by educating board of directors on accountability in executive packages, compensation and incorporating strategic performance management initiativ How to cite Ethical Compensation, Papers

Types of Fallacies free essay sample

If you suppose that terrorizing your opponent is giving him a reason for believing that you are correct, then you are using a scare tactic and reasoning fallaciously. Example: David: My father owns the department store that gives your newspaper fifteen percent of all its advertising revenue, so I’m sure you won’t want to publish any story of my arrest for spray painting the college. Newspaper editor: Yes, David, I see your point. The story really isn’t newsworthy. David has given the editor a financial reason not to publish, but he has not given a relevant reason why the story is not newsworthy. David’s tactics are scaring the editor, but it’s the editor who commits the scare tactic fallacy, not David. David has merely used a scare tactic. This fallacy’s name emphasizes the cause of the fallacy rather than the error itself. 2. Appeal to Pity You commit the fallacy of appeal to emotions when someone’s appeal to you to accept their claim is accepted merely because the appeal arouses your feelings of anger, fear, grief, love, outrage, pity, pride, sexuality, sympathy, relief, and so forth. Example of appeal to relief from grief: [The speaker knows he is talking to an aggrieved person whose house is worth much more than $100,000. ] You had a great job and didn’t deserve to lose it. I wish I could help somehow. I do have one idea. Now your family needs financial security even more. You need cash. I can help you. Here is a check for $100,000. Just sign this standard sales agreement, and we can skip the realtors and all the headaches they would create at this critical time in your life. There is nothing wrong with using emotions when you argue, but it’s a mistake to use emotions as the key premises or as tools to downplay relevant information. Regarding the fallacy of  appeal to pity, it is proper to pity people who have had misfortunes, but if as the person’s history instructor you accept Max’s claim that he earned an A on the history quiz because he broke his wrist while playing in your college’s last basketball game, then you’ve committed the fallacy of  appeal to pity. *Appeal to Snobbery 3. Ad Hominem You commit this fallacy if you make an irrelevant attack on the arguer and suggest that this attack undermines the argument itself. It is a form of the  Genetic Fallacy. Example: What she says about Johannes Kepler’s astronomy of the 1600? s must be just so much garbage. Do you realize she’s only fourteen years old? This attack may undermine the arguer’s credibility as a scientific authority, but it does not undermine her reasoning. That reasoning should stand or fall on the scientific evidence, not on the arguer’s age or anything else about her personally. If the fallacious reasoner points out irrelevant circumstances that the reasoner is in, the fallacy is a circumstantial ad hominem. Tu Quoque  and  Two Wrongs Make a Right  are other types of the ad hominem fallacy. The major difficulty with labeling a piece of reasoning as an ad hominem fallacy is deciding whether the personal attack is relevant. For example, attacks on a person for their actually immoral sexual conduct are irrelevant to the quality of their mathematical reasoning, but they are relevant to arguments promoting the person for a leadership position in the church. Unfortunately, many attacks are not so easy to classify, such as an attack pointing out that the candidate for church leadership, while in the tenth grade, intentionally tripped a fellow student and broke his collar bone. *Ad Hominem Circumstantial Guilt by association is a version of the  ad hominem  fallacy in which a person is said to be guilty of error because of the group he or she associates with. The fallacy occurs when we unfairly try to change the issue to be about the speaker’s circumstances rather than about the speaker’s actual argument. Also called â€Å"Ad Hominem, Circumstantial. Example: Secretary of State Dean Acheson is too soft on communism, as you can see by his inviting so many fuzzy-headed liberals to his White House cocktail parties. Has any evidence been presented here that Acheson’s actions are inappropriate in regards to communism? This sort of reasoning is an example of McCarthyism, the technique of smearing liberal Democrats that was so effectively used by the late Senator Joe McCarthy in the early 1950s. In fact, Acheson was strongly anti-communist and the architect of President Truman’s firm policy of containing Soviet power. 4. Appeal to the People If you suggest too strongly that someone’s claim or argument is correct simply because it’s what most everyone believes, then you’ve committed the fallacy of appeal to the people. Similarly, if you suggest too strongly that someone’s claim or argument is mistaken simply because it’s not what most everyone believes, then you’ve also committed the fallacy. Agreement with popular opinion is not necessarily a reliable sign of truth, and deviation from popular opinion is not necessarily a reliable sign of error, but if you assume it is and do so with enthusiasm, then you’re guilty of committing this fallacy. It is essentially the same as the fallacies of ad numerum, appeal to the gallery, appeal to the masses, argument from popularity, argumentum ad populum, common practice, mob appeal, past practice, peer pressure, traditional wisdom. The â€Å"too strongly† mentioned above is important in the description of the fallacy because what most everyone believes is, for that reason, somewhat likely to be true, all things considered. However, the fallacy occurs when this degree of support is overestimated. Example: You should turn to channel 6. It’s the most watched channel this year. This is fallacious because of its implicitly accepting the questionable premise that the most watched channel this year is, for that reason alone, the best channel for you. If you stress the idea of appealing to a  new  idea of the gallery, masses, mob, peers, people, and so forth, then it is a bandwagon fallacy. *Bandwagon If you suggest that someone’s claim is correct simply because it’s what most everyone is coming to believe, then you’re committing the bandwagon fallacy. Get up here with us on the wagon where the band is playing, and go where we go, and don’t think too much about the reasons. The Latin term for this fallacy of appeal to novelty is Argumentum ad Novitatem. Example: [Advertisement] More and more people are buying sports utility vehicles. Isn’t it time you bought one, too? [You commit the fallacy if you buy the vehicle solely because of this advertisement. ] Like its close cousin, the fallacy of appeal to the people, the bandwagon fallacy needs to be carefully distinguished from properly defending a claim by pointing out that many people have studied the claim and have come to a reasoned conclusion that it is correct. What most everyone believes is likely to be true, all things considered, and if one defends a claim on those grounds, this is not a fallacious inference. What is fallacious is to be swept up by the excitement of a new idea or new fad and to unquestionably give it too high a degree of your belief solely on the grounds of its new popularity, perhaps thinking simply that ‘new is better. ’ The key ingredient that is missing from a bandwagon fallacy is knowledge that an item is popular because of its high quality. Appeal to Past People (â€Å"You too†) 5. Accident We often arrive at a generalization but don’t or can’t list all the exceptions. When we reason with the generalization as if it has no exceptions, we commit the fallacy of accident. This fallacy is sometimes called the â€Å"fallacy of sweeping generalization. † Example: People should keep their promises, right? I loaned Dwayne my knife, and he said he’d return it. Now he is refusi ng to give it back, but I need it right now to slash up my neighbors who disrespected me. People should keep their promises, but there are exceptions to this generaliztion as in this case of the psychopath who wants Dwayne to keep his promise to return the knife. 6. Straw Man You commit the straw man fallacy whenever you attribute an easily refuted position to your opponent, one that the opponent wouldn’t endorse, and then proceed to attack the easily refuted position (the straw man) believing you have undermined the opponent’s actual position. If the misrepresentation is on purpose, then the straw man fallacy is caused by lying. Example (a debate before the city council): Opponent: Because of the killing and suffering of Indians that followed Columbus’s discovery of America, the City of Berkeley should declare that Columbus Day will no longer be observed in our city. Speaker: This is ridiculous, fellow members of the city council. It’s not true that everybody who ever came to America from another country somehow oppressed the Indians. I say we should continue to observe Columbus Day, and vote down this resolution that will make the City of Berkeley the laughing stock of the nation. The speaker has twisted what his opponent said; the opponent never said, nor even indirectly suggested, that everybody who ever came to America from another country somehow oppressed the Indians. The critical thinker will respond to the fallacy by saying, â€Å"Let’s get back to the original issue of whether we have a good reason to discontinue observing Columbus Day. † 7. Missing the Point The conclusion that is drawn is irrelevant to the premises; it misses the point. Example: In court, Thompson testifies that the defendant is a honorable person, who wouldn’t harm a flea. The defense attorney commits the fallacy by rising to say that Thompson’s testimony shows once again that his client was not near the murder scene. The testimony of Thompson may be relevant to a request for leniency, but it is irrelevant to any claim about the defendant not being near the murder scene. 8. Red Herring A red herring is a smelly fish that would distract even a bloodhound. It is also a digression that leads the reasoner off the track of considering only relevant information. Example: Will the new tax in Senate Bill 47 unfairly hurt business? One of the provisions of the bill is that the tax is higher for large employers (fifty or more employees) as opposed to small employers (six to forty-nine employees). To decide on the fairness of the bill, we must first determine whether employees who work for large employers have better working conditions than employees who work for small employers. Bringing up the issue of working conditions is the red herring. FALLACIES OF PRESUMPTION 9. Begging the Question A form of  circular reasoning  in which a conclusion is derived from premises that presuppose the conclusion. Normally, the point of good reasoning is to start out at one place and end up somewhere new, namely having reached the goal of increasing the degree of reasonable belief in the conclusion. The point is to make progress, but in cases of begging the question there is no progress. Example: â€Å"Women have rights,† said the Bullfighters Association president. â€Å"But women shouldn’t fight bulls because a bullfighter is and should be a man. † The president is saying basically that women shouldn’t fight bulls because women shouldn’t fight bulls. This reasoning isn’t making any progress. Insofar as the conclusion of a deductively valid argument is â€Å"contained† in the premises from which it is deduced, this containing might seem to be a case of presupposing, and thus any deductively valid argument might seem to be begging the question. It is still an open question among logicians as to why some deductively valid arguments are considered to be begging the question and others are not. Some logicians suggest that, in informal reasoning with a deductively valid argument, if the conclusion is psychologically new insofar as the premises are concerned, then the argument isn’t an example of the fallacy. Other logicians suggest that we need to look instead to surrounding circumstances, not to the psychology of the reasoner, in order to assess the quality of the argument. For example, we need to look to the reasons that the reasoner used to accept the premises. Was the premise justified on the basis of accepting the conclusion? A third group of logicians say that, in deciding whether the fallacy is committed, we need more. We must determine whether any premise that is key to deducing the conclusion is adopted rather blindly or instead is a reasonable assumption made by someone accepting their burden of proof. The premise would here be termed reasonable if the arguer could defend it independently of accepting the conclusion that is at issue. 10. Complex Question You commit this fallacy when you frame a question so that some controversial presupposition is made by the wording of the question. Example: [Reporters question] Mr. President: Are you going to continue your policy of wasting taxpayer’s money on missile defense? The question unfairly presumes the controversial claim that the policy really is a waste of money. The fallacy of complex question is a form of begging the question. 11. False Dichotomy A reasoner who unfairly presents too few choices and then implies that a choice must be made among this short menu of choices commits the false dilemma fallacy, as does the person who accepts this faulty reasoning. Example: I want to go to Scotland from London. I overheard McTaggart say there are two roads to Scotland from London: the high road and the low road. I expect the high road would be too risky because it’s through the hills and that means dangerous curves. But it’s raining now, so both roads are probably slippery. I don’t like either choice, but I guess I should take the low road and be safer. This would be fine reasoning is you were limited to only two roads, but you’ve falsely gotten yourself into a dilemma with such reasoning. There are many other ways to get to Scotland. Don’t limit yourself to these two choices. You can take other roads, or go by boat or train or airplane. The fallacy is called the â€Å"False Dichotomy Fallacy† when the unfair menu contains only two choices. Think of the unpleasant choice between the two as being a charging bull. By demanding other choices beyond those on the unfairly limited menu, you thereby â€Å"go between the horns† of the dilemma, and are not gored. 12. Suppressed Evidence Intentionally failing to use information suspected of being relevant and significant is committing the fallacy of suppressed evidence. This fallacy usually occurs when the information counts against one’s own conclusion. Perhaps the arguer is not mentioning that experts have recently objected to one of his premises. The fallacy is a kind of fallacy of  Selective Attention. Example: Buying the Cray Mac 11 computer for our company was the right thing to do. It meets our company’s needs; it runs the programs we want it to run; it will be delivered quickly; and it costs much less than what we had budgeted. This appears to be a good argument, but you’d change your assessment of the argument if you learned the speaker has intentionally suppressed the relevant evidence that the company’s Cray Mac 11 was purchased from his brother-in-law at a 30 percent higher price than it could have been purchased elsewhere, and if you learned that a recent unbiased analysis of ten comparable computers placed the Cray Mac 11 near the bottom of the list. Appeal to Ignorance The fallacy of appeal to ignorance comes in two forms: (1) Not knowing that a certain statement is true is taken to be a proof that it is false. 2) Not knowing that a statement is false is taken to be a proof that it is true. The fallacy occurs in cases where absence of evidence is not good enough evidence of absence. The fallacy uses an unjustified attempt to shift the burden of proof. The fallacy is also called â€Å"Argument from Ignorance. † Example: Nobody has ever proved to me there’s a God, so I know there is no God. This kind of reasoning is generally fallacious. It would be proper reasoning only if the proof attempts were quite thorough, and it were the case that if God did exist, then there would be a discoverable proof of this. Another common example of the fallacy involves ignorance of a future event: People have been complaining about the danger of Xs ever since they were invented, but there’s never been any big problem with them, so there’s nothing to worry about. 14. Appeal to Unqualified Authority You appeal to authority if you back up your reasoning by saying that it is supported by what some authority says on the subject. Most reasoning of this kind is not fallacious, and much of our knowledge properly comes from listening to authorities. However, appealing to authority as a reason to believe something  is  fallacious whenever the authority appealed to is not really an authority in this particular subject, when the authority cannot be trusted to tell the truth, when authorities disagree on this subject (except for the occasional lone wolf), when the reasoner misquotes the authority, and so forth. Although spotting a fallacious appeal to authority often requires some background knowledge about the subject or the authority, in brief it can be said that it is fallacious to accept the words of a supposed authority when we should be suspicious of the authority’s words. Example: The moon is covered with dust because the president of our neighborhood association said so. This is a fallacious appeal to authority because, although the president is an authority on many neighborhood matters, you are given no reason to believe the president is an authority on the composition of the moon. It would be better to appeal to some astronomer or geologist. A TV commercial that gives you a testimonial from a famous film star who wears a Wilson watch and that suggests you, too, should wear that brand of watch is committing a fallacious appeal to authority. The film star is an authority on how to act, not on which watch is best for you. 15. Hasty Generalization A hasty generalization is a fallacy of  jumping to conclusions  in which the conclusion is a generalization. See also  Biased Statistics. Example: I’ve met two people in Nicaragua so far, and they were both nice to me. So, all people I will meet in Nicaragua will be nice to me. In any hasty generalization the key error is to overestimate the strength of an argument that is based on too small a sample for the implied confidence level or error margin. In this argument about Nicaragua, using the word â€Å"all† in the conclusion implies zero error margin. With zero error margin you’d need to sample every single person in Nicaragua, not just two people. 16. False Cause Improperly concluding that one thing is a cause of another. The Fallacy of Non Causa Pro Causa is another name for this fallacy. Its four principal kinds are the  Post Hoc Fallacy, the Fallacy of  Cum Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc,  the  Regression  Fallacy, and the Fallacy of  Reversing Causation. Example: My psychic adviser says to expect bad things when Mars is aligned with Jupiter. Tomorrow Mars will be aligned with Jupiter. So, if a dog were to bite me tomorrow, it would be because of the alignment of Mars with Jupiter. 17. Slippery Slope Suppose someone claims that a first step (in a chain of causes and effects, or a chain of reasoning) will probably lead to a second step that in turn will probably lead to another step and so on until a final step ends in trouble. If the likelihood of the trouble occurring is exaggerated, the slippery slope fallacy is committed. Example: Mom: Those look like bags under your eyes. Are you getting enough sleep? Jeff: I had a test and stayed up late studying. Mom: You didn’t take any drugs, did you? Jeff: Just caffeine in my coffee, like I always do. Mom: Jeff! You know what happens when people take drugs! Pretty soon the caffeine won’t be strong enough. Then you will take something stronger, maybe someone’s diet pill. Then, something even stronger. Eventually, you will be doing cocaine. Then you will be a crack addict! So, don’t drink that coffee. The form of a slippery slope fallacy looks like this: A leads to B. B leads to C. C leads to D. †¦ Z leads to HELL. We don’t want to go to HELL. So, don’t take that first step A. 18. Weak Analogy The problem is that the items in the analogy are too dissimilar. When reasoning by analogy, the fallacy occurs when the analogy is irrelevant or very weak or when there is a more relevant disanalogy. See also  Faulty Comparison. Example: The book  Investing for Dummies  really helped me understand my finances better. The bookChess for Dummies  was written by the same author, was published by the same press, and costs about the same amount. So, this chess book would probably help me understand my finances, too.The accent fallacy is a fallacy of ambiguity due to the different ways a word is emphasized or accented. Example: A member of Congress is asked by a reporter if she is in favor of the President’s new missile defense system, and she responds, â€Å"I’m in favor of a missile defense system that effectively defends America. † With an emphasis on the word â€Å"favor,† her response is likely to  favor  the President’s missile defense system. With an emphasis, instead, on the words â€Å"effectively defends,† her remark is likely to be  againstthe President’s missile defense system. And by using neither emphasis, she can later claim that her response was on either side of the issue. Aristotle’s version of the fallacy of accent allowed only a shift in which syllable is accented within a word. 20. Amphiboly This is an error due to taking a grammatically ambiguous phrase in two different ways during the reasoning. Example: In a cartoon, two elephants are driving their car down the road in India. They say, â€Å"We’d better not get out here,† as they pass a sign saying: Upon one interpretation of the grammar, the pronoun â€Å"YOUR† refers to the elephants in the car, but on another it refers to those humans who are driving cars in the vicinity. Unlike  equivocation, which is due to multiple meanings of a phrase, amphiboly is due to syntactic ambiguity, ambiguity caused by multiple ways of understanding the grammar of the phrase. 21. Equivocation Equivocation is the illegitimate switching of the meaning of a term during the reasoning. Example: Brad is a nobody, but since nobody is perfect, Brad must be perfect, too. The term â€Å"nobody† changes its meaning without warning in the passage. So does the term â€Å"political jokes† in this joke: I don’t approve of political jokes. I’ve seen too many of them get elected. Composition The composition fallacy occurs when someone mistakenly assumes that a characteristic of some or all the individuals in a group is also a characteristic of the group itself, the group â€Å"composed† of those members. It is the converse of the  division  fallacy. Example: Each human cell is very lightweight, so a human being composed of cells is also very lightweight. 23. Division Merely because a group as a whole has a characteristic, it often doesn’t follow that individuals in the group have that characteristic. If you suppose that it does follow, when it doesn’t, you commit the fallacy of division. It is the converse of the  composition  fallacy. Example: Joshua’s soccer team is the best in the division because it had an undefeated season and shared the division title, so Joshua, who is their goalie, must be the best goalie in the division. 24. Figure of Speech or Parallel-word Construction A fallacy characterized by ambiguities due to the fact that different words in Greek (and in Latin) may have different cases or genders even though the case endings or gender endings are the same. Since this is not widespread in other languages or since it coincides with other fallacies (e. g. quivocation, see above) writers tend to interpret it very broadly.