Informal reasoning fallacies: answered and unanswered questions from a decision making perspective

Abstract

Informal reasoning fallacies are unfair deceptive ways of persuading somebody of a particular argument or point of view that is not valid or plausible. Although previous research has shed light on some aspects of argumentative flaws, the knowledge of fallacious reasoning principles is still insufficient, raising questions critical to the informed decision-making process. The present paper gives an overview of the findings for the following questions: first, are informal reasoning fallacies rare? Second, are people able to identify fallacious reasoning? And third, is the ability to identify fallacious reasoning sufficient to prevent their effect? Occurring in various situations from politics through healthcare to advertising and everyday life, fallacious reasoning remains a challenge for both cultivating the ability to identify misleading arguments and further research into this issue.