Fallacious Reasoning
One area often overlooked by those engaged in argumentation, even the more practised, consists of fallacies. A fallacy is best described as illogical reasoning. There are many reasons why this can occur, but in this section we will single out some of the more important fallacies in hopes that you will memorize what they are, avoid them in your arguments, and be able to spot them in the arguments presented by others.
Hasty generalization occurs when you come to a conclusion based on too few examples or insufficient data. You might call this "jumping to conclusions." By the same token, when taken to the extreme we find that the hasty generalization becomes stereotyping when the actions or traits of a few are generalized to take in an entire group. Stereotyping can be mean, even vicious. Think of various ethnic stereotypes associated with African Americans, Asians, Hispanics and Jews.
Begging the Question takes place when you assume as a basic premise something that needs to be proven, for example:
Inner city schools are inferior to suburban schools.
Black colleges are inferior to major state-run universities.
The Black Athlete is naturally superior to others.
Evading the Question happens when you move from the real issue and begin discussing something else. Imagine that the District Attorney in a streetgang homicide case implicates the single parent mother as a defendant as well for failing to know the whereabouts of her son. Or, asserting that racism in America is no longer a problem with the gains made by African Americans in electoral politics when the issue is the chronic, longtime double-digit unemployment of adult African American males. This type of fallacy will also involve name calling as when you accuse your opponent of being a wife beater or alcoholic rather than sticking with the issues. Avoid this. It distracts from your argument and is dishonest.
Finally, there is argumentum ad hominem. This occurs when you direct your argument to the prejudices and instincts of the crowd, of the mob, rather than dealing with the real issue(s). For example, in speaking to a group of welfare recipients about their tenant rights, you base your argument on the indignities they may have suffered rather than educating them to the problem(s) at hand and what they can do about these.
As you can see, to properly develop an argument calls for time, it calls for research, it calls for careful thinking and planning. It also makes certain demands on you relative to ethics -- that is, you want to always be truthful when addressing the issues, you want to avoid deceit or the appearance of deception, yours is the burden of maintaining credibility at all times. This is not easy but as you go along, one gains experience and confidence.