Models For The Pragmatic Analysis Of Fallacy In Obama's Political Speeches

Abstract

Fallacy as a derailment of strategic maneuvering can be defined as  the process of issuing a defective argument (when subjected to certain criteria) to support and strengthen a previously issued one for purposes of persuasion. However, fallacy  is a broad topic that has been approached from different perspectives. Several studies have attempted to tackle fallacy  pragmatically. Yet, those attempts have suffered from many gaps and drawbacks which have characterized them as  insufficient accounts in this regard . Hence,  this work  has set itself the task of dealing with this problem through developing    pragmatic models for the analysis of fallacy as far as its pragmatic structure, types and strategies are concerned. These models are built upon several models introduced by several scholars in addition to the  observations made by the researchers themselves.

   The validity of the developed models has been tested by means of analyzing sixteen fallacious  situations taken from Barak Obama's war and electoral speeches.  The analyses conducted have proved that the models developed are workable. Besides, they have yielded various results among which it has been concluded that fallacy is a process composed of various stages. Each stage is distinct for its pragmatic components and strategies.