Logical Fallacies Field Guide

Ad Hominem

Attacking the opponent's personal character rather than their argument.

Tu Quoque

Dismissing an argument because the speaker acted inconsistently with it.

Poisoning the Well

Discrediting an opponent before they speak with preemptive negative information.

Genetic Fallacy

Judging a claim based entirely on its origin rather than its current merit.

Red Herring

Introducing an irrelevant side topic to distract from the primary issue.

Straw Man

Misrepresenting an opponent's argument to make it easier to knock down.

No True Scotsman

Modifying a universal claim to exclude counterexamples that disprove it.

Equivocation / Ambiguity

Using a double meaning or ambiguous term in different parts of an argument.

Loaded Question

Asking a question with a built-in, unproven assumption.

Special Pleading

Applying double standards or inventing unjustified exceptions when proven wrong.

Oversimplification

Reducing a complex issue to a single, overly simple cause or solution.

Bandwagon / Ad Populum

Claiming a proposition is true simply because a majority believe it.

Appeal to Emotion

Manipulating feelings to win an argument instead of using valid logic.

Appeal to Fear

Scaring the audience into accepting a conclusion by describing catastrophic outcomes.

Appeal to Pity

Exploiting feelings of sympathy or guilt to get an audience to accept a conclusion.

Appeal to Tradition

Asserting something is correct simply because it has always been done that way.

Appeal to Nature

Assuming anything natural is automatically good and anything unnatural is bad.

Hasty Generalization

Drawing a broad conclusion based on a sample size that is far too small.

Cherry Picking

Selecting only supporting data while ignoring contradictory evidence.

Texas Sharpshooter

Clustering data artificially to make a random pattern look meaningful.

False Cause

Incorrectly assuming that because two events occur together, one caused the other.

Causal Fallacy / Post Hoc

Stating that because B occurred after A, Event A must have caused Event B.

Gambler's Fallacy

Believing past independent random events affect the probability of future ones.

Slippery Slope

Arguing an initial action will inevitably trigger a chain reaction to an extreme outcome.

False Equivalence

Treating two completely different things as if they were identical.

Moral Equivalence

Comparing a minor moral infraction with a massive atrocity to equate them.

Appeal to Authority

Claiming something is true because an authority figure said so.

Appeal to False Authority

Citing someone as an expert who lacks legitimate expertise in the subject.

Appeal to Consequences

Arguing a claim is true or false based on whether its consequences are desirable.

Appeal to Ignorance

Claiming a statement is true simply because it hasn't been proven false.

Burden of Proof

Asserting a claim is true unless someone else disproves it.

Circular Argument

An argument where the conclusion is already assumed as a premise.

Composition Fallacy

Assuming what is true for a part must also be true for the whole system.

Division Fallacy

Assuming what is true for the whole system must be true for each part.

Middle Ground Fallacy

Assuming a compromise between two extremes must always be the correct truth.

Fallacy Fallacy

Assuming an argument's conclusion is false because it contains a logical fallacy.