Fallacies in Argumentation: Definitions and Examples for Critical Thinking

appeal to tradition

Name the fallacy that focuses on what has been done or thought in the past

Poisoning the well

This fallacy is committed by attacking or challenging a person's character before that person has even said anything

Peer pressure

Name the fallacy that argues for a course of action on the grounds that taking this course will win the approval of others and especially of one's friends.

ad hemeon

The name of the fallacy that attacks the arguer instead of the argument.

wishful thinking

Name the fallacy that supports a claim on the grounds that the alternative is too awful to deal with.

Red Herring

Name the fallacy that tries to side-track someone by bringing up a related but irrelevant topic. The fallacy is also when an irrelevant topic or consideration is

introduced into a discussion to divert attention from the original issue.

straw man

The name of the fallacy that ignores an opponent's actual position and instead presents and attacks a distorted, oversimplified, or misrepresented version of

that position.

Appeal to pity

Name the fallacy that plays on your compassion to get you to accept a claim instead of relying on sound reasons. It is also a pattern of fallacious reasoning

in which someone tries to induce acceptance of a claim by eliciting compassion.

false dilemma

This fallacy assumes that only two alternatives exist in a given situation, so that anyone who does not agree with the first alternative has to accept the second

one.

apple polishing

Name the fallacy that might also be called an appeal to vanity.

appeal to outrage

Name the fallacy that attempts to use your anger about something to get you to accept a claim, even though the anger is not relevant to the truth of the claim.

The speaker attempts to convince us by making us angry rather than by giving us a relevant argument.

appeal to common practice

Name the fallacy that tries to justify an action on the grounds that it is normal,

behavior, practiced by many or some significant group of people.

two wrongs make a right

this fallacy is committed when one justifies some action that hurts another person on the grounds that the other person has done (or is likely to do ) the same kind of harm

scare tactis

name the fallacy that uses a threat instead of good reasons to get someone to accept a claim " Agree with me or I will hurt you"

appeal to popularity

name the fallacy that encourages the acceptance of a claim on the grounds that it is already accepted by some subtanial number of others. That is, it tries to justify a belief or practice on the grounds that other people accept it

misplacing burden of proof

the name of the fallacy that unfairly places the responsibility of providing evidence for position on the wrong side of an issue

begging the question

this would be defense of a claim that relies on the very claim it purports to prove is this fallacy. it can also be worded as; in arguing for a claim, the claim itself is already assumed in the premise

slippery slope

committing this fallacy is when one predicts that if one thing happens, or is premitted to happen, another thing (always a very undesirable thing ) will eventually result

guilt trip

this fallacy elcits feelings of guilt to get people to do something or agree that they should do it

perfectionst fallacy

this fallacy first assumes that the only two options for action are the perfect success for that action and nothing good at all; it rejects any proposed action that will not work perfectly

Euphemism

An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant

Dysphemism

A derogatory or unpleasant term used instead of a pleasant or neutral one

downplayers

The use of qualifier words or phrases to make someone or something look less important or significant. ("So-called skeptics." "She got her 'degree' from a correspondence school." "Passed only two bills while in office.")

Weaslers

Expressions in an argument that provide a way out of the argument when it's going badly