READ 290: Logical Fallacies

Slippery Slope

Someone claims that a position or decision will lead to a series of unintended negative consequences

Perfect Solution

No option is good enough because it is not perfect

Appeal to Popularity

Claiming a statement is correct or an action is positive because the majority of people are doing it or believe in it

False Dichotomy

Having only 2 extreme choices when, in reality, there are more options

Post Hoc

A happened before B, so A must have caused B

False Analogy

Compares 2 things based on a single shared feature, wrongly assuming they must also be similar in other, unrelated ways

Hasty Generalization

Making a broad rule or conclusion based on a small or unrepresentative sample size

Appeal to Ignorance

Claiming a statement is true simply because it has not been proven false, or false because it has not been proven true

Tu Quoque

Dismissing an argument by accusing the speaker of hypocrisy or inconsistency, rather than addressing the substance of the claim

Red Herring

A fact, idea, or subject that takes people’s attention away from the central point being considered

Straw Man Fallacy

Substituting a person’s actual position or argument with a distorted, exaggerated, or misrepresented a version of the position or argument

Appeal to Tradition

Proving a point & arguing that a thesis must be correct because it has traditionally been correct

Circular Argument

The premise of the argument assumes the conclusion without giving its own evidence

Appeal to Emotion

Persuading the reader’s feeling to influence their actions instead of using straight facts