Logical Fallacies

Appeal to Force

Definition: Using threats or coercion to get someone to accept a conclusion.
Example: “Agree that the new curfew is fair, or you’ll lose your phone for a month.”

Appeal to Pity

Definition: Winning agreement by evoking sympathy instead of giving evidence.
Example: “You should give me an A on this essay because I worked really hard and my grandma is sick.”

Begging the Question

Definition: Assuming the conclusion is true within the premises, so the argument is circular.
Example: “The Bible is reliable because it says so in the Bible.”

Confirmation Bias

Definition: Favoring information that supports what you already believe and ignoring evidence against it.
Example: A person who trusts their horoscope only remembers the predictions that seemed accurate.

Confusion of Necessary with Sufficient Condition

Definition: Treating a necessary condition (required, but not enough by itself) as a sufficient one (enough on its own).
Example: “Oxygen is necessary for fire, so anywhere there’s oxygen there will be a fire.”

Availability Bias

Definition: Judging how likely something is by how easily examples come to mind, often because they’re recent or vivid.
Example: After seeing news of a plane crash, someone decides flying is more dangerous than driving, even though driving is statistically riskier.

Burden of Proof

Definition: Putting the responsibility of proof on the wrong party, such as demanding that someone disprove a claim instead of the person making it.
Example: “You can’t prove ghosts don’t exist, so they must be real.”

Slippery Slope

Definition: Claiming a small first step will inevitably lead to extreme consequences, without showing those links.
Example: “If we let students retake one quiz, soon nobody will study and the whole school will fall apart.”

Red Herring

Definition: Introducing an irrelevant topic to draw attention away from the original issue.
Example: “Why are you worried about my late library book when there are starving people in the world?”

Anecdotal Evidence Fallacy

Definition: Using a personal story or single example as proof of a general claim.
Example: “My grandpa smoked his whole life and lived to 95, so smoking isn’t really that harmful.”

Appeal to Authority

Definition: Accepting a claim just because an authority said it, especially when they’re outside their area of expertise.
Example: “A famous actor says this supplement cures anxiety, so it must work.”

Fallacy of Composition

Definition: Assuming that what is true of the parts must be true of the whole.
Example: “Every player on this team is excellent, so the team must be the best in the league.”

Fallacy of Division

Definition: Assuming that what is true of the whole must be true of each part.
Example: “The university is ranked among the best in the country, so every program there must be top-notch.”

False Cause

Definition: Assuming that because one event came before another, the first caused the second.
Example: “I wore my lucky socks and we won, so the socks caused the win.”

False Dilemma

Definition: Presenting only two options when more are available.
Example: “You’re either with us or against us.”

Appeal to Ignorance

Definition: Claiming something is true because it hasn’t been proven false, or false because it hasn’t been proven true.
Example: “Nobody has proven that UFOs aren’t alien spacecraft, so they must be.”

Appeal to Popularity

Definition: Arguing that something is true or good because many people believe it or do it.
Example: “Everyone is buying this brand, so it must be the best one.”

Complex Question

Definition: A question with a hidden assumption built in, so any direct answer concedes it.
Example: “Have you stopped cheating on tests?”

Equivocation

Definition: Using a word with multiple meanings and shifting between them within an argument.
Example: “A feather is light. Light things aren’t dark. So a feather isn’t dark.” (Light means “not heavy” in the first sentence and “bright” in the second.)

Scapegoating

Definition: Blaming an individual or group for a problem they didn’t cause, to deflect responsibility.
Example: “We lost the game because of the new kid, not because of the coach’s bad strategy.”

Special Pleading

Definition: Applying a standard to others while exempting yourself or your group without a good reason.
Example: “Everyone else has to follow the no-phones rule, but mine doesn’t apply because I’m responsible.”

Vested Interest

Definition: Arguing for a position because you’d benefit from it, rather than because it’s supported by evidence.
Example: “The factory owner says the new pollution rules would destroy jobs, but he’s the one who would have to pay for the upgrades.”

Tu Quoque (“you too”)

Definition: Dismissing an argument because the person making it doesn’t follow it themselves.
Example: “You say I should stop skipping the gym, but you never go either.”

Weak Analogy

Definition: Arguing that two things are alike in a relevant way when they actually differ in ways that matter, so the conclusion doesn’t follow.
Example: “Raising the minimum wage is like giving a toddler a candy bar. Toddlers who get candy get hyper, so raising wages will make the economy hyperactive and unstable.”