Fallacies

Analytical Reasoning

fallacy

any misleading technique for constructing an argument that is common enough to be named

Ignoratio elenchi

presenting premises that do not directly address the conclusion

red herring

a case of irrelevant argument in which the unrelated premises are meant to distract the audience

Ad hominem

attacking an argument by attacking the character of the presenter

Tu Quoque

a special case of ad hominem, roughly: “but you did it first”

strawman

presenting an artificially weak version of your opponent’s argument and then refuting your version of the argument

appeal to positive consequence

a sort of bribe, “if you accept my argument then something good will happen to you”

appeal to force

a negative consequence is promised for disagreeing with the speaker, threats can be appeals to force

Ad populum

using popularity as evidence for the correctness of a conclusion, “everybody knows…”

appeal to emotion

invoking an emotion and then playing on the emotion to motivate a conclusion

appeal to pity

most common appeal to emotion; “I’ve suffered from this so you should accept my conclusion”

appeal to ignorance

using the absence of negative evidence as if it were positive evidence, “I can’t imagine…”

appeal to false authority

using an authority to support a premise when the authority in question is not really qualified or is speaking outside of their field of expertise

poisoning the well

discounting an argument before it has been presented

accident

rigid application of a generalization. apply a general rule in a case to which it does not apply

equivocation

an argument in which a work has more than one meaning and using both meanings is necessary to understand the argument

amphiboly

grammatical ambiguity, sentences that support two or more meanings, even if the words in the sentence mean exactly the same thing each time

accent/emphasis

emphasis or intonation in a phrase or statement is distorted to shift the meaning of the argument

begging the question

making an argument in which the premises can be accepted only by someone who already accepts the conclusion, simple repetition

false dilemma/dichotomy

using a disjunctive style of argument when the disjunctive statement does not exhaust all relevant possibilities

complex questions

importing an implicit premise through the presuppositions necessary to intelligibly answer a question

false analogy

an argument in which two or more things are claimed to be alike in certain respects and therefore they are alike in another respect, when in fact there is no relationship between them

false cause

claiming that one event caused a subsequent event without considering other possible causes

post hoc ergo propter hoc

the weak argument that one event caused another based entirely on the evidence of their sequence or order

slippery slope

even if each step in a string of cause-effect arguments is very strong, the entire argument can be quite weak

coincidence

when two events co-occur or correlate and a causal connection is drawn between them, despite a lack of other evidence

common cause

deducing that two variables have a cause and effect relationship when they really have a common cause and do not effect each other

composition

concluding that a whole has a property because the members/parts have that property

division

concluding that the members/parts have a property because the whole has that property

“lightning causes thunder”, the flash of lighting doesn’t cause the boom of thunder, they are both caused by the discharge of static electricity

common cause

there is a strong correlation between my age and the number of shows on television. So, the producers must be creating new entertainment for my retirement

coincidence

the rooster crows and then the sun comes up, he concludes that “I did that”

post hoc ergo propter hoc

concluding that road conditions caused an accident without considering either the skill or sobriety of the driver

false cause

my dog can juggle, and your dog is also a dog, so your dog can also probably juggle

false analogy

have you stopped beating your dog yet?

complex questions

you must have left your keys on the desk because they’re not by the sink

false dilemma/dichotomy

concluding that a proof must be correct because it was proven by a mathematician brilliant enough to have written such a proof

begging the question

I do not steal from my friends

I do not steal from my friends

I do not steal from my friends

accent/emphasis

this morning, I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I’ll never know

amphiboly

all plants are green.

all factories are plants.

so, all factories are green

equivocation

do not run through red lights. this rule doesn’t apply to ambulances going to emergencies

accident

treating a physician’s advice about investments in the same way one treats their advice about medication

appeal to false authority

after years of trying, sceptics have never shown that extraterrestrials haven’t visited the Earth, so aliens must have visited the Earth

appeal to ignorance

I have suffered greatly from this disease, so I know what treatment will work

appeal to pity

you should accept my presentation of the fallacies, otherwise you may get an F

appeal to force

You should accept that aliens visit the earth because I can hook you up with a neat job with the Alien Awareness Network

appeal to positive consequence

An attack on hunting based on the obvious bloodthirstiness of hunters (hunter’s reasons are more sophisticated than simple bloodthirst)

strawman

father: don’t do drugs! where did you get this?

son: I got this from you. You’re a hypocrite, you can’t tell me not to do that, you did it first.

tu quoque

sure, Joe makes a good cause for the new project, but can we really listen to someone who’s such a lousy tipper?

ad hominem

“what about her emails?”

red herring

prosecutor: the defendant must be convicted because we need to send the message that drug use is a serious crime.

he is not arguing that the defendant actually used drugs

ignoratio elenchi

slippery slope

even if each step in a string of cause-effect arguments is very strong, the entire argument can be quite weak

How often does knocking down the first domino cause the last one to fall?

Slippery slope

coincidence

when 2 events co-occur or correlate and a causal connection is drawn between them, despite lack of other evidence

there’s a strong correlation between my age and the number of shows on TV. So, the producers must be creating new entertainment for my retirement.

coincidence

common cause

deducing that two variables have a cause and effect relationship when they really have a common cause and do not effect each other

“lightning causes thunder.” The flash of lightning does not cause the boom of thunder, they are both caused by the discharge of static electricity.

common cause

composition

concluding that a whole has a property because the members/parts have that property

concluding that you must have a central nucleus because each of your cells do

composition

division

concluding that the members/parts have a property because the whole has that property

concluding that your cells speak english because you do

division

biased sample

consider statistical syllogism (X% of a sample of Y are R. Thus X% of all Y are R.)

hasty generalization

making a conclusion about a general case based on too few cases

the first two papers I have graded are As. Thus, I expect that everyone is going to get an A.

Hasty generalization

misleading precision

using a statistical claim that isn’t really meaningful

48% of statistics are made up on the spot

misleading precision

Gambler’s Fallacy

After some string of events with the same outcomes has occurred, the outcome is less likely to occur

Hot hand

after some string of events with the same outcomes has occurred, the outcome is more likely to occur

Sunk Cost

making decisions based on how much had already been invested in an outcome

base rate

making judgement of probability without considering the relative size of a population