AP Seminar Fallacies

strawman

Misrepresenting someone's argument to make it easier to attack.

false cause

Presuming that a real or perceived relationship between things means that one is the cause of the other.

appeal to emotion

Manipulating an emotional response in place of a valid or compelling argument.

the fallacy fallacy

Presuming that because a claim has been poorly argued, or a fallacy has been made, that the claim itself must be wrong.

slippery slope

Asserting that if we allow A to happen, then Z will consequently happen too, therefore A should not happen

ad hominem

Attacking your opponent's character or personal traits in an attempt to undermine their argument.

tu quoque

Avoiding having to engage with criticism by turning it back on the accuser - answering criticism with criticism.

personal incredulity

Saying that because one finds something difficult to understand that it's therefore not true.

special pleading

Moving the goalposts or making up exceptions when a claim is shown to be false.

loaded question

Asking a question that has a presumption built into it so that it can't be answered without appearing guilty.

burden of proof

Saying that the burden of proof lies not with the person making the claim, but with someone else to disprove.

ambiguity

Using double meanings or ambiguities of language to mislead or misrepresent the truth.

the gambler's fallacy

Believing that 'runs' occur to statistically independent phenomena such as roulette wheel spins.

bandwagon

Appealing to popularity or the fact that many people do something as an attempted form of validation.

appeal to authority

Saying that because an authority thinks something, it must therefore be true.

composition/division

Assuming that what's true about one part of something has to be applied to all, or other, parts of it.

no true scotsman

Making what could be called an appeal to purity as a way to dismiss relevant criticisms or flaws of an argument.

genetic

Judging something good or bad on the basis of where it comes from, or from whom it comes.

black-or-white

Where two alternative states are presented as the only possibilities, when in fact more possibilities exist.

begging the question

A circular argument in which the conclusion is included in the premise.

appeal to nature

Making the argument that because something is 'natural' it is therefore valid, justified, inevitable, good, or ideal.

anecdotal

Using personal experience or an isolated example instead of a valid argument, especially to dismiss statistics.

the texas sharpshooter

Cherry-picking data clusters to suit an argument, or finding a pattern to fit a presumption.

middle ground

Saying that a compromise, or middle point, between two extremes is the truth.