Logical Fallacies

Straw Man

Setting up a weaker position than what your opponent actually holds so as to easily refute it.

Ad hominem

Rejects an argument because of who is making it.

The Genetic Fallacy

Attempt to invalidate a belief based on how it originated.

Self-Referential Incoherence

When said, it disproves what it is trying to communicate (self-refuting statement).

Ad baculum

An appeal to the threat of force to persuade someone to believe something.

Equivocation

Deliberately employing words with multiple meanings for the purpose of deception.

The Democratic Fallacy

Holding a proposition to be true because a majority believe it is true.

Reductionism

Focusing on some part of a composite whole to reach a conclusion about the whole.

The Red Herring

An appeal to a completely different issue, often an emotionally volatile one, to distract from the argument at hand.

False Dilemma

In a situation with multiple possibilities, it is presented as if there were only two.

Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

To say that A caused B because A came before B.

Appeal to Ignorance

Concluding that something is true because there’s no evidence against it (or false because there’s no evidence for it).

Slippery Slope

Assuming a chain of events will lead to an extreme without providing their likelihood.

Appeal to Pity

Directly appealing to others’ emotional sensitivity and compassion in making a claim (pathos).