Logical Fallacies

fallacy

common errors in reasoning and logic
- can be illegitimate arguments or irrelevant points

slippery slope

conclusion based on if A happens, x y and/or z will happen too
- if you eat mcdonalds, you will get cancer or heart disease

hasty generalization

conclusion based on insufficient or biased evidence
- I haven’t even gone inside, but I can already tell this complex is full of pot heads.

post hoc, ergo propter hoc

(after this, therefore resulting from it)
conclusion that assums if A occured after B, B must’ve caused A
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appeal to popularity (‘bandwagon’)

holds an opinion because large numbers of people also do ; wants to be part of the ‘larger crowd’ and be iwht the more ‘popular’ option
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non sequitir

(it doesn’t follow)
conclusion does not make sense with the provided evidence
- all of my friends aren’t using condoms and don’t have STDs, so I don’t need to use them either.

circular argument

restates the argument instead of proving it
- J.K Rowling is a good author because she writes good books.

Either/or

oversimplifies the argument by narrowing it down to two options
- we can either build a wall on our border with mexico or let our country be run over by drug dealers and rapists

ad hominem

attack on a person instead of an opinion
- J.K rowling Isn’t a good author because she’s a transphobe

ad populum

appeals to an audience’s ethos instead of the real issue
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red herring

avoid the key issue, insteads brings up another problem
- israel may be bombing and killing thousands of innocent Palestinians, but what about the initial attack on israelians from the hamas