Some Informal Fallacies

Vocabulary flashcards covering common informal fallacies, including fallacies of acceptability, sufficiency, and relevance.

Begging the Question (acceptibility)

A fallacy of acceptability that occurs when one of an argument's premises assumes the truth of the conclusion.

False Dilemma / Alternative / Dichotomy

A fallacy of acceptability where an argument's premise asserts or assumes that only two alternatives exist when in fact there exist more than the two.

False Cause

A fallacy of sufficiency, sometimes called post hoc, ergo propter hoc, that asserts two events are causally related when there is at best insufficient evidence to establish such a relation.

Faulty Analogy

A fallacy of sufficiency that occurs when the analogy drawn in an argument is insufficiently strong to support its conclusion.

Hasty Generalization

A fallacy of sufficiency where an argument draws a general conclusion based on an insufficient number of cases.

Straw Man

A fallacy of relevance in which one argues against a position that is relatively easy to defeat and appears to be that of one's opponent, but is in fact not.

Appeal to the Person (Ad Hominem)

A fallacy of relevance that attacks the character of the arguer to make critical claims about the arguer's conclusion (can also be a positive appeal).

Guilt by Association

A fallacy that associates an opponent's position or the opponent themselves with an unsavory group or person to discredit them (can also be virtue by association).

Appeal to Ignorance

An attempt to derive a positive conclusion from a lack of evidence or knowledge, where the inability to prove or disprove a conclusion is erroneously treated as evidence.

Appeal to Popularity / Masses

A fallacy that claims a conclusion is true simply on the basis that it is widely believed to be true.

Appeal to Tradition

A fallacy that maintains a conclusion is true on the basis that it is a part of established tradition.

Appeal to Emotion

A fallacy that argues for a conclusion by manipulating feelings (such as fear, pity, envy, guilt, or hope) rather than providing relevant evidence.

Appeal to Authority

A fallacious attempt to draw support for a conclusion based on the authority of someone who believes it, even when this authority is irrelevant to the issue at hand.

Equivocation

A fallacy that uses the same word in two different senses to draw its conclusion.

Composition

A fallacy that claims that what is true of the parts is also true of the whole.

Division

A fallacy that claims that what is true of the whole must also be true of the parts.

Genetic Fallacy

A fallacy that claims a conclusion is right or wrong based on its origin as opposed to its evidence.