Logical Fallicies

Ad Hominem

ATTACK THE PERSON

Hasty Generalization

TOO LITTLE EVIDENCE → BIG CONCLUSION

False Dilemma

ONLY TWO CHOICES

Begging the Question

CLAIM PROVES ITSELF

Post Hoc

AFTER = CAUSED

False Analogy

BAD COMPARISON

Slippery Slope

SMALL → BIGGER → DISASTER

Red Herring

DISTRACT / CHANGE TOPIC

Bandwagon

EVERYONE ELSE DOES IT

Ad Hominem

Directly attacks someone's appearance, personal habits, or character rather than focusing on the merit of the issue.

Ad Hominem

"How can you say he's a good musician when he's been in and out of rehab for three years?"

Attacking the person (appearance, habits, character) rather than the actual issue at hand.

Ad Hominem

Hasty Generalization

A conclusion based on insufficient or unrepresentative evidence.

Hasty Generalization

"The only redheads I know are rude. Therefore, all redheads must have bad manners."

Making a big conclusion based on too little evidence.

Hasty Generalization

False Dilemma

A complex situation is presented as having only two possible outcomes or choices.

False Dilemma

"Either go to college or forget about making money."

Stating that a complex situation only has two possible outcomes.

False Dilemma

Begging the Question

A circular argument where the support only restates the claim.

Begging the Question

"Wrestling is dangerous because it is unsafe."

The evidence or support simply repeats the claim instead of actually proving it.

Begging the Question

Post Hoc

The assumption that because B happened after A, A must have been caused by A.

Post Hoc

"I sang a song about rain. It rained a lot that night. My songs can control the weather."

Something happened after something else, so you assume the first thing caused the second thing.

Post Hoc

False Analogy

A comparison that claims similarities between things even though their important differences outweigh their similarities.

False Analogy

"If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we find the cure for the common cold?"

Comparing apples to oranges.

False Analogy

Slippery Slope

Claiming that one action will cause a chain reaction that leads to increasingly extreme or terrible consequences without enough evidence.

Slippery Slope

"If you don't do the homework tonight, you are going to fail the class!"

Something small turning bigger and bigger as it continues.

Slippery Slope

Red Herring

Going off on a tangent or raising a side issue that distracts the audience from what is really at stake.

Red Herring

"Wow, it's really hard to make a living on my salary." "Consider yourself lucky. When I was your age, I only made $40 a week."

Partway through an argument, the person goes off on a different topic and distracts the audience from the real issue.

Red Herring

Bandwagon

Suggesting that something is acceptable or correct because other people in the group believe or accept it.

Bandwagon

"Bill, I know you think that 1+1=2. But we don't accept that sort of thing in our group."

Everyone else believes or does something, so you are pressured to believe or do it too.

Bandwagon