RSD LogicaFallacies

Ad Hominem

* Latin for "to the man."
* An arguer who uses this attacks the person instead of the argument.

Appeal to Faith

- Faith relies on a belief that does not rest on logic or evidence.

Appeal to Ignorance

* argumentum ad ignorantiam.
* a misleading argument used in reliance on people's ignorance.

Appeal to the Crowd

* ad populum.
* An argument aimed to sway popular support by appealing to sentimental weakness rather than fact and reasons.
* Can lead to bandwagon fallacy.

Appeal to Tradition

- Just because people practice a ritual says nothing about its feasibility.

Argument from Authority

* verecundian
* Using the words of an "expert" or authority as the basis of the argument instead of logic or evidence that supports it.
* If an arguer presents testimony from an expert, check to see if there is fact-based evidence to support the claim.

Begging the Question

* Petitio principii
* Making an argument, the conclusion of which is based on an unproven assumption.
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Argument from Omniscience

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* An arguer would need this to know about everyone's beliefs, disbelief, or knowledge.
* Beware of words like “all”, “everyone”, “everything”, and “absolute.”

Bandwagon Fallacy

* Concluding that an idea has merit simply because many people believe it or practice it.
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Faulty Cause

- Mistake correlation or association for causation by assuming that because one thing follows another, it was caused by the other.

Half-truths

- A statement usually intended to deceive that omits some of the facts necessary for an accurate description.

Hasty Generalization

- Bases an inference on too small a sample or on an unrepresentative sample.

- Often, a single example is used as the basis for a broader generalization.

Statistics of Small Numbers

- Pointing to a few favorable numbers but saying nothing about the overall changes.

Inconsistency

- Advancing an argument that is self-contradictory or that is based on mutually inconsistent premises.

Confirmation Bias

- A form of selective thinking that focuses on evidence that supports what a person already believes while ignoring evidence that refutes their views.

Non-sequitur

- Latin for "it does not follow."

- A statement, remark, or conclusion that does not follow naturally or logically from what has just been said.

False Dichotomy/False Dilemma

- Consisting only the extremes of any position.

- Implies that one of the two outcomes is inevitable, and both have negative consequences.

- Similar to either/or; a form of bifurcation.

False Equivalence

- Two opposing arguments appear to be logically or morally equivalent, when they are not.

Straw Man

Stating an opponent's argument in an extreme or exaggerated form, or attacking a weaker, irrelevant portion of an opponent's argument.

Two Wrongs Make a Right

- Tu quoque

- Trying to justify an action by accusing someone else of doing the same.

- The guilt of the accuser has no relevance to the discussion.

Confusion of Correlation and Causation

- Inferring that there is a relationship between a cause and result, when a comparison cant be proven.

Hypothesis is Contrary to Fact

- A poorly supported claim about what might have happened if circumstances or conditions were other than they were or are.

- This fallacy also involves treating hypothetical situations as if they were fact.

Moving the Goalpost

- Evidence presented in response to a specific claim is dismissed and other (often greater) evidence is demanded.

Red Herring

- Attempting to hide a weakness in an argument by drawing attention away from the real issue.

- The name comes from fox hunting, when a fish was dragged across the trail of a fox to throw the dogs off the scent.

Slippery Slope

- Suggests that if one step or action is taken, it will invariably lead to similar steps or actions, the end results of which are negative or offensive.

- Similar to snowball argument or domino theory.