Argumentative Fallacies

Ad Hominem

Attacking the person making the argument rather than addressing the argument itself

Straw Man

Misrepresenting someone's argument to make it easier to attack

False Dilemma

Presenting only two options when others exist

Appeal to Authority

Claiming something is true because an authority figure says it is

Slippery Slope

Arguing that one small step will lead to a chain of events ending in disaster

Circular Reasoning/Begging the Question

Making an argument where the conclusion is included in the premise

Hasty Generalization

Drawing a conclusion based on insufficient or unrepresentative evidence

Post Hoc Fallacy

Assuming that because one event followed another, the first caused the second

Appeal to Emotion

Manipulating emotions to win an argument rather than using logic

Tu Quoque

Avoiding criticism by pointing out similar behavior in the critic

Bandwagon Fallacy

Arguing that something is right or good because it's popular

Red Herring

Introducing an irrelevant topic to divert attention from the original issue

Card Stacking

Presenting only evidence that supports one side while deliberately omitting contrary evidence

Overly Sentimental Appeals

Using excessive emotion or sentimentality to manipulate an audience's perception

Dogmatism

Asserting positions as absolutely certain without considering evidence or counterarguments

Faulty Causality

Incorrectly attributing cause and effect relationships between events

Equivocation

Using a word or phrase with multiple meanings and shifting between those meanings within an argument

Non Sequitur

Making a conclusion that does not logically follow from the premises