Fallacies

scare tactics

exaggerating possible dangers beyond their statistical likelihood

either/or choices

reduces complicated issue to excessively simple terms

slippery slope

a relatively inconsequential action or choice today will have a serious adverse consequences in the future

overly sentimental

The excessive use of tender emotions to distract audience members from facts

bandwagon

When audience members are urged to follow the same path everyone else is taking.

false authority

using non-credible or biased sources to support an argument

dogmatism

writer who assumes a certain position is the only correct view

ad hominem

attack opponent's character instead of their claim

stack the deck

providing only one side of an argument, present only the good and make it seem like the whole truth other than the fraction that it is

hasty generalizations

an inference drawn from inadequate evidence

faulty casuality

assumption that because an event follows another, the first caused the second

begging the question

a claim is made based on an assumed conclusion but cannot be accepted because the conclusion itself is in question; circular reasoning

equivocations

based on the idea that parts of a sentence can be interpreted in different ways

non sequitur

an argument whose claims, reasons, or warrants don't connect logically

straw man

distorts opposing positions into extreme versions of itself

red herring

an abrupt change of subject or claim in order to throw the reader off

faulty analogy

comparison between two objects or concepts is innaccurate

paralipsis

speaker brings up something they explicitly say they will not talk about in the process of saying they won't