Fallacies of Argument

Fallacy of Dichotomy

makes the argument either/or

Post Hoc

because something happened first, the following event was the effect

slippery slope

a dramatic chain reaction will occur if a certain action is taken

invalid analogies

an extreme comparison of two unalike things

straw man

sets up overly weak or vague version of opponent’s argument and brutally tears it down

Ad Populum

because something is popular, it is right

Appeal to Ignorance

because there is no evidence against a claim, it must be true.

Faulty Generalization

too broad of a claim based on the sample size

Personal Attack

attack the character of the opponent in the argument

Circular Reasoning

repeats the claim in different words but with same meaning

Red Herring

distracts from the argument by bringing up an irrelevant point

Fallacy of Composition

part of an issue is true so the whole thing is true

appeal to tradition

this is what we’ve done before, this is what we’ll do now