Logical Fallacies

better learn it or get ready to flip it

Faulty Analogy

assumes that because two things are alike in one or more respects, they are necessarily alike in some other respect

Sentimental Appeal

uses emotion to distract from the facts

Begging the Question

an argument's premises assume the truth of the conclusion. Arguments that beg the question work to obscure the actual points in controversy and can be looked at as a form of circular reasoning.

Red Herring

use misleading or unrelated evidence to support a conclusion

Either or Choice (False Dilemma)

reduces complicated issues to only two possible courses of action

Bandwagon

encourages an audience to agree with the writer because everyone else is doing so

Appeal to Tradition

a conclusion or side is supported solely because it has long been held to be true or superior

Non-Sequitur

does not logically relate to what comes before it

Dogmatism

shuts down discussion by asserting that the writer's beliefs are the only acceptable ones

Oversimplification

supplying neat and easy explanations for large and complicated phenomena

Ad Populum

claiming a truth or claiming something is good because the majority thinks so

Equivocation

half true but obscures a part of entire truth

Moral Equivalence

compares minor problems with much more serious crimes or vice versa

Appeal to False Authority

asks audiences to agree with the assertion of a writer based simply on his or her character or the authority of another person/institution who may not be fully qualified

Hasty Generalization

draws conclusions from scanty evidence

Scare Tactics

try to frighten people into agreeing with the arguer by threatening them or predicting unrealistically dire consequences

Ad-Hominem

attacks a person's character rather than that person's reasoning

Slippery Slope

suggests that one thing will lead to another, often with disastrous results

Post hoc ergo

confusing chronology with causation,

Guilt by Association

calls someone's character into question by examining the character of that person's associate

Straw Man

set up and often dismantles easily refutable arguments in order to misrepresent opponents in order to defeat him or her

Slanting

a true statement that is phrased in such a way as to either cast doubt on its truth or to convey the writer's biases.

Circular Reasoning

a type of reasoning in which the proposition is supported by the premises, which is supported by the proposition, creating a circle in reasoning where no useful information is being shared. This fallacy is often quite humorous.

Appeal to Ignorance

The assumption of a conclusion or fact based primarily on lack of evidence to the contrary

Tu Quoque Fallacy

Claiming the argument is flawed by pointing out that the one making the argument is not acting consistently with the claims of the argument.

The Alphabet Soup

The deliberate and excessive use of acronyms and abbreviations to appear more knowledgeable in the subject or confuse others.

Politically Correct

It is the assumption or admission that two or more groups, individuals, or ideas of groups or individuals, are equal, of equal value, or both true, based on the recent phenomenon of political correctness, which is defined as, a term which denotes language, etc.

Genetic Fallacy

Basing the truth claim of an argument on the origin of its claims or premises.