Fallacies Review

Vocabulary flashcards about fallacies, based on lecture notes.

Fallacy

Fallacious reasoning that fails to satisfy criteria due to faulty induction, deduction, or misleading argumentation. Logically falls into questionable premise, suppressed evidence, or invalid inference.

Appeal to Authority

Insisting a claim is true simply because a valid authority says it without other evidence.

Appeal to Ignorance

Assuming something is true due to a lack of evidence against it, or false due to a lack of evidence for it.

Ad Hominem Argument

An attack against the person making the argument, rather than the argument itself.

Ad Populum Argument

Concluding a proposition is true because many people believe it.

Begging the Question

An argument where the conclusion is assumed in one of the premises.

Arguing in a Circle

Making an argument by beginning with an assumption that the conclusion is already true.

Pseudo-question/Complex question

Asking an unanswerable, 'loaded', or ambiguous question, or a question based on a false assumption.

Invalid Inference/Irrelevant Reason

Drawing a conclusion that does not follow from the premises or evidence.

Questionable Premise

Accepting a premise without good reason.

Suppressed Evidence

Omitting known relevant evidence from an argument.

Questionable Cause

Labeling something as the cause based on insufficient or contrary evidence.

Questionable Statistics

Using or accepting statistics that are questionable without further proof or support.

Questionable Classification

Placing items in the same class even if they aren't relevantly similar.

False Dilemma

Presenting only two choices when more exist.

Slippery Slope

Suggesting an initial action will lead to a chain of events with an extreme result.

Straw Man

Attacking a position similar to, but significantly different from, an opponent's position.

Tokenism

Accepting a token gesture as a substitute for real action.

Equivocation

Using a key term or phrase in an ambiguous way, with different meanings in different parts of the argument.

Unwarranted Generalization

Generalization based on insufficient or unfair evidence.

False Analogy

Drawing an analogy between cases that seem relevantly different.

Provincialism

Seeing things exclusively through the eyes of one's own group, organization, or nation.

Inconsistency

Using or accepting two contradicting claims.