Ad hominem
A fallacy in which instead of arguing against the point itself, you attack the traits of the person who made the point.
Example: Taylor Swift had some great points on immigration regulation; however, because she sucks , makes the worst music, isn’t attractive, and pollutes more than any celebrity, she’s wrong
Strawman
A fallacy in which an argument is misrepresented for an opponent’s benefit.
Example:
“i like pancakes!”
“So you hate waffles???”
Composition / Division
A fallacy in which it is assumed that what is true for one part is also applied to other parts of it.
Example: The teacher assumed that since 2 of the students in the group completed their part in the project, the rest of the group was also done with it.
False Cause
A fallacy in which believing that a relationship between two separate things means that one is the cause of the other.
Example: Ever since Diddy started using baby oil, his music career skyrocketed! Clearly, baby oil is the secret to becoming a successful artist.
Genetic
A fallacy in which the rejection or acceptance of an idea is based on its origin rather than its meaning
Example: A girl’s family was known for being a nuisance in society but she is a very kind and reserved person. But because of everyone’s knowledge of how her family is like, everyone refuses to be friends with her due to her relationship with her family.
Middle Ground
Saying that a compromise, or middle point, between two extremes is the truth.
Example: Lasya and Mahek were trying to find out how planes fly. Lasya said they must be held up by magical powers, and Mahek said planes fly by using their wings to create lift, engines to generate thrust, and balancing these forces against gravity and drag. They both compromised and said it was because of a magical witch who made the plane instead.
Begging the Question
You presented a circular argument in which the conclusion was included in the premise.
Example: The court's decision must be fair because it was made by an unbiased judge and jury.
Ambiguity
A fallacy in which someone uses a double meaning or ambiguity of language that misleads or misrepresents the truth.
Example: Her friend bought her new nail set for her birthday, but she wasn’t happy because she didn’t need to put something on the wall. :(
Loaded Question
A fallacy in which someone asks a question that can't be answered without appearing guilty.
Example:
A: You always have an objection.
B: No, I don’t
A: See you objected again!
tu quoque
A fallacy in which the accused avoids criticism by criticizing the accuser
Example: Livvy Dunne: "Baby Gronk, you should really focus on education! Being good at flag football is important, but school should be your priority."
Baby Gronk: "Dont you skip school sometimes for social media stuff? You can’t talk!"
Appeal to Emotion
A fallacy in which you attempt to use an emotional response in place of a logical argument.
Example: My client couldn’t possibly have committed the crime - just look at how devastated his family is!
The gambler's fallacy
A fallacy in which you believe that chance based happenings can be determined by statistics
Example: John rolled a three and believed that he wouldn’t roll a three again and he bet on another number.
Fallacy Fallacy
A fallacy in which a claim is presumed to be wrong because the claim contains a fallacy or is poorly argued.
Example: Sam: "I believe aliens exist because no one has proven they don't."
Dave: "That's a fallacy known as 'burden of proof.' Just because something hasn't been disproven doesn't automatically make it true.”
Special Pleading
A fallacy in which one makes a special exception for one case when their claim was proven wrong.
Example: Devesh claimed that he could do 100 push ups, but when there was a physical fitness test in gym, he could only do 3. When people asked him why he couldn’t do all of them, he said that he was just tired right now.
Anecdotal
A fallacy in which there is a personal experience or an isolated example instead of a valid argument.
Example: When I stepped on grass in Italy, it slipped out of the ground and I fell, dislocating my shoulder. Thus, grass must be very dangerous. (REAL STORY)
Slippery Slope
A fallacy in which someone argues that an initial event will lead to a series of other events which will create an extreme outcome
Example: If students do not go to sleep on time, then they will be tired at school causing them to fail their classes, making them drop out of school.
Personal Incredulity
A fallacy in which it is assumed that if you don’t understand something, it can’t be true.
Example: “The story he just told doesn’t even make sense to me. He has to be lying.”
Burden of Proof
A fallacy in which says that their claim is true until there is evidence proving otherwise.
Example: “Dogs always dream of eating chocolate. You can’t prove me wrong!”
The Texas Sharpshooter
A fallacy in which someone cherry-picks data or finds patterns to fit a specific conclusion, ignoring data that might contradict it.
Example: A clothing brand claims that their new athletic shoes improve athletic performance because, in five different marathons, the top runners were seen wearing them. They ignore the fact that in many other marathons, the same shoes were worn by average runners or those who didn’t perform well
Bandwagon
A fallacy in which you argue that you should start doing something because other people are doing it and it is popular.
Example: Everyone has a pet dog, so I should get one as well.
Appeal to Authority
A fallacy in which someone claims something is true because an authority claims it’s true
Example: Farmer Joe says that King George is the best person ever because the Prime Minister said as such, even though the King took 95% of his crops through taxes.
No True Scotsman
A fallacy in which an argument is determined correct or incorrect based on the person making the argument
Example:
Kavi: No true TEECS kid likes to wear uniforms.
Nayana: But I go to TEECS and like to wear my uniform?
Kavi: You’re not a true TEECS kid then.
black-or-white
A fallacy in which a situation is presented and only two solutions are presented as the only two possibilities, when in fact more possibilities exist.
Example: A teacher tells the students, “You either complete your homework on time, or you do not care about your education.”