Chapter 4: Rhetorical Fallacies

 rhetorical fallacy

is basically faulty reasoning leading to a conclusion the advertiser, author, or speaker wants you to make. 

**Emphasizing the Person**

the evidence focuses on the person who supports a conclusion, not on the merits of the conclusion itself.

**Ad Populum or “bandwagon”**

A certain political candidate is ahead in the polls.

**Argument from Authority**

This rhetorical fallacy focuses solely on the credentials or fame of the person recommending the product, without saying anything about the product itself.

**Ad Hominem**

This rhetorical fallacy turns to the other side of the coin and points out negative characteristics of the person who promotes an idea or action.

**Dogmatism**

The conclusion must be correct because the author or speaker says it is and she can’t possibly be wrong.

**Equivocation**

This type of fallacy leaves out facts that a reader or listener would need in order to make a thorough assessment of the conclusion.

**Sentimental Appeals**

Charities often use this tactic when they ask for donations.

**Slippery Slope**

According to this rhetorical fallacy, if you eat at a fast-food takeout once, pretty soon you’ll never want to eat healthy, nourishing home-cooked meals again.

**Scare Tactics**

Here the speaker or author is trying to frighten you into agreeing with him.

**Red Herring**

Instead of addressing the key issues of an opposing argument, a red herring fallacy focuses attention on an insignificant or irrelevant factor.

**Straw Man**

The writer creates a straw man—something that’s easy to knock down and tear apart—as the opposing viewpoint.

**Faulty analogy**

One thing is compared with a second thing, but the comparison is exaggerated or misleading or unreasonable.

**Faulty causality**

(also called Post hoc ergo propter hoc): This type of fallacy assumes that because one event happened shortly before another, the first event must have caused the second.

**Begging the Question**

In this rhetorical fallacy, an assumption which is not proven is used as evidence that the conclusion is correct.

**Circular Argument**

This fallacy says essentially the same thing in both the conclusion and in the evidence that allegedly supports it.

**Missing the point**

The author offers evidence that supports a conclusion—it’s just not the same conclusion that the author reaches.

**Non Sequitur**

This Latin term means, “it doesn’t follow.”

**False Dichotomy**

This rhetorical fallacy assumes a black-and-white world in which there is no middle ground, no other alternative.

**Hasty Generalization**

Here the author or speaker assumes that a limited experience foreshadows the entire experience.

**Non-testable hypothesis**

In this rhetorical fallacy, anything that has not been proven false is assumed to be true; the author doesn’t need to prove it’s true.