Introduction to Philosophy: Logical Fallacies

Vocabulary flashcards covering the definitions and titles of various logical fallacies from the Philosophy of the Human Person lecture notes.

Fallacy

An argument that contains a mistake in reasoning or an error in logical reasoning in an argument or a persuasive text.

Argumentum ad Baculum

Also known as Appeal to Force or Stick; committed when one appeals to force or the threat of force to bring about the acceptance of a conclusion.

Argumentum ad Misericordiam

Also known as Appeal to Pity; occurs when pity or a related emotion such as sympathy or compassion is appealed to for the sake of getting a conclusion accepted.

Argumentum ad Populum

Also known as Appeal to the People; attempting to win popular assent to a conclusion by arousing the feeling and enthusiasms of the multitude.

Argumentum ad Verecundiam

Also known as Appeal to Authority; insisting that a claim is true simply because a valid authority or expert on the issue said it was true, without any other supporting evidence offered.

Argumentum ad Hominem

Also known as Argument against the Person; attacking the character or circumstances of an individual who is advancing a statement or an argument instead of trying to disprove the soundness of the argument.

Argumentum ad Ignorantiam

Also known as Appeal to Ignorance or Argument from Lack of Imagination; saying something is true only because there is no evidence to prove it wrong, or false because there is no evidence to prove it is true.

Appeal to Vanity

Gaining support for an argument, not by the strength of the argument, but by using flattery on those whom you want to accept your argument.

Red Herring

An irrelevant topic is introduced in an argument to divert the attention of listeners from the original issue.

Fallacy of Hasty Generalization

Also known as the Fallacy of Insufficient Statistics, Fallacy of Insufficient Sample, or Hasty Induction; committed when a person draws a conclusion about a population based on a sample that is not large enough.

Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc

Meaning "after this, therefore because of this"; the fallacy of arguing that one event was caused by another event merely because it occurred after that event, following the logic that if $A$ happened then $B$ happened, then $A$ must have caused $B$.

Slippery Slope Fallacy

Also known as "Camel’s Nose"; claiming that a sort of chain reaction, usually ending in some dire consequence, will take place, without enough evidence or argument for the inevitability of the event.

Fallacy of False Dichotomy

Also known as False Dilemma; presenting only two alternative states when more possibilities or a spectrum of choices actually exist.

Fallacy of Composition

Infers that something is true of a part, is true of a whole.

Fallacy of Division

Infers that something is true of the whole, must also be true on its parts.