fallacies

ad hominem

ad hominem

attacking opponent’s character

ex: Sam says Sally eats her boogers and therefore everything she says is wrong.

anecdotal

personal experience/isolated example

ex: Jason’s dad smoked every day and lived until 97, so smoking is fine

appeal to authority

using opinion/position of authority

ex: Bob, a botanist, said the Earth is flat

appeal to emotion

manipulating emotion

ex: Luke’s dad said he should eat the salad because poor kids can’t eat

appeal to nature

natural = good

ex: natural mushrooms will solve all medical problems because they are natural

bandwagon

popular = good

ex: I bought the new iPhone because everyone bought it

begging the question

using the conclusion itself to support the conclusion

ex: James is correct because James said he is always correct

black or white

pick this or that.

ex: the superhero said “you are either on my side or on the side of the villain“

composition/division

if one part of something is true, all parts are true

comp:

ex: if a robber is an immigrant, all immigrants must be robbers.

division:

ex: if all my friends got an A on the quiz, I must have also gotten an A

false cause

assuming correlation means causation

ex: sharks bite people during the time of the year when people buy sunscreen, so sunscreen causes shark attacks.

fallacy fallacy

if a claim isn’t well-argued or has a fallacy, it must be wrong

ex: Amanda didn’t eat the poisonous mushroom because no one else did, meaning she used the bandwagon fallacy so her decision is wrong.

gambler’s fallacy

believing that getting the same result again and again means you are bound to get a different result.

ex: I thought because the coin landed on heads 12 times in a row, the next time it will land on tails.

hasty generalization

using a few instances to support a general claim.

ex: a dog bit me once, so all dogs will bite me.

middle ground

saying that a compromise between 2 extremes is the truth

ex:

Mickey: “The sky is yellow“

Minnie: “The sky is blue“

Mickey: “Okay, then the sky must be green“

no true scotsman

if your profile defies my claim, you aren’t what I’m talking about.

ex: I believe all brunettes love to swim. My friend says she is a brunette, but because she doesn’t like to swim she must not be a true brunette.

personal incredulity

when someone rejects a belief because they can’t understand or believe it.

ex: No one has been able to figure out the afterlife, so it must not exist

OR

I can’t imagine the Earth as being a sphere so it must be flat

slippery slope

If A happens, then B, then C, then D, then…… will happen

ex: If we take down Confederate statues, all statues of all Americans will be taken down

special pleading

moving the goalpost to create expectations when a claim is proven to be false IN OTHER WORDS making a special exception without a reason

ex: John said his magical powers were just weak today, but usually work.

strawman

misrepresenting an argument to make it seem flawed

ex:

Bob: “let’s be nice to kittens“

Matt: “Bob wants to be mean to dogs!”

All: “we hate you Bob!“

the texas sharpshooter

Cherry-picking data to support a claim

ex: data shows 50 people in Minnesota who have smoked haven’t died, so smoking is fine (ignoring the 10000 people who have died)

tu quoque

avoiding criticism by criticizing the opponent.

ex:

Joe: “I think you’re dumb because you’re old.“

Mark: “Well I think YOU’RE dumb because YOU’RE old“