logical fallacies and satire

Hasty Generalization

Making assumptions about a whole group or range of cases based on a sample that is inadequate (usually because it is atypical or just too small)

Missing the Point

The premises of an argument support a particular conclusion

Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc/Faulty Causality

A faulty assumption that the cause of a relationship is the result of what preceded it.

Slippery Slope/The Camel's Nose

The arguer claims that some form of chain reaction, usually ending in some dire consequence, will take place, but there's really not enough evidence for that assumption.

Weak Analogy

When the two things that are being compared aren't really alike in the relevant respects

Appeal to Authority

A fallacy in which a speaker or writer seeks to persuade not by giving evidence but by appealing to the respect people have for a famous person or institution that's not related to the topic.

Appeal to Pity

This type of fallacy uses the audiences's sympathy, concern, or guilt in order to overwhelm their sense of logic

Appeal to Ignorance

A fallacy that uses an opponent's inability to disprove a conclusion as proof of the conclusion's correctness.

Straw Man

A fallacy that occurs when a speaker chooses a deliberately poor or oversimplified example in order to ridicule and refute an idea.

Red Herring

A fallacy that introduces an irrelevant issue to divert attention from the subject under discussion

False Dichotomy

The arguer sets up the situation so it looks like there are only two choices. The arguer then eliminates one of the choices, so it seems that we are left with only one option: the one the arguer wanted us to pick in the first place.

Equivocation

When a writer uses the same term in two different senses in an argument.

Begging the Question

An argument that asks the reader to simply accept the conclusion without providing real evidence by saying the same point in different words.

Non-Sequitur

A gap in the sequence of your logic

Circular Reasoning

One statement is true because of the other statement, and the other statement is true because of the previous statement.

Reductio Ad Absurdum

Extending someone's arguments to ridiculous proportions then criticizing the result that no reasonable person would take such a position.

Poisoning the Well

Presenting negative information about a person before he/she speaks so as to discredit the person's argument.

Appeal to Tradition

Because something has always been done a particular way, it should continue to be done that way.

Stacking the Deck

Any evidence that supports an opposing argument is rejected, omitted, or ignored. (One-sided argument)

Hypothesis Contrary to the Fact

Offering poorly supported claims about what might have happened in the past or future if (the hypothetical part) circumstances or conditions were different

Moving the Goalposts

Demanding from an opponent that he or she address more and more points after the initial counter

Satire

Making fun of some aspect of culture, society, and/or human nature in an attempt to improve it or inspire change

Formal/Direct Satire

the satiric voice speaks, usually in the first person, either directly to the reader or to a character in the satire

Indirect Satire

A fictional approach to criticism where characters who represent certain points of view are made to seem ridiculous by their thoughts and behavior

Horatian

Satire in which the voice is indulgent, tolerant, amused, and witty. The speaker holds up to gentle ridicule the absurdities and follies of human beings, aiming at producing in the reader not the anger, but a wry smile.

Juvenalian

Provokes a darker kind of laughter; addresses social evil and points with contempt to the corruption of men and institutions through scorn, outrage, and savage ridicule.

Optimist Satirist

Likes people, but thinks they are rather blind and foolish

Pessimist Satirist

Loves individuals, hates mankind

Diatribe/Invective

a bitter verbal attack

Farce

Exciting laughter through exaggerated, improbable situations. Usually contains low comedy: quarreling, fighting, coarse wit, horseplay, noisy singing, boisterous conduct, trickery, clownishness, drunkenness, slap

Caricature

a representation in which the subject's characteristic features are deliberately exaggerated;

Grotesque

Creating a tension between laughter and horror or revulsion; the essence of all "sick humor" or "black humor"

Understatement

the presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is.

Juxtaposition

Placement of two things closely together to emphasize comparisons or contrasts

Sarcasm

taunting on a personal level by saying something and meaning the opposite

Parody

A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule.

Burlesque

A parody meant to ridicule a subject; a grotesque imitation.

Mock-heroic

imitating the style of heroic literature in order to satirize an unheroic subject

Hyperbole

exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

Exaggeration

To enlarge, increase, or represent something beyond normal bounds so that it becomes ridiculous and its faults can be seen

Incongruity

To present things that are out of place or are absurd in relation to its surroundings.

Reversal

To present the opposite of the normal order (the order of events, standard order of something obvious.)

Situational Irony

irony involving a situation in which actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended, so that the outcome is contrary to what was expected.

Verbal Irony

When a writer or character says one something but means the opposite.

Judgement

When character, intelligence, beliefs, decisions or preferences are questioned in a way that causes shame

Play/ Wit

mockery, imitation, and clever humor

Misunderstanding

Intentional misinterpretation or misunderstanding of in a conversation, situation, or circumstance

Absurdum

Taking something to an extreme to make a point

Dramatic Irony

Irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the scene.

Vice

immoral or wicked behavior

folly

foolishness