rhetorical fallacies

ad hominem

attacking the person instead of the argument.

ex: you can’t trust her opinion on college because she didn’t finish college

straw man

misrepresenting someone’s argument to make it easier to attack.

ex: he wants school lunches to be healthier, so he must hate all junk food

false dilemma

(either/or fallacy) presenting only two options when more exists

ex: you’re either with us or against us

slippery slope

arguing that one small step will lead to a chain of extreme events

ex: if we allow one student to redo the test, soon everyone will demand retakes

ad populum/ bandwagon

suggesting that something is true or right because everyone else agrees

ex: everyone is using this app, so it must be the best

dogmatism

when a speaker presents a conclusion that “must be right” because they cannot possibly be wrong

ex: there is no room for debate on this issue and anyone who disagrees is wrong

argument from authority

claiming someone is valid simple because of the person’s fame/credentials

ex: this must be the best phone because famous tech reporter said so

sentimental appeal

using excessive emotion to distract from logical reasoning/manipulate audience

ex: think of all the starving children? how could you not donate to this cause?

red herring

distracting from the real issue with an unrelated point

ex: why worry about climate change when people are still unemployed?

generalization

drawing a conclusion based off of limited data

ex: i hate everyone in this town because two people were rude to me