Logicall Fallacy Terms

Term	Definition	Example
Faulty Analogy	A type of logical fallacy where a weak analogy leads to an incorrect conclusion.	Example: John and Josh are on the baseball team and they both have brothers. So they technically are brothers.
Sentimental Appeal	It appeals to emotion and is the attempt to persuade somebody based on an emotional hook; pathos.	Ex. Humans like you and me have damaged the ecosystem. We caused this! Donate today.
Begging the Question	An argument assumes the truth of the conclusion, instead of supporting it. Assumption without proof.	Ex. Smoking causes cancer. The smoke from cigars is a carcinogen.
Red Herring	An argument that distracts the audience from the issue in question through the introduction of some irrelevancy.	Ex. Daughter: “I’m so sad my boyfriend broke up with me!” Mother: “Think about the starving children in Africa. Your problems are insignificant compared to them.
Either or Choice (False Dilemma)	The fallacy of presenting only two choices, outcomes, or sides to an argument as the only possibilities when more are available.	Ex. Either you support this new legislation to give the police more power, or you want society to descend into chaos!
Bandwagon	Try to get everyone on board. If everyone else believes in this, the reader should as well.	Ex. If your friends smoke, it is likely you will follow too.
Appeal to Tradition	Arguing that something is right solely because it has been accepted or practiced for a long time.	Ex. Drinking boiling hot water is always healthy because the Chinese people have done it for a thousand years.
Non-Sequitur	Any argument that does not follow from the previous statements	Ex. All birds have wings
Dogmatism	The tendency to lay down principles as true, without consideration of evidence or the opinions of others.	Ex. Anyone who thinks abortion is ok must also think murder is ok too.
Oversimplification	When a writer obscures or denies the complexity of the issues in an argument	Ex. I water the garden every day, which is why it grows so well.
Ad Populum	To make an appeal to what most people think, like, or believe, instead of justifying their position with evidence.	Ex. the majority of our countrymen think we should have military operations overseas; therefore, it’s the right thing to do
Equivocation	Occurs when a key term or phrase in an argument is used in an ambiguous way, with one meaning in one portion of the argument and another meaning in another position of the argument.	Ex. Noisy children are a real headache. Two aspirins will make a headache go away. Therefore, two aspirins will make noisy children go away.
Moral Equivalence	To deny a moral comparison that can be made of two sides in a conflict.	Ex. Vaping is bad, but it isn’t as bad as smoking tobacco.
Appeal to False Authority	Individual cited isn’t an expert at all, but is merely someone famous.	Ex. My cousin’s friend is a nurse, and she says that vaccines are dangerous.
Hasty Generalization	Base an argument on insufficient evidence; drawing conclusions too quickly and not considering the whole issue.	Ex. “I’ve met 2 people in Greece so far, and they were nice to me. So, all the people in Greece will be nice to me.
Scare Tactics	Ways of achieving a particular result by frightening people so much that they do what you want them to do.	Ex. If you don’t buy this product, you risk injury and death.
Ad-Hominem	Ignore the issue and attack the person. Writers attempt to refute the claim of opposition by bringing in the opposition’s character into questions.	Ex. Students should protest against the principal’s policy on prom parties because he’s too old to understand what teenagers want.
Slippery Slope	A person asserts that a relatively small step will lead to a chain of events that result in a drastic change or a negative outcome	Ex. If I don’t pass tomorrow’s exam, this might affect my GPA, which will impact my chances of going to a good college.
Cause/Effect Post hoc ergo	Because a situation happened after an event, that situation is the cause of that event. “After this, therefore because of this.”	Ex. While you are watching your favorite sports team, you notice that everytime you go to the kitchen for a moment, the opposing team scores.
Guilt by Association	Guilt ascribed to someone not because there is evidence against them, but because of their association with someone who is guilty.	Ex. Police arrive at a party and find that everyone is under 21 years old. Not everyone was drinking, but all were arrested.
Straw Man	A distortion of someone else’s argument to make it easier to attack or refute.	Ex. When a teacher proposes that the class spend more time on math, a parent complains that the teacher doesn’t care about reading and writing.
Slanting	Occurs when someone deliberately biases something in their favor.	Ex. Our space program will cost a certain amount of money.
Circular Reasoning	An argument that assumes the very thing it is trying to prove is true.	Ex. Parent: “It’s time to go to bed” Child: “Why?” Parent: “Because this is your bedtime”
Appeal to Ignorance	To argue that your conclusion must be true because there’s no evidence against it.	Ex. Since you haven’t been able to prove your innocence, I must assume you’re guilty.
Tu Quoque Fallacy	Claiming that someone’s argument must be false because it is not consistent with their past actions or words.	Ex. You don’t believe smoking is bad since you smoke too.
The Alphabet Soup	A language that is confusing because it contains a lot of abbreviations and acronyms that are hard for most people to understand.	International Trade Group list ACO ATAG IATA IATAN IFALPA ISTAT
Politically Correct	Language that seems intended to give the least amount of offense. Avoid offense or disadvantages to members in particular groups.	Ex. Do not say “illegal aliens,” say “undocumented workers.”
Genetic Fallacy	This conclusion is based on an argument that the origins of a person, idea, institute, or theory determine its character, nature, or worth.	Ex. The Volkswagen Beetle is an evil car because it was originally designed by Hitler’s army.