Logical Fallacies Review

Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc (after this, therefore also this)

Example: "Eating five candy bars and drinking two sodas before a test helps me get better grades. I did that and got an A on my last test in history."

Either-Or Arguments/False Dilemma

Example: "Either we go to Panama City for the whole week of Spring Break, or we don't go anywhere at all."

Bandwagon Appeals (ad populum)

Example: "Fifty million Elvis fans can't be wrong!"

Faulty Analogies

Example: "Forcing students to attend cultural events is like herding cattle to slaughter. The students stampede in to the event where they are systematically 'put to sleep' by the program."

Tu Quoque (you're another)

Example: "How can the police ticket me for speeding? I see cops speeding all the time."

Slippery Slope

Example: "If we force public elementary school pupils to wear uniforms, eventually we will require middle school students to wear uniforms. If we require middle school students to wear uniforms, high school requirements aren't far off. Eventually even college students who attend state-funded, public universities will be forced to wear uniforms."

Non Sequitur arguments don't follow a logical sequence

Example: "The rain came down so hard that Jennifer actually called me."

Begging the Question (or circular logic)

Example: "These movies are popular because they make so much money. They make a lot of money because people like them, and people like them because they are so popular."

Red Herrings

Example: "Winthrop should pave the lot behind Dinkins. Besides, I can never find a parking space on campus anyway."

False Authority

Example: A popular sports star may know a lot about football, but very little about shaving cream. His expertise on the playing field does not qualify him to intelligently discuss the benefits of aloe.

Ad Hominem (attacking the person)

Example: Candidate A claims that Candidate B cannot possibly be an advocate for the working people because he enjoys the opera more than professional wrestling.

Hasty Generalizations

Example: Concluding that all fraternities are party houses because you have seen three parties at one fraternity.

Ignoring the Question

Example: During a press conference, a political candidate is asked a pointed, specific question about some potentially illegal fund-raising activity. Instead of answering the allegations, the candidate gives a rousing speech thanking all of his financial supporters.

Straw Man

Example: The debate over drink machines centers around cost and choice; opponents of the new drink machines bring up their location as an important issue.

Equivocation

Example: When representing himself in court, a defendant said, " I have told the truth, and I have always heard that the truth would set me free.