English

False ditchotomy

-Either we go to war, or we appear weak." - "Either you love me, or you hate me."

Appeal to Authority

-My 5th-grade teacher once told me that girls would go crazy for boys if they learn how to dance. Therefore, if you want to make the ladies go crazy for you, learn to dance. -The Pope told me that priests could turn bread and wine into Jesus' body and blood. The Pope is not a liar. Therefore, priests really can do this.

begging the question

A fallacy in which a claim is based on evidence or support that is in doubt. -George Bush is a good communicator because he speaks effectively

Slippery Slope

A fallacy that assumes that taking a first step will lead to subsequent steps that cannot be prevented - When a relatively insignificant first event is suggested to lead to a more significant event, which in turn leads to a more significant event, and so on, until some ultimate, significant event is reached, where the connection of each event is not only unwarranted but with each step it becomes more and more improbable. Many events are usually present in this fallacy, but only two are actually required -- usually connected by "the next thing you know..."

Logic form

If A, then B, then C, ... then ultimately Z! -We cannot unlock our child from the closet because if we do, she will want to roam the house. If we let her roam the house, she will want to roam the neighborhood. If she roams the neighborhood, she will get picked up by a stranger in a van, who will sell her in a sex slavery ring in some other country. Therefore, we should keep her locked up in the closet.

Dramatic Instance

The fallacy that generalizes from the example of one. -The first Titanic sunk, therefore no more ships should be named so, or they will sink.

ad hominem

a fallacy that attacks the person rather than dealing with the real issue in dispute -Green Peace's strategies aren't effective because they are all dirty, lazy hippies

Straw Man

an intentionally misrepresented proposition that is set up because it is easier to defeat than an opponent's real argument. - People who do not support the proposed state minimum wage increase hate the poor

False Cause

fallacies in which a cause is incorrectly identified. - "Every severe recession follows a Republican Presidency; therefore Republicans are the cause of recessions." -Accidental generalizations need not always be causal relations.

Red Herring

something that draws attention away from the main issue -2012 Presidential Debate: In the second debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, a woman asks how the two men will "limit the availability of assault weapons." Neither man answered that specific question. Instead, Obama talked about catching violence before it gets out of control, and Romney focused on good schools and raising children in two-parent homes. They both diverted attention from the original question by using red herrings.

Retrospective Determination

the argument that things could not have gone any other way than they did. -My father went to Canuc College, therefore I and my kids should go.