LOGICAL FALLACIES HANDLIST: Arguments to Avoid when Writing.

Bandwagon Approach

("Everybody is doing it.") This argument asserts that, since the majority of people believes an argument or chooses a particular course of action, the argument must be true or the course of action must be the best one. ("Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect." --Mark Twain.)

The Red Herring Fallacy

A deliberate attempt to change the subject or divert the argument from the real question at issue.

Appeal to Improper Authority

An appeal to a famous person or a source that may not be reliable.

Argument from the Negative

Asserts that, since one position is untenable, the opposite stance must be true.

Ad Hominem Fallacy

Attacking or praising the people who make an argument rather than discussing the argument itself.

Stacking the Deck/ cherry-picking

In this fallacy, the speaker ignores examples that disprove the point, and listing only those examples that support her case.

Appeal to Biased Authority

In this sort of appeal, the authority is one who truly is knowledgeable on the topic, but unfortunately one who may have professional or personal motivations that render that judgment suspect.

Hasty Generalization (Jumping to Conclusions)

Mistaken use of inductive reasoning when there are too few samples to prove a point.

Loaded Question Fallacy

Phrasing a question or statement in such as way as to imply another unproven statement is true without evidence or discussion.

Faulty Analogy

Relying only on comparisons to prove a point rather than arguing deductively and inductively.

Misleading Statistic

Suppose an individual argues that women must be incompetent drivers, and he points out that last Tuesday at the Department of Motor Vehicles, 50% of the women who took the driving test failed.

Begging the Question

The fallacy is committed when someone has made a conclusion based on a premise that lacks support. (For example, stating that "chinaberries are good for people because they grow on trees." The unsupported premise here is that things that grow on trees are inherently good for people. The most common form of this fallacy is when the claim is initially loaded with the same conclusion one has yet to prove. For instance, suppose a debater states, "Useless courses like Art 101 should be dropped from the curriculum." The debater then immediately moves on, illustrating that spending money on a useless course is something nobody wants. The fact that the course is useless is assumed without proof. The debater is implicitly "begging" the audience to go along with (to accept without evidence) this proposition. Another example: "Since killing is morally wrong, the death penalty is morally wrong." Another example: "Cats, because they are filthy animals, should never be allowed in college dorms.") ((1) Many people misuse the term, and use it to mean "raises the question of." For example, "Tanning salons beg the question of skin cancer." This is an incorrect use; unfortunately, it is very common, even among educated people. (2) Begging the question is so similar to circular reasoning that many people use the terms interchangeably. You'll need to know the difference in this class, but be prepared to encounter others who don't differentiate.)

Appeal to Force (the "Might-Makes-Right" Fallacy)

This argument uses force, the threat of force, or some other unpleasant backlash to make the audience accept a conclusion.

False Causality Fallacy (Causation/Correlation Error)

This fallacy establishes a cause/effect relationship that does not exist. (There are various Latin names for various analyses of the fallacy: "After this, therefore because of this.") This type of false cause occurs when the writer mistakenly assumes that, because the first event preceded the second event, it must mean the first event must have caused the later one.

False Dilemma Fallacy (Either/Or Fallacy)

This fallacy occurs when a writer builds an argument upon the assumption that there are only two choices or possible outcomes when actually there are several.

Appeal to Tradition

This line of thought asserts that a premise must be true because people have always believed it or done it.

Equivocation

Using a word in a different way than the author used it in the original premise, or changing definitions halfway through a discussion.

Straw Man Fallacy

a writer creates an oversimplified, easy-to-refute argument, places it in the mouth of his opponent, and then tries to "win" the debate by knocking down that empty or trivial argument.

Circular Reasoning

is a subtype of begging the question. Often the authors word the two statements sufficiently differently to obscure the fact that that the same proposition occurs as both a premise and a conclusion. (For example: A confused student argues: "You can't give me a C. I'm an A student!" Another Example: "God exists. We know this because the Bible says so. And we know the Bible is correct because the Bible was written by God." Another Example: Janet: "Your resume looks great but I need a reference." Rick: "Julie can give me a good reference." Janet: "How do I know that Julie is trustworthy?" Rick: "I can vouch for her.")

Slippery Slope Fallacy

the speaker argues that, once the first step is undertaken, a second or third step will inevitably follow, much like the way one step on a slippery incline will cause a person to fall and slide all the way to the bottom.