12 Angry Men Logical Fallacies
Juror 10: "He's a common, ignorant slob. He don't even speak good English."
Ad Hominem
Juror 10: "He's the fifteenth assistant, or something. What does he know?"
Ad Hominem
Juror 12: "I thought he was really sharp. I mean, the way he hammered home his points, one by one, in logical sequence. It takes a good brain to do that. I was very impressed."
Ad Hominem
Juror 3: "He's an old man. You saw him. Half the time he was confused. How could he be positive about anything?
Ad Hominem
Juror 8: "The father wasn't exactly a model citizen. [. . .] By any one of the people he was known to hang out with."
Ad Hominem
Juror 8:"I don't think so. He's much too bright for that."
Ad Hominem
Juror 8: "Everybody sounded so positive that I started to get a peculiar feeling about this trial."
Appeal to Intuition
Juror 8: "I don't know. It doesn't sound right to me."
Appeal to Intuition
Juror 1: "We decided to do it a certain way. Let's stick to what we said."
Appeal to Tradition
Juror 3: "Listen, when I was his age I used to call my father 'Sir.' [. . . ] You ever hear a boy call his father that anymore?"
Appeal to Tradition
Juror 4: "I think it's customary to take a preliminary vote."
Appeal to Tradition
Juror 3: "What's the matter with you people? Every one of you knows this kid is guilty. He's got to burn."
Bandwagon
Juror 6: "You're the only one."
Bandwagon
Juror 7: "Eleven men here agree. Nobody had to think twice about it, except you."
Bandwagon
Juror 2: "I thought it was obvious from the word go. I mean nobody proved otherwise."
Either/Or
Juror 4: Now are you trying to tell me that it really fell through a hole in the boy's pocket . . . stabbed his father just to be amusing?"
Either/Or
Juror 3: "I mean, let's be reasonable.
Ethos
Juror 3: "I've seen all kinds of dishonesty in my day."
Ethos
Juror 3: "So how come our noble lad bought this knife . . . three and a half hours before they found it shoved up here in the father's chest?"
False Cause
Juror 4: "He was born in a slum. Slums are breeding grounds for criminals. [. . .] Children from slums backgrounds are potential menaces to society."
False Cause
Juror 1 "He identified [the boy's voice] in court. He picked the boy's voice out of five other voices, blindfolded."
Hasty Generalization
Juror 10: "Anyway, she looks out the window and right across the street . . . Everything fits."
Hasty Generalization
Juror 10: "It's those people." I'm tellin' you they let the kids run wild up there. Well, maybe it serves 'em right.
Hasty Generalization
Juror 11: "It would be an incredible coincidence for another person to have stabbed the father with the same kind of knife. [. . .] The odds are a million to one."
Hasty Generalization
Juror 12: "The finest watchmakers come from Europe, I imagine."
Hasty Generalization
Juror 3: "It's the kids, the way they are nowadays."
Hasty Generalization
Juror 4: "I think it's quite clear that the boy never went to the movies that night. No one in the house saw him go out at eleven thirty. No one at the theater identified him."
Hasty Generalization
Juror 4: "Remember, he lived in a neighborhood where screams were fairly commonplace."
Hasty Generalization
Juror 4: "Take a look at that knife. I've never seen one like it."
Hasty Generalization
Juror 8: "I mean, nothing is that positive."
Hasty Generalization
Juror 3: "I have no personal feelings about this. [. . .] You can't refute facts."
Logos
Juror 7: "Listen, there are facts staring you right in your face. [. . .] He deserves the chair."
Logos
Juror 3: "D'you feel like seeing a proven murderer walking the streets?"
Pathos
Juror 7: "The boy is guilty, pal. So let's go home before we get sore throats."
Pathos
Juror 8: "Look, this boy's been kicked around . . . I think maybe we owe him a few words."
Pathos
Juror 10: "Anybody got a deck of cards?"
Red Herring
Juror 10: "Great. I heard a pretty good story last night. This woman comes running into the doctor's office, stripped to the waist---"
Red Herring
Juror 10: "I got three garages of mine going to pot while you're talking. Let's get done and get outa here."
Red Herring
Juror 10: "We don't owe him a thing. He got a fair trial, didn't he? What d'you think the trial cost?"
Red Herring
Juror 3: "No? Have you got any kids? [. . .] Let's get on with it."
Red Herring
Juror 6: So if he didn't do it, who did? Who else had the motives?"
Red Herring
Juror 7: "Suppose we're wrong! Suppose this whole building fell on my head."
Slippery Slope
Juror 7: "I mean, this kid is oh for five. [. . .] This is a very fine boy."
Stacking the Deck; Ad Hominem
Juror 10: "Listen, what about that woman across the street? If her testimony don't prove it, nothing does."
either/or
