Fallacies

bandwagon (emotional)

A Bandwagon Fallacy is when a statement is assumed to be logically valid because of popular support. Exampe: "7 in 10 doctors say acupuncture works, therefore it must work"

Ad hominem (emotional)

Attacking the character of a person rather than engaging with the claim, reasons, and evidence she or he is setting forth. Example: In listening to what you have to say I have this to say in reply: only an idiot would argue for pursuing a peaceful solution to this conflict

straw man (logical)

By exaggerating, misrepresenting, or just completely fabricating someone's argument, it's much easier to present your own position as being reasonable, but this kind of dishonesty serves to undermine honest rational debate. Example: After Will said that we should put more money into health and education, Warren responded by saying that he was surprised that Will hates our country so much that he wants to leave it defenceless by cutting military spending. MAKING FALSE ARGUMENT, THEN DESTROYING IT

faulty analogy (logical)

Drawing an analogy that is based upon faulty equations or identifications of terms. Example: It has been scientifically proven that people need to drink a certain amount of water every day to keep healthy. Water is a liquid and so is beer. Therefore people should be able to substitute beer for water, drinking as much beer each day as doctors recommend people drink water, in order to keep healthy. COMPARING TWO NONRELATED THINGS

moral equivalence (emotional)

Proposing that because some people act a certain way, than everyone else has the right to do so too. Example: If John F. Kennedy got away with committing adultery while in office as President, then Bill Clinton and all subsequent presidents should be able to do so too.

Dogmatism (emotional)

Proposing that there simply cannot be any other possible way of making sense of and engaging with an issue but the one you represent. Example: There's no way that anyone can argue that abortion is anything other than murder. ASSUMING NO OTHER POSSIBLE SOLUTION OTHER THAN YOUR OWN.

Sentimental Appeals (emotional)

Relying entirely on manipulatively heart-warming or heart-wrenching appeals to emotion to win support for what has not been otherwise rationally justified. Example: That boy scout troop made an old lady's day by visiting and entertaining her in her nursing home; we should give generously to the boy scouts as a result.

Scare tactics (emotional)

Scare tactics are not direct threats, but are coerced conclusions. Instead of threatening a consequence onto a person, scare tactics highlight the possible negative outcomes to the extreme, while merely suggesting causality. The audience is supposed to use its own logic to draw the obvious negative conclusions. This is dangerous, for people often believe their own faulty logic because we feel that we can trust our own decisions (simply because they belong to us). If we base these conclusions on fear, however, then we have committed a logical fallacy. Example:A rabid liberal sympathizer shouts: "If this man gets elected, he'll change your welfare benefits. Don't let those Washington bureaucrats tinker with your food stamps!"

Appeal to False Authority (emotional)

Suggesting that you should listen and follow what someone has to say about something that he or she is in fact not a credible, reliable authority on. Example: My friend, who is serving in the infantry in Iraq, tells me that the government has a secret plan for how to win the War that they won't release until after the election, and because he is my friend and I like and respect him, this must be true.

Slippery Slope (emotional)

The Slippery Slope is a fallacy in which a person asserts that some event must inevitably follow from another without any argument for the inevitability of the event in question. In most cases, there are a series of steps or gradations between one event and the one in question and no reason is given as to why the intervening steps or gradations will simply be bypassed. Example: "We have to stop the tuition increase! The next thing you know, they'll be charging $40,000 a semester!"

faulty causality (logical)

The faulty assumption that because one event follows another, the second necessarily causes the first. Example: Bill bleached his hair blonde last week, and this week three other guys at the same school did the same; therefore the latter all changed their hair color because Bill did. ONE FOLLOWS ANOTHER; THE SECOND CAUSES THE FIRST

Equivocation (logical)

The same word is used with two different meanings. Identify the word which is used twice, then show that a definition which is appropriate for one use of the word would not be appropriate for the second use. HAVING DIFFERENT MEANINGS FOR THE SAME WORD

Non sequitur (logical)

The term non sequitur refers to a conclusion that is not aligned with previous premises or evidence. A statement that is labeled as non sequitur is one that is not logical. This is considered a fallacy. Non sequitur statements make a leap that does not make sense or follow logic. Example: She's wearing red shoes. Her favorite color must be red. LEAPED CONCLUSION

Hasty generalization (logical)

This fallacy is committed when a person draws a conclusion about a population based on a sample that is not large enough. DRAWS CONCLUSIONS FROM LITTLE EVIDENCE

begging the question (logical)

This logically incoherent argument often arises in situations where people have an assumption that is very ingrained, and therefore taken in their minds as a given. Circular reasoning is bad mostly because it's not very good. Assuming as true the very claim that is disputed, in a circular argument Example: I can't be guilty of embezzlement; I'm an honest person. HAVE AN INGRAINED ASSUMPTION AND USE IT TO RETORT THE OTHER ARGUMENT.