Logical Fallacies

Misleading Vividness

A small number of dramatic and vivid events are taken to outweigh a significant amount of statistical evidence. It was freezing today as it was yesterday. My plants are now dead, and my birdbath turned to solid ice...and it is only October! This global warming thing is a load of crap.

Begging the Question

Any form of argument where the conclusion is assumed in one of the premises. Claim X assumes X is true. Therefore, claim X is true. Paranormal activity is real because I have experienced what can only be described as paranormal activity.

Attacking the Person/ Ad Hominem

Attacking the person making the argument, rather than the argument itself, when the attack on the person is completely irrelevant to the argument the person is making. Logical Form: Person 1 is claiming Y. Person 1 is a moron. Therefore, Y is not true. Example:My opponent suggests that lowering taxes will be a good idea -- this is coming from a woman who eats a pint of Ben and Jerry's each night!

Red Herring

Attempting to redirect the argument to another issue that to which the person doing the redirecting can better respond. Mike: It is morally wrong to cheat on your spouse, why on earth would you have done that? Ken: But what is morality exactly? Mike: It's a code of conduct shared by cultures. Ken: But who creates this code?...

Straw Man

Committed when a person simply ignores a person's actual position and substitutes a distorted, exaggerated or misrepresented version of that position. Zebedee: What is your view on the Christian God? Mike: I don't believe in any gods, including the Christian one. Zebedee: So you think that we are here by accident, and all this design in nature is pure chance, and the universe just created itself? Mike: You got all that from me stating that I just don't believe in any gods?

Post Hoc

Committed when it is concluded that one event causes another simply because the proposed cause occurred before the proposed effect. A occurs before B. Therefore A is the cause of B.

Appeal to Consequences

Concluding that an idea or proposition is true or false because the consequences of it being true or false are desirable or undesirable. FORM X is true because if people did not accept X as being true then there would be negative consequences. EX: If there is no objective morality, then all the bad people will not be punished for their bad behavior after death. I don't like that; therefore, morality must be objective.

Gambler's Fallacy

Reasoning that, in a situation that is pure random chance, the outcome can be affected by previous outcomes. X has happened. X departs from what is expected to occur on average or over the long term. Therefore, X will come to an end soon.

Appeal to Pity

The attempt to distract from the truth of the conclusion by the use of pity. Logical Form: Person 1 is accused of Y, but person 1 is pathetic. Therefore, Person 1 is innocent. EX: I really deserve an "A" on this paper, professor. Not only did I study during my grandmother's funeral, I also passed up the heart transplant surgery, even though that was the first matching donor in 3 years.

Hasty Generalization

This fallacy is committed when a person draws a conclusion about a population based on a sample that is not large enough. Sample S is taken from population P. Sample S is a very small part of population P. Conclusion C is drawn from sample S. My father smoked four packs of cigarettes a day since age fourteen and lived until age sixty-nine. Therefore, smoking really can't be that bad for you.

Appeal to Authority

Using an authority as evidence in your argument when the authority is not really an authority on the facts relevant to the argument. Logical Form: -According to person 1, Y is true. -Therefore, Y is true. EXAMPLE My 5th grade teacher once told me that girls will 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.

False (or Weak) Analogy

When an analogy is used to prove or disprove an argument, but the analogy is too dissimilar to be effective X is like Y. Y has property P. Therefore, X has property P. (but X really is not too much like Y) Believing in the literal resurrection of Jesus is like believing in the literal existence of zombies.

Anonymous Authority

When an unspecified source is used as evidence for the claim. This is commonly indicated by phrases such as "They say that...", "It has been said...", "I heard that...", "Studies show...", Logical Form: 1)Person 1 once heard that X was true. 2)Therefore, X is true. EXAMPLE You know, they say that if you swallow gum it takes 7 years to digest. So whatever you do, don't swallow the gum!

Appeal to Force

When force, coercion, or even a threat of force is used in place of a reason in an attempt to justify a conclusion. Logical Form: If you don't accept X as true, I will hurt you. EX: Melvin: Boss, why do I have to wear this goofy-looking hardhat? Boss: It is state law; therefore, company policy. No hat, no job

False Dilemma

When only two choices are presented yet more exist, or a spectrum of possible choices exists between two extremes. 1)Either claim X is true or claim Y is true (when X and Y could both be false). 2)Claim Y is false. 3)Therefore claim X is true. EXAMPLE: Senator Jill: "We'll have to cut education funding this year." Senator Bill: "Why?" Senator Jill: "Well, either we cut the social programs or we live with a huge deficit and we can't live with the deficit."

Style Over Substance

When the arguer embellishes the argument with compelling language or rhetoric, and/or visual aesthetics. Person 1 makes claim Y. Claim Y sounds catchy. Therefore, claim Y is true.

Non Sequitur

When the conclusion does not follow from the premises. People generally like to walk on the beach. Beaches have sand. Therefore, having sand floors in homes would be a great idea!

Slippery Slope

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. his "argument" has the following form: 1)Event X has occurred (or will or might occur). 2)Therefore event Y will inevitably happen. EXAMPLE:"We have to stop the tuition increase! The next thing you know, they'll be charging $40,000 a semester!"

Equivocation

a key term or phrase in an argument is used in an ambiguous way, with one meaning in one portion of the argument and then another meaning in another portion of the argument. I have the right to watch "The Real World." Therefore it's right for me to watch the show. So, I think I'll watch this "Real World" marathon tonight instead of studying for my exam.

True scotsman

a way of reinterpreting evidence in order to prevent the refutation of one's position. John: Members of the UbaTuba White Men's Club are upstanding citizens of the community. Marvin: Then why are there so many of these members in jail? John: They were never true UbaTuba White Men's Club members. Marvin: What's a true UbaTuba White Men's Club member? John: Those who don't go to jail.

Biased/Unrepresentative Sample

affecting statistical inferences, which are arguments of the following form: N% of sample S has characteristic C. (Where sample S is a subset of set P, the population.) Therefore, N% of population P has characteristic C.

Glittering Generalities

emotionally appealing phrase so closely associated with highly valued concepts and beliefs that it carries conviction without supporting information or reason "Pure, fresh, mountain spring water. Bottled especially for you in Utah from only our purest mountain springs."

Popularity/Bandwagon

joining a cause because of its popularity. -Idea Y is popular. - Therefore, Y is correct. Idea of a specific politician being president is popular. Therefore, the specific politician is the more competent leader.

Irrelevant Conclusion

tries to establish the truth of a proposition by offering an argument that actually provides support for an entirely different conclusion. All children should have ample attention from their parents. Parents who work full-time cannot give ample attention to their children. Therefore, mothers should not work full-time.

Appeal to Emotion

type of argument which attempts to arouse the emotions of its audience in order to gain acceptance of its conclusion. 1)Favorable emotions are associated with X 2)Therefore, X is true. EX: There must be objective rights and wrongs in the universe. If not, how can you possibly say that torturing babies for fun could ever be right?