Fallacies
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- ad hominem arguments
- Attacking the character of a person rather than engaging with the claim, reasons, and evidence she or he is setting forth
- appeals to false authority
- 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
- bandwagon appeal
- Suggesting that simply because a lot of others are doing it, you should too
- begging the question
- Assuming as true the very claim that is disputed, in a circular argument
- dogmatism
- Proposing that there simply cannot be any other possible way of making sense of and engaging with an issue but the one you represent
- either/or choices
- To reduce complicated questions, which can be effectively answered in multiple different ways, to only two, diametrically opposed, possible answers
- equivocation
- An argument that gives a lie an honest appearance, by insisting on what is only partially or formally true
- faulty analogy
- through the use of an analogy, one finds that the differences between the events outweigh the similarities. It can also occur when there is an important fundamental difference between the two linked qualities.
- faulty causality
- The faulty assumption that because one event follows another, the first necessarily causes the second
- hasty generalization
- Drawing a conclusion, especially a sweeping one, from insufficient evidence
- moral equivalence
- Proposing that because some people act a certain way, than everyone else has the right to do so too
- non sequitur
- An argument which leaves out a necessary portion in a logical sequence, seeming to suggest a logical connection when in fact one does not exist
- scare tactics
- To reduce complicated issues to simple threats or to exaggerate a possible danger well beyond its actual likelihood
- sentimental appeal
- Relying entirely on manipulatively heart-warming or heart-wrenching appeals to emotion to win support for what has not been otherwise rationally justified
- slippery slopes
- To greatly exaggerate the supposedly inevitable future consequences of an action by suggesting one small step will initiate a process that will necessarily lead the way to a much bigger result