Fallacies Flashcards
Appeal to authority
statement from a person who is an authority in a field is relevant but if it comes from a person who is famous in another field is irrelevant.
EX NBA Star James Harden says that he always eats raw onions, so they must be good for you.
Appeal to pity
An appeal for sympathy to avoid the actual argument.
EX Perhaps I did commit a crime, but I have been a victim of abuse my whole life, so it isn’t my fault.
Bandwagon appeal
Argument based on the assertion that the argument is valid simply because everyone else believes in the argument.
EX You should buy a Tesla when you get a car. Everyone cool drives a Tesla.
Personal attack
attack on opponent rather than the opponent’s evidence or argument. Can be abusive (name calling) or circumstantial (relating to a person’s ethnicity, national origin, personal appearance, religion etc. )
EX You think the US should close its borders? I’m not surprised a stupid idiot like you is afraid of foreigners.
Poisoning the Well
a sub-type of personal attack presenting adverse information about a target person with the intention of discrediting everything that the target person says. EX before anyone even decides if they like the new soccer coach, your teammate spreads info that the coach was bad-mouthing the players.
Appeal to force
Threat of force or use of force (bullying) as a means to irrelevantly sway a person’s opinion. EX If you’re a whistle blower, I would watch out. You don’t want to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Argument from ignorance
Arguing that the failure to find evidence supporting a claim proves that the claim is false. Using of the lack of evidence as a premise does not make something true; a lack evidence is not proof.
EX You never mention race when discussing social issues; it seems to me you’re racist.
Hypothesis contrary to fact
Assuming that history would have been different in a specific way if the facts of history had changed. EX You could have never passed this test if I hadn’t told you the answers in advanced.
Hasty generalization
Accepting an argument on the basis of relevant but insufficient information or evidence. A variation of this fallacy is a small sample, drawing conclusions about a population on the basis of a sample that is too small to be reliable.
EX People in Tucson love rain, so it seems to me that all Arizonans love a good down pour.
Dicto simplicitor
This fallacy begins with a generalization that is widely accepted as true. The the speaker misapplies the generalization in a way that produces the fallacy by distorting the original statement.
EX The vitamin D that come from the sun is necessary for good health. Therefore, we should all get a deep, dark tan every summer.
False cause
Two forms. One form assumes that when one event happened after another event, the earlier event is the cause of the second, even though the two may be logically unconnected.
EX I ate garlic the night before my math exam, and I got a good grade on the test. Garlic must stimulate my powers of concentration.
Straw man
argument based on misrepresentation or overstating of an opponent’s position in order to defend your own.
EX Politician A: I am against building a border wall.
Politician B: So you want completely open borders? This is ridiculous.
False Analogy
In a false analogy, two things that are not alike are compared as if they were the same.
EX I don’t get to why I have to go to school for 20 years of my life when my dog, who is older than me in dog years, gets to stay home and sleep and play every day.
Slippery slope
objecting to an action on the grounds that once it is taken, it will lead to similar but less desirable actions until some horror is reached down the road.
EX If I don’t pass tomorrow’s exam, this might affect my GPA, which in turn might impact my chances of going to a good college, which means I won’t get a good job and I’ll have to live in my parent’s basement for the rest of my life!
Guilt by association
a variation of ad hominem attack, in which we judge someone guilty on the basis of the company that person keeps.
EX I see you spend your free time down at the Snake Pit Bar. Those people have no morals, so I guess you don’t have any morals either.
You’re another
An abusive or circumstantial personal attack that is in response to a personal attack.
EX I cheated on the AP human geo test? Who didn’t cheat? even the teacher ‘borrowed’ the test from another teacher!
Begging the question
When the argument’s premises assumes the truth of the conclusion without supporting it – also known as ‘circular reasoning’
EX Smoking can kill you because cigarettes are deadly.
Non-sequitor
Coming to a conclusion that does not logically follow from a premise or premises.
EX Shane is from Greenwich, Connecticut. This is why he enjoys the show ‘Squid Games’.
Either/ or
Reasoning from the premise that there are just two plausible solutions to a problem or issue when, in fact, there are at least three.
EX If I go to UHS, I will be stressed. But if I don’t go to UHS, I will be bored.
Red Herring
A speaker attempts to distract an audience by deviating from the topic at hand and introducing a separate argument that the speaker believes is easier to speak to. EX You arrive to class twenty minutes late and your teacher asks you why you are tardy. To distract her you ask meaningful questions about the reading to draw attention away from your tardiness.
