Fallacies

Question 1

Appeal to Pity

Answer 1

using pitiable circumstances as justification

Question 2

Appeal to the People

Answer 2

using popularity/wide beliefs to justify

Question 3

Ad hominem (abusive)

Answer 3

attacking someone (irrelevantly) to invalidate their arguments

Question 4

Ad hominem (tu quoque)

Answer 4

considering hypocrisy as reason to reject an argument

Question 5

Ad hominem (circumstantial)

Answer 5

invalidating an argument because the arguer has a personal interest at stake

Question 6

Accident

Answer 6

misapplying a general rule to special circumstances

Question 7

Straw Man

Answer 7

attacking a weaker version of the opponent’s argument

Question 8

Red Herring

Answer 8

subtly changing the subject to a more negative one

Question 9

Appeal to Ignorance

Answer 9

arguing that something is false because it is not known whether it is false

Question 10

Weak Authority

Answer 10

making an argument based on information from an untrustworthy source

Question 11

Genetic Fallacy

Answer 11

arguing that because someone got an argument from weak authority that the argument is not true

Question 12

Hasty Generalization

Answer 12

assuming something true of a portion of a group to be true of the whole group

Question 13

False Cause (post hoc ergo propter hoc)

Answer 13

assuming that because thing B happened after thing A, thing A caused thing B

Question 14

False Cause (non causa pro causa)

Answer 14

falsely assuming that something caused another thing

Question 15

False Cause (oversimplification)

Answer 15

making a correct partial causal assumption but ignoring other components

Question 16

Slippery Slope

Answer 16

using an extended chain of cause and effect relationships with at least one weak point to argue

Question 17

Weak Analogy

Answer 17

using a similar situation with a significant difference

Question 18

Begging the Question

Answer 18

assuming the conclusion when making the premise

Question 19

False Dichotomy

Answer 19

using disjunctive syllogism where neither disjunct is actually true

Question 20

Is-Ought Fallacy

Answer 20

arguing that because something is true that it should be true, and vice-versa

Question 21

Equivocation

Answer 21

using one word in contexts where it has two different meanings

Question 22

Amphiboly

Answer 22

using one phrase in contexts where it has two different meanings

Question 23

Composition

Answer 23

arguing that because each part of something is one way, the whole thing is that way

Question 24

Division

Answer 24

arguing that because something as a whole is one way, its parts are that way