FALLACIES

ex:
1. Strawman: Person A: I believe, that
Misrepresenting/fabricating an vaccinations are important for public
opponent's argument to make it health.
easier to attack. Person B: That's just an appeal to
authority. Many doctors have been
ex: wrong before. Therefore,
Person A: I believe animal hunting is vaccinations are harmful.
immoral
Person B: So you want everyone to 6. Ad hominem:
be a vegetarian because animals Occurs when someone attacks their
are more important to people. opponent's character or personal
traits in an attempt to undermine
2. False cause/post hoc their argument.
It presumed that a real or perceived
relationship between things means ex:
that one is the cause of the other. Person A: I think we should consider
Event B immediately happens after implementing stricter penalties for
event A, so, therefore, event A is the speeding.
cause of event B. Person B: You're just a reckless
driver yourself. Why should we listen
ex: to you?
The rooster always crows before the
sun rises, therefore the crowing 7. Tu quoque/you too: type of ad
rooster causes the sun to rise. hominem
When an accused person turns an
3. Slippery Slope/domino effect allegation back on his or her
It claims an initial event or action will accuser, thus creating a logical
trigger a series of other events and fallacy you answered criticism with
lead to an extreme or undesirable criticism. (claiming that someone’s
outcome, therefore, an initial event argument must be false because it's
should not happen. In short, if we not consistent with their past actions
allow A to happen, Z will eventually or words.)
happen too.
ex:
ex: Mother: Smoking is bad for your
If we legalize marijuana, they will health and expensive. I hope to
legalize other drugs, and then never see you do it.
crimes will explode. Daughter: But you did it when you
were my age, therefore I can do it
4. Appeal to emotion: too.
It occurs when one uses emotional
appeals to support a claim instead of 8. Personal incredulity:
using relevant facts or logic.
The assumption is that because
ex: something is hard to understand, it
A commercial for a charity shows must not be true.
sad, neglected animals in shelters,
accompanied by somber music, ex:
urging viewers to donate to help Evolution is hard to understand,
them. thus evolution does not occur.

5. The fallacy fallacy: 9. Special Pleading:

Presumed that because a claim has Moving the goalposts or making up

been poorly argued, or a fallacy has an exception when a claim was
been made, the claim itself must be shown to be false. Applying different
wrong.
 standards or rules to themselves 13. The Gambler’s Fallacy/ Monte Carlo
than to other people. fallacy
When an individual erroneously
ex: believes that a certain random event
a student who has been caught is less likely or more likely to happen
cheating on a test might argue that based on the outcome of a previous
everyone else was doing it so they event or series of events.
should not be punished.
ex:
This is a form of Special Pleading Flip coin
because the student is trying to be A person has lost 10 games in a
held to a different standard than their row, so the next one, he thinks that
peers. he will definitely going to win.

10. Loaded question: 14. Bandwagon/appeal to common

A question containing an implicit belief or appeal to the masses.
assumption that is unverified or When someone appeals to
controversial and could not be popularity or the fact that many
answered appearing guilty. people do something as an
attempted form of
ex: validation/something is assumed
the question “Have you stopped valid because of popular support.
mistreating your wife?” is a loaded
question, because it presupposes ex:
that you have been mistreating your Most people believe that there is
wife. God so it must be true.

11. The burden of proof/onus If you're shopping for a smartphone,

probandi: go with the iPhone 13. It's the
Saying that the burden of proof lies best-selling phone right now; the
not with the person making the numbers don't lie.
claim, but with someone else to
disprove./ someone makes a claim 15. Appeal to authority:
that requires evidence, then shifts Saying that because an authority
the burden of proof onto another to thinks something. It must therefore
prove it wrong. be true.

ex: ex:
For example, Shaina claimed that the doctor said that medicine X
unicorns are real then when I asked would help the client with her
her to show evidence that unicorns medical condition. Therefore, it will
are real she would tell me to do my help her with her medical condition.
research and prove to her that they
are not. 16. Composition/division:

12. Ambiguity: assumed that one part of something

You used a double meaning or has to be applied to all, or other,
ambiguity of language to mislead or parts of it; or that the whole must
misrepresent the truth apply to its parts.

ex: ex:
When the judge asked the defendant Daniel was a precocious child and
why he hadn’t paid his parking fee, had a liking for logic. He reasoned
he said that he should’nt have to pay that atoms are invisible, and that he
them because the sign said ‘fine was made of atoms and therefore
parking here’ so he naturally invisible too. Unfortunately, despite
presumed that it would be fine to his thinking skills, he lost the game
park there. of hide and go seek.
17. No true Scotsman: ex:
wherein one person defends a Vaccines are unnatural; therefore it
generalization by redefining a term is bad
that excludes a counterexample, an Herbal remedies are always better
exception to the example. for you than prescription medications
because they are natural.
ex:
Angus declares that Scotsmen do 22. Anecdotal:
not put sugar on their porridge, to The use pf anecdotal evidence, or
which Lachlan points out that he is a isolated examples that rely on
Scotsman and puts sugar on his personal testimonies, to support or
porridge. Furious, like a true Scot, refute a claim.
Angus yells that no true Scotsman
sugars his porridge. ex:
Someone stated that her grandfather
18. Genetic: was a heavy smoker most of his life,
Accepting/rejecting a claim based on but he lived to be 90 years old.
its origin,instead of judging it by its therefore , smoking is not harmful to
merits. people.

ex: 23. The Texas Sharpshooter:

Rejecting a product recommendation
cherry-picked a data cluster to suit
solely because it comes from a your argument, or found a pattern to
competitor or a rival company. fit a presumption/ignoring the
differences while focusing on the
Dismissing a scientific theory similarities.
because the scientist who proposed ex:
it has a controversial personal A teacher notices that several
background. students in their class did
exceptionally well on a recent exam.
19. Black-or-white: They decide to implement a new
You presented two alternative states teaching method and claim it was
as the only possibilities, when in fact the reason for the high scores.
more possibilities exist. However, they ignore the fact that
other students who used the same
ex: method did not perform well, thus
While rallying to get the support of attributing success to their method
the citizen, the supreme leader told without considering all outcomes.
the people they where either on his
side or they were on the side of the 24. Middle ground:
enemy. Claiming that a compromise, or
middle point, between two extremes
20. Begging the question: must be the truth.
presented a circular argument in
which the conclusion was included in ex:
the premise. Person A said that vaccinations
caused autism in children but person
ex: B said that this claim is debunked
Murder is morally wrong. Therefore, and proverb false. Person C, offered
abortion is morally wrong. a compromise that vaccinations
must cause some autism, just not all
21. Appeal to nature: autism.
You argued that because something
is 'natural' it is therefore valid,
justified, inevitable, good or ideal/or
something is bad because it is
unnatural.