A Quick Guide to Common Logical Fallacies
Ad Hominem _ Directing an attack against the person making a statement rather than the statement itself.
Affirming the Consequent _ A statement where the second premise affirms the consequent of the first premise.
Appeal to Emotion _ The attempt to persuade people by evoking strong emotions rather than making a logical argument.
Appeal to Force/ Fear _ Threats that negative consequences will follow if the other person does not accept their position.
Appeal to Ignorance _ Claiming the unknown; specifically when someone argues that a statement is true simply because it has never been proven false.
Appeal to Pity _ Coercing someone to accept a position by creating sympathy for those who hold the same position.
Begging the Question _ Jumping to the conclusion of what someone is attempting to prove before they finalize their statement.
Bifurcation _ The supposition that there are only two mutually exclusive outcomes, when there may, in fact, be several.
Complex Question _ Coercion by asking a loaded question. Supposing or inferring intent, placing the second party in an uncomfortable or confusing position.
Denying the Antecedent _ A statement where the second premise denies the antecedent of the first premise.
Equivocation _ Altering semantics. Transitioning from one definition of a word to another within an argument.
“Fallacy” Fallacy _ The argument that a statement is false simply because an argument for that position can be proven fallacious.
Fallacy of Composition _ The position that what is true of the parts must also be true of the whole, or what is true of the individual members of a group is also true of the group itself.
Fallacy of Division _ The supposition that what is true of the whole must also be true of the parts. A reverse of Fallacy of Composition.
Fallacy of False Cause _ Claiming the existence of a false cause-and-effect relationship between two separate events.
Fallacy of Irrelevant Thesis _ Involves proving a valid point, but not the point at issue.
False Analogy _ Drawing a comparison between things that are similar in trivial ways, but not at all pertaining to the argument being made.
Faulty Appeal to Authority _ The endorsement of a position or statement simply based on the social stature of the person making it.
Formal Fallacies _ Errors in logical reasoning which flow from the structure or the form of the argument itself.
Genetic Fallacy _ The rejection of a claim simply because someone objects to the source of the information.
Hasty Generalization _ Making a general claim which is derived from an insufficient number of specific examples.
Hypothetical Proposition _ A claim that if A is true, then B must be true also.
Mixed Hypothetical Syllogism _ A statement with two basic premises, one of which is merely hypothetical.
Moralistic Fallacy _ The demand that because something should be a particular way, that it validates that way.
Naturalistic Fallacy _ The position that since something is a particular way, it is morally acceptable for it to be that way.
“No True Scotsman” Fallacy _ The arguer defines a term in a biased way in order to protect his position from rebuttals.
Question-begging Epithet _ Using biased or emotional language to coerce people into accepting a position rather than using logic or evidence.
Reification _ Attributing an absolute definitive characteristic to something abstract.
Slippery Slope Fallacy _ The claim that a particular action will trigger a negative chain of events, when in reality many surrounding factors would prevent the result.
Special Pleading _The error of using a double standard.
Strawman Fallacy _ Drawing a false analogy of an opponent’s position and then refuting the false analogy rather than what the opponent had actually claimed.
Sweeping Generalization _ Generalizing an exception.
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