List
of fallacies:
1. Black-and-white
fallacy.
(a) using sharp distinctions despite any factual support
for them.
Example: "He is a Democrat, therefore he must be a pro-choice."
(b) classifying a middle point between extremes as one
of the extremes.
Example: "You are either a conservative or a liberal."
2. Fallacy
of argument from force (argumentum ad baculum)
Literally "an argument according to the rod", using force
to gain acceptance of the argument.
3. Fallacy
of argument against the man (argumentum ad hominem)
The Latin means "argument to the man."
(a) Arguing against a person's views by attacking them
instead of their argument.
Example: "What John said should not be believed because
he has red hair"
4. Fallacy
of argument from ignorance (argumentum ad ignorantiam)
The Latin means "argument to ignorance."
(a) Arguing something is true because no one has proved
it false
Example: "Aliens exist since no one has proven they don't."
(b) Arguing that something is false because no one has
proved it true.
Example: "Aliens don't exist since no one has proven
they do."
5. Fallacy
of argument to pity (argumentum ad misericordiam).
Arguing by appeal to pity in order to have some point
accepted.
Example: "I've got
to have at least a B in this course Professor, if I don't I won't stand a chance
for medical school."
6. Fallacy
of appeal to personal interest (argumentum ad personam).
Appeal to the personal likes, prejudices, weaknesses,
of others in order to have an argument accepted. "Well ya wanna be in the club
don't ya?"
7. Fallacy
of argument to the people (argumentum ad populum).
Appeal to the gallery, majority, popular prejudice, biases,
or mob instinct in order to arouse popular acceptance of an idea without resorting
to logical justification of the idea.
Example: The mob scene in Frankenstein.
8.
Fallacy of argument to veneration (argumentum ad verecundiam.)
Appealing to authority, fame, customs, traditions, institutions,
to gain acceptance of a point.
Example: "That's the way we've always done it..."
9. Fallacy
of accent or ambiguity.
Arguing to conclusions from undue accent upon certain
words.
Example: "The queen cannot but be praised."
10. Fallacy
of accident. (dicto simpliciter ad dictum secundum quid)
(a) Applying a general rule or principle to an instance
not allowing the proper application of that generalization.
Example: "That spotted horse is male, therefore all spotted
horses must be male"
11. Fallacy
of begging the question.
(a) Arriving at a conclusion from statements that themselves
are questionable.
Example: The Cubans wanted Kennedy dead, Oswald was in
Cuba, therefore the Cubans hired Oswald.
(b) Assuming the conclusion or part of the conclusion
in the premises of an argument, circular reasoning.
Example: "Aristocracy is the best form of government
because the best form of government is that which has strong aristocratic leadership."
12. Fallacy
of ill-posed or loaded question.
(a) Asking a question wherein a "Yes" or a "No" will
incriminate the respondent.
Examples:
"Have you buried all your victims?" or
"Have you stopped beating your wife"
(b) Asking questions that are based on unstated attitudes
or questionable assumptions.
Example: "How long are you going to put up with this
injustice?"
13. Fallacy
of composition.
(a) Arguing that what is true of the parts
is also true of the whole.
Example: "Molecules wiggle, therefore people fidget."
14. Fallacy
of division.
Arguing that what is true of the whole is
true of its parts.
Example: "People breathe, therefore molecules breathe."
15. Fallacy
of consensus gentium.
Arguing that an idea is true on the basis that the majority
of people believe it.
Example: Fen fen is great for weight loss....
16. Fallacy
of converse accident (a dicto secumdum quid ad dictum simpliciter).
The error of generalizing from atypical or exceptional instances.
Example: "Insulin shots makes diabetics well. People in general
ought to have insulin shots to feel better."
17. Fallacy
of equivocation.
An argument in which a word is used with
one meaning in one part of the argument and with another meaning
in another part.
Example: "The end of a thing is its perfection, death
is the end of life, hence death is the perfection of life."
18. Fallacy
of non causa pro causa.
Translated: "there is no cause of the sort that has been
given as the cause."
Believing that something is the cause of an effect when
in reality it is not. Example: "My little dance causes it to rain."
19. Fallacy
of false cause (post hoc ergo propter hoc).
Example: "A black cat ran across my path. Ten minutes
later I was hit by a truck. Therefore, the cat's running across my path was
the cause of my being hit by a truck."
20. Fallacy
of hasty generalization.
An error of reasoning whereby a general statement is
asserted with limited information, inadequate evidence, or unrepresentative
sampling.
21. Fallacy
of irrelevant conclusion (ignoratio elenchi). An argument that
is irrelevant;
Example: A lawyer in defending his alcoholic client who
has murdered three people in a drunken spree argues that alcoholism is a terrible
disease and attempts should be made to eliminate it.
22. Fallacy
of inconsistency. Arguing from inconsistent statements, or to conclusions
that are inconsistent with the premises. See fallacy of tu quoque
below.
23. Fallacy
of irrelevant purpose. Arguing against something on the basis that
it has not fulfilled its purpose (although in fact that was not
its intended purpose).
24. Fallacy
of 'is' to 'ought.' Arguing from premises that have only descriptive
statements (is) to a conclusion that contains an ought, or a should.
25. Fallacy
of limited (or false) alternatives. The error of insisting without
full inquiry or evidence that the alternatives to a course of action
have been exhausted and/or are mutually exclusive.
26. Fallacy
of misleading context. Arguing by misrepresenting, distorting,
omitting or quoting something out of context.
27. Fallacy
of red herring. Ignoring criticism of an argument by changing
attention to another subject.
Examples: "You believe in abortion,
yet you don't believe in the right-to-die-with-dignity bill before
the legislature."
28. Fallacy
of slanting. Deliberately omitting, de-emphasizing, or overemphasizing
certain points to the exclusion of others in order to hide
evidence that is important and relevant to the conclusion of the argument
and that should be taken into account of in an argument.
29. Fallacy
of special pleading.
(a) Accepting
an idea or criticism when applied to an opponent's argument
but rejecting it when applied to one's own argument.
(b) rejecting
an idea or criticism when applied to an opponent's argument
but accepting it when applied to one's own.
30. Fallacy
of the straw man. Presenting an opponent's position in a weak
or misrepresented version so that it can be easily refuted.
31. Fallacy
of the beard.
(a) Arguing that small or minor differences do not (or
cannot) make a difference, or are not (or
cannot be) significant, or
(b) Arguing so as to find
a definite point at which something can be named. For example, insisting
that a few hairs lost here and there do not indicate anything
about my impending baldness; or trying to determine how many hairs
a person must have before he can be called bald (or not bald).
32. Fallacy
of tu quoque (you also).
(a) Presenting evidence that a person's
actions are not consistent with that for which he is arguing.
Example: "John preaches that we should be kind and loving.
He doesn't practice it. I've seen him beat up
his kids."
(b) Showing that a person's
views are inconsistent with what he previously believed and therefore:
(1) he is not to be trusted, and/or
(2) his new view is to be
rejected.
Example: The Democrats for years used illegal wiretapping;
therefore the Republicans should not be condemned for their use of illegal
wiretapping.
33. Gambler's
fallacy. (a) Arguing that since, for example, a penny has fallen
tails ten times in a row then it will fall heads the eleventh time.
34. Pragmatic
fallacy. Arguing that something is true because it has practical
effects upon people: it makes them happier, easier to deal with,
more moral, loyal, stable. Example: "An immortal life exists because
without such a concept men would have nothing to live for. There
would be no meaning or purpose in life and everyone would be immoral."
35. Pathetic
or anthropomorphic fallacy. Incorrectly projecting (attributing)
human emotions, feeling, intentions,
thoughts, traits upon events or objects which
do not possess the capacity for such qualities.
36. Fallacy of ascertainment.
Also known as, "finding what you were looking for." Ascertainment
error is common in scientific research and reporting. AE
comes up when we study a new or old problem, using a new tool or
method
that sheds more light, or refines the amount of detail available
on the situation. When the new tool, or more sensitive detection
method is used, we find more of the thing we are looking for, than
is recoverable for old data or circumstances. Examples: “vaccination
causes autism”. |