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The 20 Most Common Logical Fallacies

This document lists and describes 20 common logical fallacies. Some of the most prominent fallacies discussed include appeals to emotion, ignorance, or authority. Other fallacies covered are strawman arguments, slippery slopes, bandwagon appeals, false dilemmas, and shifting the burden of proof. The document aims to help people identify flawed or irrational reasoning.

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ninrey
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227 views

The 20 Most Common Logical Fallacies

This document lists and describes 20 common logical fallacies. Some of the most prominent fallacies discussed include appeals to emotion, ignorance, or authority. Other fallacies covered are strawman arguments, slippery slopes, bandwagon appeals, false dilemmas, and shifting the burden of proof. The document aims to help people identify flawed or irrational reasoning.

Uploaded by

ninrey
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The 20 Most Common Logical Fallacies

1. Appeal to ignorance – Thinking a claim is true (or false) because it can’t be proven
true (or false).
2. Ad hominem – Making a personal attack against the person saying the argument,
rather than directly addressing the issue.
3. Strawman fallacy – Misrepresenting or exaggerating another person’s argument to
make it easier to attack.
4. Bandwagon fallacy – Thinking an argument must be true because it’s popular.
5. Naturalistic fallacy – Believing something is good or beneficial just because it’s
natural.
6. Cherry picking – Only choosing a few examples that support your argument, rather
than looking at the full picture.
7. False dilemma – Thinking there are only two possibilities when there may be other
alternatives you haven’t considered.
8. Begging the question – Making an argument that something is true by repeating the
same thing in different words.
9. Appeal to tradition – Believing something is right just because it’s been done around
for a really long time.
10. Appeal to emotions – Trying to persuade someone by manipulating their emotions –
such as fear, anger, or ridicule – rather than making a rational case.
11. Shifting the burden of proof – Thinking instead of proving your claim is true, the other
person has to prove it’s false.
12. Appeal to authority – Believing just because an authority or “expert” believes
something than it must be true.
13. Red herring – When you change the subject to a topic that’s easier to attack.
14. Slippery slope – Taking an argument to an exaggerated extreme. “If we let A happen,
then Z will happen.”
15. Correlation proves causation – Believing that just because two things happen at the
same time, that one must have caused the other.
16. Anecdotal evidence – Thinking that just because something applies toyou that it must
be true for most people.
17. Equivocation – Using two different meanings of a word to prove your argument.
18. Non sequitur – Implying a logical connection between two things that doesn’t exist. “It
doesn’t follow…”
19. Ecological fallacy – Making an assumption about a specific person based on general
tendencies within a group they belong to.
20. Fallacy fallacy – Thinking just because a claim follows a logical fallacy that it must be
false.

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