LOGICAL FALLACIES

What is an argument?

- an argument is a presentation of reasons

for a claim.
- it is composed of premises
* premises are statements that express your reason or evidence

- these premises must be arranged in an

appropriate way in order to support your
conclusion
Arguments, cont’d..
TO CRAFT A STRONG ARGUMENT , ONE MUST ..
 Possess a certain degree of familiarity with the
subject.
 Use good premises
 Finds good support for one’s conclusion
 Focus only on the most relevant part of the issue
» Don’t get sidetracked by rabbit trails!
 Only make claims that are capable of
beingsupported» This means avoiding sweeping
claims, as those arerarely supportable
What is a fallacy?
When an argument fails in one of the
previously mentioned ways, that failing is
called a fallacy
Essentially, fallacies are defects in an
argument
They are very, very common and can be
quite convincing
Most of us have likely been convinced by a
fallacious argument before. In fact, we’ve
likely presented one!
Types of Fallacies
 1. Hasty Generalization
 Making assumptions about an entire group of
people, or a range of casesbased on an
inadequately small sample
 Creates a general rule based on a single case
 Stereotypes are a common example

Example:
(1) My roommate from Maine loves lobster ravioli.
(2) Therefore, all people from Maine must love lobster
ravioli.
2. Missing the Point

 The premise supports a conclusion other than the one

it is meant to support

 Example:
 (1) There has been an increase in burglary in the
area.
 (2) More people are moving into the area.
 (3) Therefore, the burglary is directly caused by the
 increased number of people moving into the area.
 3. Post hoc (False Cause)
 Post hoc comes from the Latin phrase, post hoc, ergo
propter hoc which, when translated, is “after this,
because of this.”
 This fallacy assumes that because X precedes Y,
therefore X caused Y.
 You may have heard it explained as “correlation is
not the same as causation”
 Superstitious beliefs are often due to the Post Hoc
Fallacy: an athlete wears their “lucky socks” and wins
the game, etc.
 3. Post hoc, cont’d…
 This is a common fallacy found in news articles,
especially those pertaining to some scientific or
medical study.

Example:
(1) Cell phone usage has increased exponentially in the
last 20 years.
(2) Researchers discovered that the incidences of brain
cancer have also increased in that time.
(3) Therefore, cell phone usage must cause brain
cancer.
 4. Slippery Slope
 Falsely assuming that one thing will inevitably lead to another,
and another, and another, until we have reached some
unavoidable dire consequence!
 It does not allow for the idea that one can stop at any point on
the slope – it does not necessarily have to lead to the inevitable
dire consequence.
 Restraint is possible!
Example:
(1)If you buy a Green Day album, then you will buy The Avengers.
(2)Before you know it, you’ll be a punk with green hair and tats.
(3)If you don’t want to have green hair, then you can’t buy a
Green Day album.
 5. Weak Analogy
 Many arguments rely on an analogy between two or
more objects, ideas, or situations
 However, drawing an analogy alone is not enough to
prove anything
 It is crucial to make sure that the two things being
compared are truly alike in the relevant areas

Example:
“Life is like a box of chocolates – you never know what
you’re going to get.”
-How similar are life and a box of chocolates?
 6. Appeal to Authority
 This does not refer to appropriately citing an expert,
but rather when an arguer tries to get people to
agree with him/her by appealing to a supposed
authority who isn’t much of an expert.

Example:

“Gun laws should be extremely strict and it should be

incredibly difficult to acquire a gun. Many respected
people, such as actor Brad Pitt, have expressed their
support of this movement.”
 7. Appeal to Pity
 Attempting to convince an individual to accept a
conclusion by making them feel sorry for someone

Example:
“I know the paper was due today, but my computer
died last week, and then the computer lab was too
noisy, so while I was on my way to the library, a cop
pulled me over and wrote me a ticket, and I was so
upset by the ticket that I sat by the side of the road
crying for 3 hours! You should give me an A for all the
trouble I’ve been through!”
(These fallacies are quite common around the due
date of the final paper!)
 8. Appeal to Ignorance
 Essentially, this fallacy states that because there is no conclusive
evidence, we should therefore accept the arguer’s conclusions
on the subject.
 The arguer attempts to use the lack of evidence as support for a
positive claim about the truth of a conclusion.
 The exception to this fallacy is in the case of qualified scientific
research

Example:
(1)Not a single report of a flying saucer has ever been
authenticated.
(2) Therefore, flying saucers don’t exist.
 9. Ad populum (Bandwagon)
 Also referred to as the bandwagon fallacy, the
arguer tries to convince the audience to do or
believe something because everyone else
(supposedly) does

Example:
(1)An increasing number of people are turning to yoga
as away to get in touch with their inner-being
(2) Therefore, yoga helps one get in touch with their
inner-being
 10. Ad hominem
 Attacking the opponent instead of the opponent’s
argument

Example:
“Allison Smith is a bad mother, whose idea of parenting
is leaving her children with the nanny. Therefore, we
shouldn’t listen to her ideas on improvements in the
college classroom.”
 11. Tu quoque
 In this fallacy, the arguer points out that the opponent
has actually done the thing he or she is arguing
against, and concluding that we do not have to listen
to the argument.

Example:
Mother: Smoking is bad for your health and expensive! I
hope to never see you do it.
Daughter: But you did it when you were my age!
Therefore, I can do it too!
 12. Straw Man
 The arguer sets up a weaker version of the
opponent’s position and seeks to prove the watered-
down version rather than the position the opponent
actually holds.
 Through this misrepresentation, the arguer concludes
that the real position has been refuted.
Example:
“Those who seek to abolish the death penalty are
seeking to allow murderers and others who commit
heinous crimes to simply get off scot-free with no
consequence for their actions!”
 13. Red Herring
 The arguer goes off on a tangent mid waythrough
the argument, raising a side issue that distracts the
audience from the actual argument.

Example:
“We admit that this measure is unpopular. But we also
urge you to note that there are so many issues on this
ballot that the whole thing is getting ridiculous.”
 14. False Dichotomy
 In this fallacy, the arguer sets up the situation so that it looks as
though there are only two choices. When the arguer then
eliminates one of the choices, it appears that there is only one
option left – the arguer’s assertion!
 There is rarely only 2 choices – if we were to think about them all,
it may not appear to be as clear a choice.

Example:
(1)I can’t find my book! It was either stolen, or I never had it.
(2)I know I had it;
(3)Therefore, it must have been stolen!
 15. Begging the Question
 The arguer asks the audience to simply accept the
conclusion without providing any real evidence,
either through the use of circular reasoning or by
simply ignoring an important (but
questionable)assumption that the argument rests on.
 Circular reasoning occurs when the premise states
the same thing as the conclusion.
 Harder to detect than many other fallacies
 15. Begging the Question, cont’d
Example 1:

Adam: God must exist.Josh: How do you know?

Adam: Because the Bible says so.
Josh: Why should I believe the Bible?
Adam: Because the Bible was written by God.

Example 2:
“If such actions were not illegal, then they would not be
prohibited by the law.”
 16. Equivocation
 Equivocation means to slide between two or more
different meanings of a word or phrase that is critical
to the argument.
 For an argument to work, the words must have the
same meaning throughout the premise and the
conclusion.

Example:
(1)The church would like to encourage theism.
(2)Theism is a medical condition resulting from the
excessive consumption of tea.
(3)Therefore, the church ought to freely distribute tea.
 How To Prevent Fallacies
1. Pretend to argue against yourself.
2. List the evidence for each of your main points.
3. Investigate your own personal fallacies.
4. Give the appropriate amount of proofs for your
claims.
Remember: broad claims need more proof than
narrow claims!
5. Fairly characterize the arguments of others.