This personalized attack is directed against the opponent. It may describe either the adversary's character or personal circumstances.
What is argument against the person? (ad hominem)
This is an informal fallacy in which the truth of a particular case is applied to the whole group of cases
What is hasty generalization?
In this fallacy, a question is asked that assumes the truth of something buried in the question.
What is a complex question?
In this fallacy, two or more meanings of the same word or phrase have been confused. For instance "fine for parking here." Great, I can park here!
What is the fallacy of equivocation?
Everybody knows that you should not fly out of the Philadelphia airport. It's a disaster.
Fallacy of appeal to the populace
This fallacy might include an appeal to pity, to fear, to envy, or to hatred.
What is an appeal to emotion?
In this fallacy, the arguer claims that "X has never been proven false, so it must be true" or "X must be false because it has not been proven true."
What is argument from ignorance or appeal to ignorance?
In this fallacy, the conclusion of the argument is stated or assumed in one of the premises. It is also known as circular logic
What is begging the question?
In this fallacy, the grammar, or loose way in which words are combined, leads to formulations that are unclear. For instance, "Women prefer Democrats to men"
What is the fallacy of amphiboly? ("Two in a lump").
If you don't marry a woman of our own faith, then you are going to hell.
Appeal to force
This fallacy always contains a threat. Its Latin name can also be translated as "appeal to the stick."
What is appeal to force?
In this fallacy, the arguer appeals to an "expert" who may have no special expertise in the matter at hand.
What is appeal to inappropriate authority?
This is an informal fallacy in which a generalization is applied to specific cases that it does not govern. The case is an exception to the rule of thumb.
What is the accident fallacy?
This fallacy arises when we emphasize a single word or phrase in a statement that changes its meaning. For instance, "Why are you asking me about Mary's message?"
What is the fallacy of accent?
Madame Speaker, I have a question for the Senate. Should we not have a series of meetings on Saturdays to move forward on this issue?
What is the fallacy of the complex question?
This fallacy presents an opponent's position as one that can be easily torn down. It distorts and exaggerates the adversary's argument so that it can be easily refuted.
What is the strong man argument?
In this fallacy, the arguer assumes that something caused an effect, but this is not really the case.
What is false cause?
Name this fallacy: "Does the distinguished senator believe that the American public is really so naïve that they will endorse just any stopgap measure?"
What is the fallacy of the complex question?
This fallacy mistakenly attributes something about a whole to all of its parts. For instance, professional athletes are paid outrageous salaries. Therefore, all professional athletes are rich.
What is the fallacy of division?
We took some pictures of the native girls, but they weren't developed. But we're going back again in a couple of weeks
Fallacy of amphiboly
Instead of deliberate deception, this fallacy is based on an irrelevant conclusion of which the arguer may not be aware.
What is missing the point?
This fallacy attempts to distract the opponent from the real issue under discussion. The terms comes from an attempt to distract hounds from the scent of a fox.
What is the red herring?
The housing policy states that all first-year students in the dorm must have a roommate. However, my severe dust allergy allows me to have my own room.
What is the fallacy of accident?
This fallacy assumes that just because the parts of a whole have this attribute, the whole must have it. For instance, every paragraph in this essay is clear and unified; therefore, the essay as a whole must be clear and unified.
What is the fallacy of composition?
John: "Why didn't you include Lorena's poetry in the student publication?"
Anne: "Because it was judged as not sufficiently worthy of publication."
What is begging the question?