Logical Fallacies 1
A fallacy based on fear that one step will inevitably lead to the next.
Slippery Slope
When a writer arrives at a conclusion based on inadequate evidence or a sample that is too small.
Hasty Generalizations
Using a premise to prove a conclusion when the premise itself assumes the conclusion is true.
Begging the Question
Basing a conclusion solely on the absence of knowledge.
Appeal to Ignorance
When a writer tries to prove a point by focusing on only one side of the argument while ignoring the other.
Stacking the Deck
Introducing an unrelated or invalid point to distract the reader from the actual argument.
Red Herring
Discrediting an argument by attacking the person who makes it, rather than the argument itself.
Attacking the Person/Ad Hominem
Claiming that a position is true because most people believe it is.
Appeal to Popular Opinion.
Exploiting the audience's feelings to convert them to a particular viewpoint.
Appeal to Emotion
Accepting someone's argument because of his or her authority in a field unrelated to the argument, rather than evaluating the person's argument on its own merits.
Appeal to Authority
A rhetorical device the repeats the initial consonant sounds in a series of words.
Alliteration
A: Paying someone to write your essays for you is cheating.
B: You copied my homework all the time in high school; this is no different.
Appeal to Hypocrisy
Moderator: Candidate, our city has faced corruption issues at City Hall for the past three decades. How do you plan to combat corruption in city government?
Participant: I have a multistep plan for combating corruption, and I also have ten-point plan for reducing emissions. The first step is that ten-point environmental plan is...
Red Herring
At the birthday I attended over the weekend, there was a clown. Clowns are a part of birthday parties.
Hasty Generalizations
All the parts of the engine were lightweight, so the engine should have been lightweight.
Composition
That company donates a lot of money to charity, so every person who works there must be a charitable person.
Division
You appealed to popularity or the fact that many people do something as an attempted form of validation.
Appeal to Popular Opinion
You said that because an important person thinks something, it must therefore be true.
Appeal to Authority
You assumed that one part of something has to be applied to all, or other, parts of it; or that the whole must apply to its parts.
Fallacy of Composition/Division
You attempted to manipulate an emotional response in place of a valid or compelling argument.
Appeal to Emotion
I know I can trust Janine because she says that I can.
Begging the Question
The sign by the pond said, "Fine for Swimming" so I dove right in.
Equivocation
Don't listen to Becky's opinion on welfare; she just opposes it because she's from a rich family.
Attacking the Person/Ad Hominem
A: I'm in favor of lowering sentences for drug offenses.
B: So you think our children should be running around doing drugs?!
Straw Man Fallacy - distorting someone else's argument to make it easier to attack or refute.