Ad Fontem Arguments & Appeal to Emotion
Arguments that attempt to avoid the issue by insulting an opponent with abusive language.
What is Ad Hominem Abusive?
An appeal that distracts by making the audience afraid of the consequences of disagreeing with the speaker.
What is Appeal to Fear / Emotion Argumentum ad baculum?
An argument that claims that since a proposition cannot be disproven, it must therefore be true or likely.
What is Appeal to Ignorance?
An argument that assumes that the best solution to a conflict is a compromise between the two extremes.
What is Fallacy of Moderation?
Arguments that try to discredit an opponent because of his background, affiliations, or potential self-interest in the matter at hand.
What is Ad Hominem Circumstantial?
Appeal that distracts by making the audience feel sorry for the speaker or someone on behalf of whom the speaker is arguing.
What is Appeal to Pity / Argumentum ad misericordiam?
An argument that judges something on the basis of a goal that it was never intended to achieve.
What is Irrelevant Goal or Function?
An argument that assumes that a collective whole will have the same properties as its parts.
What is Fallacy of Composition?
An argument that it discounts a rival's position because the rival has not always been consistent and advocating or practicing his current position.
What is Tu Quoque?
An appeal that distracts by making the audience want to be part of the crowd or one of the “common people.”
What is Mob Appeal / Argumentum ad populum?
An argument that distracts by making a case for the wrong point.
What is Irrelevant Thesis?
An argument that assumes that only two possibilities exist, when in fact there may be others.
What is Bifurcation?
Arguments that state that an idea should be discounted simply because of its source of origin.
What is Genetic Fallacy?
Appeal that distracts by making the audience want to feel “special.”
What is Snob Appeal?
An argument that attempts to disprove an opponent's position by presenting it in an unfair, inaccurate light.
What is Straw Man Fallacy?
An argument that assumes that something is right simply because it is the way things happen to be.
What is Is-Ought?
Arguments that distract by making the audience want to either be a part of an old tradition or of the latest cool, new thing.
What is Chronological Snobbery?
An appeal to the opinion of an “expert,” whether an unnamed source, a celebrity, a biased expert, or an expert on an unrelated issue.
What is Appeal to Illegitimate Authority / Emotion Argumentum ad Verecundiam?
An argument that assumes the very same thing one is trying to disprove.
What is Begging the Question / Petitio Principii?
An argument that makes the assumption that the part of a collective whole will have the same properties as the collective whole.
What is Fallacy of Division?