Logical Fallacies 1
A fallacy based on fear that one step will inevitably lead to the next.
Slippery Slope
If we don’t order pizza for dinner, we’ll have to eat the week-old spaghetti in the fridge.
False Choice
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
Frankly, most science fiction is poorly written. I read a science fiction novel once, and it was garbage, so I've avoided the genre ever since.
Hasty Generalization
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
Exploiting the audience's feelings to convert them to a particular viewpoint.
Appeal to Emotion
I pulled Cole off the project because his work was sloppy. While we're at it, let's pull Pam off the project, too. I haven't reviewed her work, but she's friends with Cole, so we cannot rely on the quality of her work either.
Guilt by Association
Telling the police officer, who pulled you over for speeding, that it’s okay because your boss gave you permission to speed if you’re running late for work
Appeal to authority
Every time I buy a good seat for a game, my team wins. Everytime I buy a cheap seat, they lose. I better get a good seat for the next game if I want to see my team win the championship!
False Cause
The thing that makes Felix stand out as a remarkable cellist is that he's a marvelous musician who plays the cello splendidly.
Circular Reasoning
when a complex event with multiple contributing factors is wrongly attributed to a single cause
Single Cause Fallacy
Claiming that a position is true because most people believe it is.
Appeal to the masses
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
Don't feel bad about serving your children that sweet fruit punch with high fructose corn syrup in it. It's derived from real corn, so it must not cause the same health problems as completely artificial sweeteners.
Appeal to Nature
You attempted to manipulate an emotional response in place of a valid or compelling argument.
Appeal to Emotion
You appealed to popularity or the fact that many people do something as an attempted form of validation.
Appeal to the masses
In a discussion on public health, a politician treats a long-discredited study claiming vaccines cause harm as equivalent in value to the extensive evidence supporting vaccine efficacy and safety.
false equivalence
My opponent argues that we should abolish the soda tax. It's a shame that he wants to encourage people to eat and drink unhealthily. I say we keep it.
Straw Man