Not Very Nice
attacking an opponent's character or motives instead of his point
What is an "ad hominem"?
a technique used to make someone fear the consequences of not doing what is wanted
What is "Appeal to Fear"?
appealing to the opinion of a single authority when a topic is controversial among respected authorities
What is "Faulty Appeal to Authority"?
changing or exaggerating an opponent's position in order to make it easier to refute
What is a "Strawman argument"?
saying that what is true of part of something must be true of the whole thing
What is a "Part-to-Whole" fallacy?
dismissing someone's viewpoint on an issue because he is inconsistent on that very thing
What is "tu quoque"?
a technique used to make someone do something because we feel sorry for the person or his cause
What is "Appeal to Pity"?
claiming a viewpoint is correct because many other people agree with it
What is "Appeal to the People"?
an argument which says "P is true because Q is true, and Q is true because P is true" (conclusion is assumed without proving the premises)
What is "circular reasoning"?
(aka: "begging the question")
saying that what is true of something as a whole is true of the individual parts
What is "Whole to Part" fallacy?
introducing an irrelevant point into an argument- typically done to avoid the point by changing the subject
What is "red herring"?
a technique of pressuring someone to do something because many other people like us are doing the same thing
What is "Bandwagon"?
claiming that something is true simply because nobody has given evidence to the contrary
What is "Proof by Lack of Evidence" fallacy?
changing the meaning of a word in the middle of an argument
What is "equivocation"?
claiming that we must choose between two things, when in fact we have more than 2 alternatives
Either-or-Fallacy (aka: False Dichotomy)
using a double standard or arguing for an unjustified exception
What is "Special Pleading"?
a technique of repeating a message loudly and/ or very often in hopes that people will believe it
What is "repetition"?
a technique that tries to encourage people to buy something or do something because it is the "latest thing" - not necessarily the best thing
What is "Appeal to High-Tech"?
asking a question with hidden, assumed premises that have not been proven or agreed to
What is a "loaded question"?
generalizing about a class or group based on a small or poor sample
What is "Hasty Generalization"?
condemning an argument because of where it began, how it began, or who it began with
What is a "genetic fallacy"?
a technique trying to get someone to transfer their good or bad feelings about one person or thing onto another person or thing
What is "transfer"?
a techinque trying to persuade people to think that a product or action will make us better than- or stand out from- everyone else
What is "Snob Appeal"?
claiming that some items with only minor similarities are the same in almost everything
What is a "weak analogy" fallacy?
claiming that since A happened before B, therefore A caused B
What is "Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc" (aka: "post hoc")?