Types Of Fallacies
FALLACIES WITH EXAMPLES
A= Speaker; B= Immediate Audience; C= Issue; D= Third Party Holding A Certain View On C
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PRESENTATION FALLACIES
By The Speaker, To The Hearer:
13. Argument To The Man (Argumentum Ad Hominem)
DEF: Attacking the hearer
E.G. Adam: Betty, I know that what you are saying about contraceptive use sounds right to you,
But you have to remember that you are dumb blonde.
7. Appeal To Pity (Argumentum Ad Misericordium)
DEF: Attempting to stir up pity in the hearer
E.G. Abby: Bob, How can you defend your view on contraceptive use against Dudley, knowing
that if your view is accepted, he could lose his job and his home?
38. Appeal To Force (Argumentum Ad Baculum)
DEF: Threatening some type of harm
E.G. Adam: Bob, if I can't convince you of my position on contraceptive use with logic, I guess
I'll just have to pound it into your head with my fists.
By The Hearer:
36. Ultimate Fallacy (Pigheadedness)
DEF: Refusal to listen to an argument
E.G. Bob: Abby, don't even begin to give me your reasons for your position on contraceptive use.
I've made up my mind and don't want to confuse things with facts.
35. Irrelevant Information
DEF: Bringing in information that has no direct bearing on the subject in an attempt to confuse the opponent’s argumentation
E.G. Betty: Adam, I see your point concerning contraceptive use, but in the lunch room today,
the six other people in the office who hold your view were all eating buttered popcorn.
15. Changing The Subject (Henothesis)
DEF: Attempting to move the opponent onto a different topic so his argument won’t be presented
E.G. Bob: Abby, I see your point concerning contraceptive use, but the real issue here is the
skyrocketing cost of health care in general. Don't you think physicians make far too much money?
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LOGICAL FALLACIES
ATTACKING THE OPPONENT
Direct:
13. To The Man (Argumentum Ad Hominem)
DEF: Attacking the man, in this case, usually someone associated with the
cause or position
E.G. Abby: Bob, I know you agree with Dudley on contraceptive use, but did you know he was
once convicted of tax evasion?
26. Poisoning The Wells
DEF: Attempting to completely destroy someone’s credibility so that whatever
they say will not be believed
E.G. Adam: Betty, I can't believe a word that Dudley says concerning contraceptive use or
anything else. He's from Crete, and all Cretans are liars.
2. Psychogenetic Fallacy
DEF: Attacking the mindset or thinking ability of a person
E.G. Abby: Bob, I can't believe a word that Dudley says concerning contraceptive use. He's has
invested alot of money in Planned Parenthood, so he cannot think clearly and objectively about the subject.
Indirect:
3. Straw Man Argument (Fallacy Of Extension/Caricature Fallacy)
DEF: Taking a weakness in the opponent’s argument and blowing it out of proportion, then characterizing this “caricature” as their real position
E.G. Adam: Betty, Dudley is in favor of contraceptive use, so he must think that man has the
ultimate right to choose his destiny. Only God can choose human destinies, so Dudley
must think that man is God. How can you believe anyone who holds such a ridiculous position.
ARGUMENTS TO THE FUTURE
17. Argument To The Future (Argumentum Ad Futurum)
DEF: Basing a conclusion on a certain coming event
E.G. Adam: Betty, your reasons against contraceptive use are irrelevant, because in the near
future scientists will be able to offer fail safe, morally responsible reproductive services.
22. Slippery Slope Argument
DEF: Basing a conclusion on a certain coming chain or series of events
E.G. Abby: Bob, if we allow unrestricted contraceptive use, soon we will see rampant sex
selection, and surely that will be followed by aborting children because we don't like
their eye color.
ARGUMENTS TO THE PAST
14. False Cause (Post Hoc)
DEF: Asserting a causal relationship between two specific events without any evidence
for such a relationship
E.G. Adam: Betty, the widespread problem of rape today must be a result of contraceptive use
because the sharp rise in the number of rapes occurred right after the pill was introduced.
12. Causal Reductionism
DEF: Asserting that a complex effect is a result of only one of its factors
E.G. Abby: Bob, the widespread epidemic of STD's in our nation can be solely traced to the
widespread availability of contraceptives.
34. Hypothesis Contrary To Fact
DEF: Beginning an argument with a hypothetical statement in which the antecedent (the historically possible situation) is generally known to be false (it never happened)
E.G. Adam: Betty, if contraceptives had not been made readily available to our generation, we
would not be seeing the epidemic of STD's that we have today.
SOURCE FALLACIES
27. False Appeal To Authority
DEF: Appealing to someone who is either 1) not a bona fide authority, or 2) not an
authority in the area under discussion
E.G. Abby: Bob, contraceptive use does not promote promiscuity. Hilary Clinton strongly denied
this claim in a speech yesterday.
18. Appeal To The People (Argumentum Ad Populum)
DEF: Asserting that something is right or true because a large number of people say it is
E.G.Adam: Betty, contraceptive use can't be morally wrong. A recent survey showed that 87% of
the American people are in favor of its use.
20. Chronological Snobbery
DEF: Asserting that something is bad or good because it is either old or new
E.G. Abby: Bob, the notion that contraceptive use is wrong comes from antiquated beliefs held by
Puritanical, outmoded, and passe’ notions.
36. Special Pleading
DEF: Consciously leaving information out of an argument because including it would weaken the
argument scientific theologians
E.G. Abby: Bob, The use of abortion as a birth control is safe and necessary, as shown by the
recent information published by the Alan Guttmacher Institute (which is a division of Planned Parenthood).
LOGICAL STRUCTURE FALLACIES
42. Contradictory Assumptions
DEF: Having the first two premises of an argument staing contradictory assertions
E.G. Abby: Adam, I believe that each individual citizen has the inalienable right to choose its
moral code, but I also believe that the state has a compelling interest (and therefore ‘ inalienable right) to preserve order through exacting punishments on individual citizens
for violating social moral standards.
43. Non Sequitur
DEF: Having no obvious connection between the premise and the conclusion
E.G. Adam: Betty, man is the most intelligent creature on earth, so therefore contraceptive use is
okay.
28. Hasty Generalization
DEF: Basing a conclusion to an inductive argument on too small of a sample
E.G. Abby: Bob, each of the three doctors in our town assured me that marijuana use is safe,
therefore, the medical community in this country okays the use of marijuana.
44. Cliché Thinking
DEF: Basing a conclusion on a cliché
E.G. Adam: Betty, you know the old saying "it's better to be safe than sorry". Well that proves
that contraceptive use is wise.
33. Circular Reasoning (Petitio Principi)
DEF: Having the truth of the conclusion already apparent in one of the premises
E.G.Abby: Bob, contraceptive use must be ethically acceptable because the prevention of
pregnancy does not violate any moral codes.
23. Appeal To Ignorance (Argumentum Ad Ignoratum)
DEF: Asserting that something is the case because we don’t know that it is not the case
E.G. Adam: Betty, I don't know of any moral code that contraceptive use violates. Therefore it is acceptable by all ethical systems.
METAPHYSICAL STRUCTURE FALLACIES
49. Faulty Dilemma
DEF: Giving someone only two options to choose from (with the goal of them choosing
the lesser of two evils) when, in reality, there are more options available
E.G. Abby: Bob, either you are in favor of contraceptive use or you believe that human beings do
not have free wills. Which is it?
46. Argument Of The Beard
DEF: Asserting that because one cannot make fine distinctions along a continuum, one cannot tell one end from the other
E.G. Adam: Betty, when you get right down to it, your view accepting contraceptive use is not
that much different than Dudley's view rejecting it. Therefore we can't really say that opposing views on contraceptive use really disagree.
32. Misuse Of Analogy
DEF: Basing a conclusion on an analogy
E.G. Abby: Bob, choosing to use contraceptives to prevent pregnancy is like choosing to go on a
diet to prevent weight gain. You and I can choose when and what we want to eat, so we should be able to choose when and if we want to have children.
41. Fallacy Of The General Rule
DEF: Asserting that because something is generally true, it must be true in the specific
case
E.G.: Abbey: Bob, women, in general, are more tough minded than men, so your sister must be
more tough minded than her spineless husband
9. False Refutation Of The General Rule
DEF: Asserting that a General Rule is false by bringing in a single contradictory example
E.G. Bob: Abby, people , in general, do not critically examine their own religious beliefs.
Abbey: Bob, that is not true. I do all the time.
COMPOSITIONAL FALLACIES
Dividing:
29. Reductive Fallacy
DEF: Asserting that a complex thing is nothing more than one of its parts
E.G. Adam: Betty, do you expect me to change my ways because Dudley presented a good
argument against contraceptive use? His speech was just a bunch of words strung
together.
40. Genetic Fallacy
DEF: Asserting that something is nothing more than what it was when it was
first made or created
E.G. Abby: Bob, contraceptive use does not prevent babies. What is in the womb is just a little
blob of undifferentiated tissue, not babies.
21. Fallacy Of Division
DEF: Asserting that what is true of the whole of a complex thing is also equally true of one of its parts
E.G. Adam: Betty, our city is known for its progressive view of accepting contraceptive use. You
are a citizen of our city, therefore, deep down, you also must be for it.
Composing:
39. Fallacy Of Composition
DEF: Asserting that what is true of one of the parts of a complex thing is also equally true of the whole of the complex thing
E.G. Abby: Bob if it is true that the citizens of this country want to have children, then our
country, which is made up of its citizens, must want to have children. Therefore we
should work towards starting up new democratic countries.
LANGUAGE TRICKS
8. Intentional Obfuscation of Terms
DEF: intentionally denying the possibility of defining terms or consciously using unclear,
misleading, or biased definitions.
E.G. Adam: Betty, the word abortion is really impossible
to define so that we all agree. Let us just define it as the legal and moral termination of
pregnancy, ok?
10. Equivocation
DEF: Using one term in two different ways (with two different meanings) in the same argument
E.G. Adam: Betty, the constitution guarantees freedom of choice. Dudley's girlfriend can't afford
an abortion, therefore she does not have the freedom of choice to have one. Therefore
the constitution mandates that the government must pay for it.
30. False Identity
DEF: Using two different terms as if they meant the same thing within the same
argument
E.G. Abby: Bob, our country is a democracy, which says the citizens decide what is right, so if
the citizens in this country decide that fetuses are not human, then it is true.
19. Emotive Language
DEF: Attempting to stir up any emotions rather than presenting a good argument in a situation where emotions are not appropriate or necessary
E.G. Adam: Betty, you should remember that what is being prevented from conception in the
womb is an innocent child, who would otherwise develop ten of those cute little fingers
that will wrap gently around its mother's finger, and ten little toes that will wiggle and
turn as its coos with excitement when it hears it's mother voice.
31. Misuse of Etymology
DEF: Asserting that a word has to mean what it meant at some earlier time or base the meaning
of a word solely on what its constituent parts originally meant
E.G. Adam: Betty , if you are in favor of contraceptive use, you must want the human race to
come to an end. The word contra-ception means against the fertilization of eggs. If you
don't want any more human eggs to be fertilized, you don't want any more human beings
to be born.
6. Prestige Jargon
DEF: Using words to make the hearer feel dumb, and therefore keep them from
critically examining the argument
E.G. Abby: Adam, in lieu of any truly substantiated ratiocination having been demonstrated on
your part, and in light of the sheer paucity of any even tacit explication (not to speak of any direct illuminating erudition) of you rhetorical supporting devices, I am forced to the conclusion that you must be operating on a pre-cognitive (or at least sub-critical) level when it comes to the issue of contraceptive use.
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