Recognizing Fallacies

From Various Sources

Fallacy

• Illogical statements that may sound reasonable or true but are actually deceptive and dishonest.

Begging the Question

• Assumes in the premise what the arguer should be trying to prove in the conclusion – which asks the reader to agree that certain points are self-evident when in fact they are not

• The unfair and shortsighted legislation that limits free trade is a threat to the American economy.

Argument from Analogy

• An argument based on an analogy may be missing important dissimilarities between the two things being compared

• The overcrowded conditions in some parts of our city have forced people together like rats in a cage. Like rats, they will eventually turn on one another, fighting and killing until a balance is restored. It is therefore necessary that we vote to appropriate funds to build low-cost housing.

Ad Hominem

• Diverts attention from the facts of an argument by attacking motives or character of the person making the argument

• The public should not take seriously Dr. Mason’s plan for improving county health services. He is a former alcoholic whose wife recently divorced him.

Hasty Generalization

• When a conclusion is reached on the basis of too little evidence.

• Because our son really benefited from nursery school, I am convinced that every child should go.

Either/Or Fallacy

• When a writer only presents two alternatives when many more exist

• We must choose between life and death, between intervention and genocide. No one can take a neutral position on this issue.

Equivocation

• When the meaning of a key term changes at some point in an argument

• As a human endeavor, computers are a praiseworthy and even remarkable accomplishment. But how human can we hope to be if we rely on computers to make our decisions?

Red Herring

• When the focus of an argument is shifted to divert the audience from the actual issue

• The mayor has proposed building a new baseball-only sports stadium. How can he even consider allocating millions of dollars to this scheme when so many professional baseball players are being paid such high salaries.

Tu Quoque

• Asserts that an opponents argument has no value because the opponent does not follow his or her own advice.

• How can that judge favor stronger penalties for convicted drug dealers? During his confirmation hearings, he admitted smoking marijuana when he was a student.

Appeal to Doubtful Authority

• When the evidence refers to a person who has no authority on the issue (not an expert)

• According to Ten Koppel, interest rates will remain low during the next fiscal year.

Misleading Statistics

• Misrepresented or distorted statistics

• Women will never be competent firefighters; after all, 50 percent of the women in the city’s training program failed the exam.

• Only two women took the exam and the sample is not large enough.

Post Hoc Reasoning

• Assumes that because two events occur together in time, the first must be the cause of the second

• Every time a republican is elected president, a recession follows. If we want to avoid another recession, we should elect a democrat as our next president.

Non Sequitur

• When a statement does not logically follow from a previous statement

• Disarmament weakened the United States after World War 1. Disarmament also weakened the United States after the Vietnam War. For this reason, efforts to control guns will weaken the United States.