Ad Hominem (Personal Attack)

An attempt to discredit the argument by discrediting the character of the person advancing it.

Bandwagon Fallacy

Arguments that appeal to the growing popularity of an idea as a reason for accepting it as true.

Fallacist’s Fallacy

Rejecting an idea as false simply because the argument offered for it is fallacious.

Fallacy of Composition

The fallacy of inferring from the fact that every part of a whole has a given property that the whole also has that property.

Fallacy of Division

Any part of the whole also has the properties of the whole.

Gambler’s Fallacy

Assuming that short-term deviations from probability will be corrected in the short- term.

Genetic Fallacy

This fallacy is committed when an idea is either accepted or rejected because of its source, rather than its merit.

Irrelevant Appeals

Attempts to sway the listener with information that, though persuasive, is not relevant to the matter at hand. Example: Fruit loops are the best breakfast you can have, it’s the best selling breakfast cereal.

Appeal to Consequences

An attempt to motivate belief with an appeal either to the good consequences of believing or the bad consequences of disbelieving. Example: If you believe in God, you will go to Heaven, if you don’t believe, you go to Hell.

Appeal to Pity

Persuasive appeal to use emotion— specifically, sympathy—rather than reason.

Appeal to Antiquity / Tradition

Assume that older ideas are better, that the fact that an idea has been around for a while implies that it is true.

Appeal to Authority

If a person judged to be an authority affirms a proposition to the claim that the proposition is true.

Appeal to Consequences

An attempt to motivate belief with an appeal either to the good consequences of believing or the bad consequences of disbelieving.

Appeal to Force “argumentum ad baculum”, literally means “argument with a cudgel (weapon)”.

An attempt to persuade using threats.

Appeal to Novelty

Assumes that the newness of an idea is evidence of its truth.

Appeal to Popularity

Suggests that an idea must be true simply because it is widely held.

Appeal to Poverty

Assuming that a position is correct because it is held by the poor.

Appeal to Wealth

Assuming that someone or something is better simply because they are wealthier or more expensive.

Moralistic Fallacy

Assuming that the world is as it should be.

Naturalistic Fallacy

An argument whose premises merely describe the way that the world is, but whose conclusion describes the way that the world ought to be. Example: Feeling envy is only natural, therefore: there’s nothing wrong with feeling envy.

The Red Herring

A fallacy of distraction, committed when a listener attempts to divert an arguer from his argument by introducing another topic.

The W eak (or False) A nalogy Fallacy

Committed when the comparison of two things are not strong enough to support the argument.

Equivocation Fallacy

Committed when a term is used in two or more different senses within a single argument. Example: My car is read. Books are read. My car is a book.

Straw Man Argument

An argument that misrepresents a position in order to make it appear weaker than it actually is, refutes this misrepresentation of the position, and then concludes that the real position has been refuted.

Affirming the Consequent

If a man says, “If Dave wants be fired, he’ll have to talk to my boss. Dave is talking to my boss, he must be getting me fired,” he is committing this fallacy.

Arguing from Ignorance

Infers that a proposition is true from the fact that it is not known to be false.

Begging the Question / Circular Reasoning

If an arguments conclusion is among its premises, it is this kind of fallacy. For example: Dave says he never lies, and since he never lies, it must be true.

Complex Question (Double Bind) Fallacy

This fallacy is committed when a question is asked (a) that rests on a questionable assumption, and (b) to which all answers appear to endorse that assumption. Example: Have you stopped beating your wife?

Cum Hoc Fallacy

This fallacy is committed when it is assumed that because two things occur together, they must be causally related.

False Dilemma / Bifurcation Fallacy

This fallacy is committed when a false dilemma is presented, i.e. when someone is asked to choose between two options when there is at least one other option available.

Hasty Generalization Fallacy

A hasty generalization draws a general rule from a single, perhaps atypical, case.

‘No True Scotsman’ Fallacy

This fallacy is a way of reinterpreting evidence in order to prevent the refutation of one’s position.

Post Hoc Fallacy – Or, Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc “After this therefore because of this.”

This fallacy is committed when it is assumed that because one thing occurred after another, it must have occurred as a result of it.

Slippery Slope Fallacy

Falsely assumes that one thing must lead to another. They begin by suggesting that if we do one thing then that will lead to another, and before we know it we’ll be doing something that we don’t want to do.

Sweeping Generalization Fallacy

If one takes a general rule, and applies it to a case to which, due to the specific features of the case, the rule does not apply, then one commits this fallacy. Example: Children should be seen and not heard, Motzart was a child when he composed and Allegro in C, no one should listen to Allegro in C.

Subjectivist Fallacy

This fallacy is committed when someone resists the conclusion of an argument not by questioning whether the argument’s premises support its conclusion, but by treating the conclusion as subjective when it is in fact objective. Example: Person 1: The earth is spherical. Person 2: That’s your opinion.

Tu Quoque Fallacy (Too Kwo Kway)

A retort charging an adversary with being or doing what he criticizes in others. Claiming that hypocrisy or inconsistency in an argument invalidates the argument. Example: Person 1: It is wrong to eat animals Person 2: It must not be too wrong since you are eating a ham sandwich.