Fallacies

What is a fallacy? A fallacy is a misleading, false, or deception that a person makes A fallacy can be made accidently or on purpose There are many types of fallacies (these are just 6 of MANY!) Slippery slope Straw man Red herring False dichotomy Hasty Generalization Ad Hominem

Slippery Slope A fallacy that assumes that taking a first step will lead to subsequent steps that cannot be prevented It does not allow for any other alternative idea or that it can be stopped at any point Example: If we allow the students to redo this test, they are going to want to redo every assignment for the rest of the year.

Straw man When a person ignores one actual position, and presents an exaggerated one Example: Opposing argument: Bicycle infrastructure should be expanded because cycling is a sustainable mode of transportation Straw man argument: We should not build bike lanes because cyclists run red lights and endanger pedestrians

Red Herring An irrelevant topic is introduced in an argument to divert the attention or listeners or readers from the original issue. Example: The mother of a young child tells him to go to bed, and he begins to ask questions, say that he is hungry, or say that he needs to go to the bathroom- all to avoid bed and distract mom

False Dichotomy Argues there are only two options when really there may be many Example: If you don’t drive this car, you might as well not drive at all

Hasty Generalization  Drawing a conclusion based on a small sample size, rather than looking at statistics that are much more in line with the typical or average situation. Example: John has dyslexia and is great at math. Therefore people who have dyslexia are great a math.

Ad Hominem Attacking the person making the argument, rather than the argument itself, when the attack on the person is completely irrelevant to the argument the person is making. Example: My opponent suggests that lowering taxes will be a good idea -- this is coming from a woman who eats a pint of Ben and Jerry’s each night!