Logical Fallacies How to avoid weak argument Paraphrased and excerpted from: Romano, Tony, and Gary Anderson. Expository Composition: Discovering Your Voice. St. Paul: EMC Pub., 2008. Print. Aaron, Jane E. The Compact Reader. New York: St. Martin's, 1984. Print.

Fallacy The word fallacy means: A deceptive, misleading, or false idea Often logical fallacies seem like they make sense until you look closely. In argument, fallacies can weaken whatever point you are making. Often, however, people don’t recognize bad logic. This is how stupid ideas persist. It’s also one of the ways that people can manipulate what other people think and believe. Learn to spot fallacies so that you can spot weak arguments and avoid making them yourself.

Circular Argument Repeating the main point without supplying justification. You can trust me because I’m honest. You can’t go because I said no. Seniors are more mature than freshman because they are seniors.

Ad Hominem Attacking the person instead of their argument. You said this, and I don’t like you, so this isn’t true. The speaker may be a terrible person, but that doesn’t necessarily make their point invalid.

Tu Quoque (You, too) Arguing that because your opponent is guilty of it, their point is invalid. (Similar to Ad Hominem.) Who are you to tell me that I shouldn’t smoke? You smoked for years! While this may be true, it does not mean that their point isn’t a good one.

False Authority Using someone who doesn’t have ethos to support your idea. “My brother says it’s only a misdemeanor to rob a bank as long as you don’t wear a mask.” P.S. This isn’t true. P.P.S. Don’t rob banks at all.

Either/Or Presenting only two possible outcomes when there could be many. “If you ain’t first, you’re last.” (Ricky Bobby) You are either with us or you are against us. If you don’t support the president, you are a traitor.

Red Herring Bringing up a totally unrelated point and proceeding to argue with that. “Why are you worried about climate change when there are terrorists everywhere?” This doesn’t mean that the first thing isn’t a problem. They are trying to avoid the problem by talking about something else.

Straw Man Using an exaggerated form of your opponent’s point that is easy to defeat. Basically overreacting to a point. A: I think that we could consider modest cuts to the military budget. B: So you want to weaken the military and let ISIS take over the United States? (Not at all what A said or even implied)

Slippery Slope Imagining a series of events that is unlikely based on one event. “If you don’t give us this extra credit, we won’t pass the class, which means we won’t get into college, no one will ever love us, and we will end up living in a van down by the river.”

Bandwagon Just because an idea is popular, does not mean it is good. “The majority of students say that 16 year-olds should be allowed to drink.” *This is also false authority Think Justin Bieber: Literally millions of people have purchased his music; that does not mean it is good.

Hasty Generalization Making an assumption about an entire group. Stereotypes fall in this category Jumping to a conclusion based on little evidence. “A high school student stole from my store. All high school students are dishonest.” Republicans are angry hillbillies. Democrats are all a bunch of tree-hugging hippies.

Burden of Proof You can’t prove me wrong; therefore, I am right. It is the responsibility of the person making the claim to prove their point; it is not your responsibility to disprove it. Here is how easy this one is to defeat: Prove to me, right now, that unicorns do not exist. Logically, you can’t prove it to a 100% certainty. That does not mean they exist. Even better, think of the Salem witch trials. I accuse you of witchcraft. Prove you are innocent or you will be executed.

Post Hoc (Ergo Propter Hoc) “After, therefore because” Arguing that one thing causes another when they may be unrelated. I ate at Hometown Buffet before the game, and we won. Therefore: Eating at Hometown Buffet = Victory! When he took office, the crime rate went up. Therefore: He caused the crime rate to rise. Maybe, but maybe not. Needs more data.

Faulty Analogy Using a weird or exaggerated analogy to illustrate your point. You not letting me borrow the car is just like what Kim Jong Un does to peasant farmers in North Korea, you fascist! Nope. Not at all.

Equivocation Avoiding giving a direct answer. Parent: “We’ll see.” Politician: “That is a good question and it’s important to consider many factors.”