English 1130 - A list of five common fallacies
FALLACY
Circular reasoning
Hasty generalization
Slippery slope
Straw Man
Ad hominem
DEFINITION
Occurs when the end of an
argument comes back to the
beginning without having
proven itself. (So, X is true
because of Y; and Y is true
because of X)
Jumping to conclusions
based on insufficient
evidence or biases
Arguing that an idea or
action will lead to
inevitably to unrealistically
steeper and steeper
consequences.
Misrepresenting (or
improperly representing) an
argument so that you can
attack the misrepresentation
instead of the actual
argument.
Literally, “against the
man/person.” Attacking the
character of a person by
providing irrelevant
negative information.
EXAMPLE
You must obey the law,
because it’s illegal to break
the law.
I’m not moving to that
neighborhood. When I
visited it, there were two
people arguing in the street
so it must be dangerous.
If we legalize marijuana,
then other drugs like ecstasy
and cocaine will soon
follow, and then everyone
will be an addict.
If you want prison reform,
you are basically saying you
want to treat criminals like
they’re at a resort. We
should not be rewarding
criminals!
How can this woman be the
mayor when she can’t even
keep her own house tidy?
Note that some of these fallacies are derived from Barnet, Sylvan, et. al, eds. From
Critical Thinking to Argument: A Portable Guide. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2020. Pp. 370-3.