Logical
Fallacies,
Propaganda
Devices, and
Language
Misuse
Ad Baculum
Arguing with a club. The use of force or threat in order to win an argument.
Logical Fallacies, Propaganda
Devices, and Language Misuse
Ad Hominem
Attacking the opponent in an argument on a personal level instead of contesting
his/her logic or proof. Literally "arguing to the man."
Logical Fallacies, Propaganda
Devices, and Language Misuse
Advertising Language
The special tricks/devices/techniques used in advertising.
The Language of Advertising Claims
Logical Fallacies, Propaganda
Devices, and Language Misuse
Amphiboly
An ambiguity which results from grammar, as opposed to one that results from the
ambiguity of words or phrases [equivocation].
"Good steaks are rare these days so you shouldn't order yours well done."
Logical Fallacies, Propaganda
Devices, and Language Misuse
Bandwagon
The attempt to convince an audience to follow a cause or accept an idea by
suggesting that "everyone is doing it."
Logical Fallacies, Propaganda
Devices, and Language Misuse
Begging the Question/Arguing in a Circle
The use of a conclusion as a premise in an argument: to implement as evidence
that which you seek to prove. "God exists because the Bible tells us so, and the
Bible is true because it is the revealed word of God."
Logical Fallacies, Propaganda
Devices, and Language Misuse
Card Stacking
Selectively choosing facts, statistics, etc. that support an argument and ignoring
those that do not.
Logical Fallacies, Propaganda
Devices, and Language Misuse
Doublespeak
We are guilty of double think
whenever we hold two
completely incompatible, indeed
contradictory, ideas in the mind
simultaneously without noting
the contradiction. Here's how
George Orwell defines it in 1984:
Logical Fallacies, Propaganda
Devices, and Language Misuse
Doublespeak (cont.)
Logical Fallacies, Propaganda
Devices, and Language Misuse
To know and not to know, to be conscious of
complete truthfulness while telling carefully
constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two
opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be
contradictory and believing in both of them, to use
logic against logic, to repudiate morality while
laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was
impossible and that the Party was the guardian of
democracy, to forget, whatever it was necessary to
forget, then to draw it back into memory again at
the moment when it was needed, and then
promptly to forget it again, and above all, to apply
the same process to the process itself--that was the
ultimate subtlety; consciously to induce
unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become
unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just
performed. Even to understand the word
"doublethink" involved the use of doublethink.
Doublespeak (cont.)




War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is knowledge.
Weakness is strength.
In Orwell's 1984, the Ministry of Truth instills doublethink in all citizens with the
goal of making thought crime impossible.
The Doublespeak Award | Past Recipients of the Doublespeak Award
Logical Fallacies, Propaganda
Devices, and Language Misuse
Euphemisms
Words or phrases used in place of others thought to be offensive. Examples: nonretained encore telecast occasional irregularity nervous wetness Internal Revenue
Service civilian irregular defense soldier extraordinary rendition terminate with
extreme prejudice advance downward adjustment pre-owned inoperative
statement.
A List of Euphemisms | "Elderly Man River"
Logical Fallacies, Propaganda
Devices, and Language Misuse
False Dilemma
Insisting that there are only two sides (one of which is wrong) to an argument.
Logical Fallacies, Propaganda
Devices, and Language Misuse
Glittering Generalities
Name-calling in reverse. Using words with positive connotations--"virtue words“-in order to convince an audience.
Logical Fallacies, Propaganda
Devices, and Language Misuse
Gobbledygook
Needlessly obscure language. Language that makes no sense and hence obscures
the real facts of an argument.
Logical Fallacies, Propaganda
Devices, and Language Misuse
Guilt (or Glory) by Association
An attempt to denounce a person or an idea with by associating it with the
negative aspects of another individual, or vice versa.
Logical Fallacies, Propaganda
Devices, and Language Misuse
Jargon
Overly specialized language used by a particular group.
Logical Fallacies, Propaganda
Devices, and Language Misuse
Name Calling
Giving a human opponent or an opposing argument a bad name in order to dismiss
it out-of-hand.
Logical Fallacies, Propaganda
Devices, and Language Misuse
Non-Sequiter
Not in sequence. An argument that does not follow from the premises presented.
"All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Socrates was a homosexual. Therefore all
men are homosexual."--Woody Allen.
Logical Fallacies, Propaganda
Devices, and Language Misuse
Plain Folks Appeal
When a speaker tries to win an argument by pretending to be a person just like
ourselves.
Logical Fallacies, Propaganda
Devices, and Language Misuse
Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc
"After this therefore because of this." Insisting that an event that preceded
another in time necessarily caused it.
Logical Fallacies, Propaganda
Devices, and Language Misuse
Red Herring
Throwing a smelly fish into the middle of an argument. Seeking to divert an
audience from the subject at hand in order to induce them to focus on an
irrelevant, side issue.
Logical Fallacies, Propaganda
Devices, and Language Misuse
Stroking (Glittering Generalities)
Also known as "argumentum ad populum"--argument to the people, or telling the
people what they want to hear. It came to be called "stroking" during the
Watergate era.
Logical Fallacies, Propaganda
Devices, and Language Misuse
Testimonials
Using some loved or respected person to support an idea or product.
Logical Fallacies, Propaganda
Devices, and Language Misuse
Weasel Words
"A weasel word is a modifier that practically negates the claim that follows. The
expression 'weasel word' is aptly named after the egg-eating habits of weasels. A
weasel will suck out the inside of an egg, leaving it appear intact to the casual
observer. Upon examination, the egg is discovered to be hollow. Words or claims
that appear substantial upon first look but disintegrate into hollow
meaninglessness on analysis are weasels" (Jeffrey Schrenk).
Logical Fallacies, Propaganda
Devices, and Language Misuse