Logical and Emotional Fallacies
Recognizing and Avoiding Untruth
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Ad Hominem Fallacy
Against the Man
Besmirching a person’s reputation by directly
attacking his character.
Example: President Bush is a foul-mouthed drunkard
who shirked his military responsibilities; he is unfit to
be Commander-in-Chief.
Assuming That Two Wrongs Make A Right
Avoiding the Issue
Defending an accusation of wrongdoing
by claiming that the accusers are guilty
of the same or worse.
Example: A politician accused of
neglecting senior citizens points out that
seniors in neighboring states are much
worse off than in his own.
Bandwagon Fallacy
Might is Right – Preaching to the Choir
The idea that because everyone thinks
so, it must be right.
Example: Ninety percent of
those polled oppose gay
marriage; we, too, must stand
up for the sanctity and
preservation of traditional
marriage.
Begging the Question
A type of faulty premise, where the central
premise is left unspoken.
Example: Condoms should not be distributed
at schools. We don’t need to encourage sexual
promiscuity.
Giving students
condoms will
make them
promiscuous!
Go to Faulty Premise
Biased Language
Name-Calling
Using terms which unfairly label causes
of which the speaker disapproves.
Example: Michael is a narrow-minded,
Bible-thumping bigot whose opposition
to abortion is as stupid as he is.
Either . . . Or . . . Fallacy
Over Simplification
The assertion that only two choices exist,
when the options are, in fact, several.
Example: The war against terrorism is
ineffective. Either we should increase
our military presence in the middle east
or pull out of the war altogether.
False Analogy
Comparing Apples With Oranges
Making a false comparison.
Example: Homosexuality, like murder and
child molestation, is a pleasure of the flesh.
We all know that murder and molestation
are wrong; why do we question whether
homosexuality is wrong?
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Faulty Premise
A syllogism, elements of which are
questionable.
Example:
•Lesbians are butch.
•Marcy is butch.
•Marcy is a Lesbian.
Return to Begging the Question
Hasty Generalization
Jumping to Conclusions
A conclusion based on insufficient evidence or
oversimplification.
Example: Because the test scores at the local
high school are poor this year, you conclude that
all of the teachers are sub par and send your
own children to another high school. This fallacy
is often recognized by the use of such absolute
qualifiers as all, every, none, never, and
completely.
Non Sequitur Fallacy
Literally, “It does not follow.”
A false assumption, involving a
missing claim that few would agree
with.
Example: James speaks well; he
would make a good politician.
Post Hoc Fallacy
Faulty cause-and-effect reasoning
Just because two events occur in close proximity
does not mean that one is necessarily related to
the other.
Example: After President Clinton took office, the
economy stabilized. Obviously the Clinton
Administration’s fiscal policies were effective.
Red Herring Fallacy
Changing the Subject – Throwing Off the Scent
Introducing irrelevant issues, so as to
avoid the real ones.
Example: When questioned on his
voting record, a political candidate
instead discusses the ways in which he
has been unfairly represented by his
opponent(s).
Slippery Slope Fallacy
The Domino Effect
Claiming that inevitable consequences must
proceed from a decision.
Example: If we allow gay marriage, we are
opening the floodgates of evil. Will there ever be
any end in sight? Next the bigamists will want
their relationships recognized, and then the
polygamists; and finally those involved in
incestuous relationships. We must stand in
opposition to this rampant evil of our time!
Stereotyping
Tarring With the Same Brush
A stereotype is a hasty generalization
about a group or class of people.
Example: Because you have Chinese
roommates in college who are
slovenly, you conclude that all
Chinese people must be just like
them.
Straw Man Fallacy
Misrepresenting opponents in
oversimplified terms to discredit them.
Example: George Bush claims to be the
Education President; in reality, he is a
red neck who can’t even punctuate a
sentence, let alone conjugate his verbs
correctly. He graduated from college
with a “C” average, for God’s sake!
The End
PowerPoint Presentation by Mark A. Spalding, BA, MEd, MA (2007)