Common logical fallacies with definitions and examples
25 cards · philosophy
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| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| Ad Hominem | Attacking the person instead of the argument Example: "What does he know about healthcare? He's not even a doctor." Focus on the claim, not the speaker. |
| Straw Man | Misrepresenting an argument to make it easier to attack "You want to defund the police? So you want total anarchy?" |
| False Dilemma | Presenting two options as the only possibilities Example: "You're either with us or against us." Consider other viable options. |
| Hasty Generalization | Drawing a broad conclusion from too little evidence Example: "My two neighbors are rude; this city is unfriendly." Look for larger samples. |
| Appeal to Authority | Treating a non-expert or irrelevant authority as decisive evidence Example: "A famous actor says this diet works, so it must." Citing qualified experts in their field can be valid; the fallacy is relying on non-experts or irrelevant authorities. |
| Slippery Slope | Claiming one step will inevitably lead to extreme outcomes Example: "If we legalize marijuana, soon all hard drugs will be legal." The chain is asserted as inevitable without support. |
| Bandwagon | Arguing a claim is true because many believe it Example: "Everyone's investing in it; it can't be risky." Popularity isn't proof. |
| Red Herring | Introducing an irrelevant topic to distract Example: "Why worry about tax reform when the roads have potholes?" Stay on the claim. |
| Begging the Question | Assuming the conclusion in the premises Also called circular reasoning. Example: "This book is immoral because immoral books are those that corrupt readers, and this book corrupts readers." The conclusion is presupposed. |
| Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc | Assuming earlier event caused a later one "I wore my lucky socks, and we won; the socks did it." |
| Appeal to Emotion | Using emotion as a substitute for relevant evidence Example: "Think of the children; pass this law now." Emotion may supplement sound arguments but cannot replace evidence. |
| False Analogy | Drawing a conclusion from an analogy that ignores critical differences Example: "Running a country is like running a business, so it should be managed by a CEO." Relevant differences weaken the comparison. |
| No True Scotsman | Redefining a group to exclude counterexamples Example: "No true gamer uses easy mode; he isn't a real gamer." The definition shifts to dismiss counterexamples. |
| Shifting the Burden of Proof | Improperly shifting the proof obligation to the doubter Example: "Homeopathy works—prove it doesn’t." The claimant bears the burden. |
| Appeal to Ignorance | Claiming truth because it hasn't been disproven "No one has proved aliens aren't here, so they are." |
| Cherry Picking | Selecting only favorable evidence while ignoring the rest "This one study supports me; ignore the meta-analyses." |
| Genetic Fallacy | Judging a claim by its origin instead of its merits Example: "That idea started on social media, so it must be wrong." Evaluate the claim, not its source. |
| Equivocation | Using a key term in two different senses "Feathers are light; light can't be dark; feathers aren't dark." |
| Loaded Question | Asking a question that presupposes a disputed claim Example: "Have you stopped cheating?" Any answer seems to admit guilt. |
| Appeal to Tradition | Arguing something is true because it’s longstanding "We’ve always done it this way, so it’s best." Age alone isn’t evidence. |
| Composition | Inferring the whole has a property because parts do "Each player is a star, so the team will be great." |
| Gambler's Fallacy | Believing past random events affect future ones "It’s come up red five times; black is due." Independent events don’t self-correct. |
| Affirming the Consequent | If P then Q; Q, therefore P "If it rains, streets are wet; streets are wet, so it rained." |
| Denying the Antecedent | If P then Q; not P, therefore not Q Example: "If it is a cat, it is a mammal; it is not a cat; therefore it is not a mammal." |
| False Equivalence | Treating unlike things as equal by ignoring key differences Logical fallacy that flattens relevant differences. Example: "He missed a deadline; she committed fraud—both are equally unprofessional." |