Logical and Emotional Fallacies Recognizing and Avoiding Untruth

Logical and Emotional Fallacies Recognizing and Avoiding Untruth ≠

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? ≠

Faulty Premise A syllogism, elements of which are questionable. Example: • Lesbians are 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 Power. Point Presentation by Mark A. Spalding, BA, MEd, MA (2007)