LOGICAL FALLACIES MICHAEL W MOYLES CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS WWW

LOGICAL FALLACIES MICHAEL W. MOYLES CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS WWW. CLEARTHINKINGCHRISTIAN. COM MOYLESM@HOTMAIL. COM

LOGICAL FALLACIES • Ad hominem • Ad populum • Post hoc or Correlation/Causation • Ad hoc • Genetic Fallacy, Fallacy of False Bias • The Slippery Slope • Non sequitur • Appeal to Ignorance

AD HOMINEM FALLACY • Attacking the individual instead of the argument • “Rich doesn’t know what he’s talking about, he’s a Carolina fan. ” • Even Carolina fans can know a few things. • “Don’t listen to anything Mike says, he’s an uneducated idiot. ” • Even an uneducated idiot is right sometimes!’ • Ad hominem attacks do nothing to refute or advance an argument

AD POPULUM FALLACY • Also known as “bandwagon” or “an appeal to numbers, ” frequently combined with an “appeal to authority” • Treats truth as a “majority vote” • “Everyone knows that Calvin was wrong about sovereignty. ” • “The vast majority of scholars agree that 2 Peter was not written by Peter. ” • Even if everyone believes it, that doesn’t make it true • Even if no one believes it, that doesn’t make it false • The number of people who believe a claim actually has no bearing on its truth

POST HOC OR CORRELATION/CAUSATION • Assumes that just because one event precedes another, that event caused the other • “There has been an increase in break-ins in the area. More people are moving into the area. Therefore, the increase in break-ins is because of the increased number of people moving into the area. ” • “I get the flu shot every year, and I’ve never gotten the flu. Therefore, I’ve never gotten the flu because I’ve always gotten the flu shot. ” Or, the opposite… • “My friend uses essential oils, and she never gets sick. Therefore, she never gets sick because she uses essential oils. ” • “There has been an increase in cell phone use in the last 20 years. There has been an increase in brain cancer in the last 20 years. Therefore, the increase in brain tumors is because of the increase in cell phone use. ”

AD HOC FALLACY • Non-evidenced assumptions or assertions • “The Bible contains to many errors, it cannot be trusted. ” • “Evolution is false and has no scientific support. ” • If you believe or assert something without evidence to support the claim, or in spite of evidence to the contrary, that’s “ad hoc”

THE GENETIC FALLACY/FALSE BIAS • Declaring something to be false because of its source • Frequently combined with the fallacy of false bias • “The Gospels are obviously biased because they were written by Christians. ” • “History is written by the winners. ” • “That’s from Huffington Post and MSNBC, it’s obviously not true. ” • The source of information cannot falsify that information

THE SLIPPERY SLOPE • Falsely assuming that one event will always lead to another, often just because it did in a few cases • “If your kids read Harry Potter, they will want to be witches and wizards. If they want to be witches an wizards, they will delve into the occult. If you don’t want your kids to get into the occult, don’t read Harry Potter. ” • “If you buy a Green Day album, you will buy The Avengers. If you buy The Avengers, you’ll eventually have green hair and tattoos. If you don’t want green hair, don’t buy a Green Day album. ”

THE NON SEQUITUR • When the conclusion does not logically follow from the premises • “My sexual tendencies are natural, I was born this way. Therefore, they’re okay. ” • “The gospels were written by Christians, therefore they are embellished (false, biased, untrue, etc) • If A, then B. A. Therefore, B.

APPEAL TO IGNORANCE • Because there is no conclusive evidence, we should accept the arguer’s conclusions about the subject • “No sighting of a flying saucer has ever been authenticated. Therefore, flying saucers do not exist. ” • “No one has ever seen a man come back from the dead. Therefore, Jesus did not come back from the dead. ” • Attempts to use a lack of evidence to support a positive claim about the subject