Logical Fallacies Or How to Really Fail at

Logical Fallacies: Or, How to Really Fail at Argumentation “Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end. ” – Dr. Spock, Star Trek

Logical fallacy #1 l “Despite the women's movement in the ‘ 70 s, women still do not receive equal pay for equal worth. Obviously, all such attempts to change the status quo are doomed to failure. ” -University of Notre-Dame Writing Program, http: //www. nd. edu/~fwriting/fyc/instructors/Logical. Fallacies. shtml

Logical fallacy #1 l Hasty generalization: leaping to a conclusion; unrepresentative

Logical fallacy #2 l “Bill Clinton wants television programs to show ratings in order to protect children from adult material, a surprisingly moral position for an adulterer. ” -University of Notre-Dame Writing Program, http: //www. nd. edu/~fwriting/fyc/instructors/Logical. Fallacies. shtml

Logical fallacy #2 l Ad hominem: Attacking the person rather than the issue

Logical fallacy #3 l Because math scores went down after Sierra Verde became a feeder school for Mountain Ridge, those students must have caused a decline in the scores.

Logical fallacy #3 l Post hoc: false cause; assumed cause-effect relationship that may not be accurate

Logical fallacy #4 l “It is ridiculous to have a gay and lesbian studies program and a department for the study of Native American culture; we don’t have a straight studies program or a department for Caucasian culture. ” -University of Notre-Dame Writing Program, http: //www. nd. edu/~fwriting/fyc/instructors/Logical. Fallacies. shtml

Logical fallacy #4 l False analogy: analogy is too weak; the analogs are too different to be worthy of comparison

Logical fallacy #5 l Millions of minorities simply drop out of school before their senior year anyway, so there is no need to fund minority-based college scholarships.

Logical fallacy #5 l Non sequitur: Something that does not follow; an illogical conclusion that does not follow the premise

Logical fallacy #6 l “We may support this petition for a gender studies major, or we may turn our backs on progress, reject the petition, and suffer the consequences. ” -University of Notre-Dame Writing Program, http: //www. nd. edu/~fwriting/fyc/instructors/Logical. Fallacies. shtml

Logical fallacy #6 l Either/or fallacy: an oversimplification of the issues which leaves only 2 diametrically opposed viewpoints

Logical fallacy #7 l I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV and I use Bayer Asprin.

Logical fallacy #7 l Appeal to questionable authority: Just what it says— the use of faulty, overtly biased or otherwise questionable sources

Logical fallacy #8 l “We could improve the undergraduate experience with coed dorms since both men and women benefit from living with the opposite gender. ” -University of Notre-Dame Writing Program, http: //www. nd. edu/~fwriting/fyc/instructors/Logical. Fallacies. shtml

Logical fallacy #8 l Begging the question: the premise is merely an assumption so the conclusion won’t necessarily be true

Logical fallacy #9 l “The opposition claims that welfare dependency leads to higher crime rates -- but how are poor people supposed to keep a roof over their heads without our help? ” -Logical Fallacies and the Art of Debate, http: //www. csun. edu/~dgw 61315/fallacies. html#Red%20 herring

Logical fallacy #9 l Red herring: an irrelevant topic is introduced to divert attention from the topic at hand.

Logical fallacy #10 l "The current Chancellor of Germany was in the Hitler Youth at age 3. With that sort of background, his so called 'reform' plan must be a facist program. " -The Nizkor Project, http: //www. nizkor. org/features/fallacies/geneticfallacy. htmlg

Logical fallacy #10 l Genetic fallacy: a line of "reasoning" in which a perceived defect in the origin of a claim or thing is taken to be evidence that discredits the claim or thing itself. It is also a line of reasoning in which the origin of a claim or thing is taken to be evidence for the claim or thing.

Logical fallacy #11 l “Arnold Killembetter’s movie True Garbage is the greatest movie of all time. No movie has made as much money as it did. ” l -The Skeptic’s Dictionary, http: //skepdic. com/adpopulum. html

Logical fallacy #11 l Ad populum: the appeal to the popularity of a claim as a reason for accepting it.

Logical fallacy #12 l "Senator Jones says that we should not fund the attack submarine program. I disagree entirely. I can't understand why he wants to leave us defenseless like that. " -The Nizkor Project, http: //www. nizkor. org/features/fallacies/strawman. html

Logical fallacy #12 l Straw man: a deliberate misrepresentation of another’s argument.

Others to know “Sob story” = appeal to pity l Equivocation = deliberately using ambiguous or misleading words l Circular reasoning – relies on its own premise to prove itself l l "Only an untrustworthy person would run for office. The fact that politicians are untrustworthy is proof of this. “