Logical Fallacies

 

Logical fallacies. Explain why each is wrong

1. Appeal to Pity: Evokes emotions (pity, guilt) rather than focusing on the merits of the argument. *Example: "You should give me a good grade, I studied all night and really need it." *Flaw: Doesn't address the quality of the work.

2. Ad Hominem: Attacks the person making the argument instead of the argument itself. *Example: "That scientist's research can't be trusted, they haven't published much lately." *Flaw: Weakens the argument regardless of the person's qualifications.

3. Appeal to Authority: Assumes something is true because an authority figure says it is. *Example: "This celebrity uses this product, so it must be the best." *Flaw: Authority figures can be wrong, and motivations can be biased.

4. Strawman Fallacy: Misrepresents or oversimplifies an opponent's argument to make it easier to attack. *Example: "You want gun control? So you want to take away all our guns!" *Flaw: Doesn't address the actual argument for gun control.

5. Bandwagon Fallacy: Assumes something is valid because many people believe it. *Example: "Everyone is buying this new gadget, so it must be great!" *Flaw: Popularity doesn't guarantee quality or truth.

6. False Dilemma: Presents only two extremes when more options exist. *Example: "Either you support the war effort or you hate your country." *Flaw: Ignores the possibility of nuanced positions.

7. Hasty Generalization: Draws broad conclusions from limited evidence. *Example: "I met one rude taxi driver, so all taxi drivers must be rude." *Flaw: Single experiences may not represent the whole group.

8. Slippery Slope: Suggests a small change will lead to a disastrous chain reaction of events, often unlikely. *Example: "If we allow same-sex marriage, then people will want to marry animals next!" *Flaw: Overdramatizes the potential consequences.

9. Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc (After This, Therefore Because of This): Assumes that because one event follows another, the first event caused the second. *Example: "It rained after the car wash, so the car wash must have caused the rain!" *Flaw: Correlation doesn't equal causation.

10. Red Herring: Introduces an irrelevant topic to divert attention from the main argument. *Example: "We shouldn't raise taxes, let's talk about how wasteful the government is!" *Flaw: Shifts the focus away from the issue of raising taxes.

11. Appeal to Ignorance: Assumes something is true simply because we can't prove it false, or vice versa. *Example: "We haven't found aliens yet, so they must not exist." *Flaw: Lack of evidence isn't proof of absence.

12. Circular Reasoning: Restates the conclusion as evidence for itself. *Example: "God exists because the Bible says so, and the Bible is true because it's the word of God." *Flaw: Doesn't provide independent support for the claim.

13. Non Sequitur (Does Not Follow): The conclusion doesn't logically follow from the premises. *Example: "The sky is blue, therefore, cats are mammals." *Flaw: There's no connection between the statements.

14. Equivocation: Uses a word or phrase with multiple meanings ambiguously. *Example: "This policy promotes freedom, and everyone wants freedom, so we should all support it." (Freedom from vs. freedom to) *Flaw: The meaning of "freedom" can shift within the argument.

15. Loaded Question: Presupposes a certain answer by phrasing the question in a biased way. *Example: "Have you stopped beating your wife?" *Flaw: Forces the person being questioned to defend themself against a false accusation.

16. Begging the Question: Assumes the truth of the conclusion that needs to be proven. *Example: "Only the smartest people can understand this complex theory." *Flaw: Doesn't actually explain why the theory is complex.

17. Genetic Fallacy: Attacks an idea based on its origin rather than its merit. *Example: "This philosophy comes from a fringe group, so it must be wrong." *Flaw: The origin doesn't determine the truth value of the idea.