ALS411 Logical Fallacies

"Each pro-bowl player is the best at his position in his league. So the winning pro-bowl team is the best team possible."

• Composition
• Equivocation
• Divisional
• Ad Odium

Arguing that because Event B occurred after Event A, Event A caused Event B.

"Because I forgot to leave my porch light on, someone robbed my house."

• Ad Hominem
• Enthymeme
• Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc (False Causation)
• Equivocation

Avoiding countering an opposing argument directly by introducing a new or non-issue to the argument.

"Equal pay for women is an important issue, but I wonder whether women really want the responsibility that comes with higher paying jobs."

• Ignoring the Question
• Appealing to Prejudice
• Begging the Question
• Appealing to Tradition/ Scholasticism

Drawing a conclusion without taking the needed time to reason through the argument.

"That new home looks great! Let's buy it!"

• Appealing to Tradition/ Scholasticism
• Jumping to Conclusions
• Appealing to Prejudice
• Composition

an argument in which one premise is not explicitly stated.

"All insects have six legs; therefore, all wasps have six legs," the minor premise, "All wasps are insects," is suppressed.

• Ad Hominem
• Ad Metum
• Enthymeme
• Ad Odium

A fallacy in which a speaker or writer poses a choice between two alternatives while overlooking other possibilities and implying that no other possibilities exist.
"Either we ban boxing or hundreds of young men will be senselessly killed."

• Ad Hominem
• False Analogy
• Ad Odium
• False dilemma

"Are you tired of being ignored by your government? Is it right that the top 1% have so much when the rest of us have so little? I urge you to vote for me today!"

• Ad Metum
• Ad Hominem
• Ad Odium
• Ad populum

("it doesn't follow") Any illogical conclusion [usually reached from faulty premises or poor evidence]
"Japanese children spend 40% more time in the classroom than US children. American parents should take more interest in their kids' education."

• Ad Populum
• Non Sequitor
• Ad Odium
• Ad Metum

Avoiding countering an opposing argument directly by introducing a new or non-issue to the argument.
"Equal pay for women is an important issue, but I wonder whether women really want the responsibility that comes with higher paying jobs."

• Ignoring the question
• Begging the question
• Appealing the prejudice
• Appealing to the tradition/

An unanswerable, biased question--sometimes only allowing two possible answers (yes or no).
"Hey, Tim, have you finally stopped beating your wife?" → Ad Metum

• True
• False