Fallacies Flashcards
Ad hominem
Attacks the person rather than his or her qualifications or arguments
Ad Ignorantium (Appeal to Ignorance)
Argument for or against a claim on the basis of lack of evidence for or against it
Ad Misericordium (Appeal to Pity)
Appeal to pity as an argument for special consideration
Ad Populum
“To the people”; Takes advantage of the desire most people have to be liked and to fit in with others and uses that desire to try to get the audience to accept his or her argument
Affirming the Consequent
- p –> q
- q
- Therefore, p
Begging the Question
Implicitly uses the conclusion as a premise or ignores an important assumption
Complex Question
A question with a false, disputed, or question-begging presupposition
Denying the Antecedent
- p –> q
- Not p
- Therefore, not q
Equivocation
Slides from one meaning of a term to another in the middle of an argument
False Dilemma
Reduces the options you consider to just two
Non Sequitur
Draws a conclusion that does not follow, or is not even related to, the premises
Over Generalization (Hasty Generalization)
Generalizing from too few examples
Persuasive Definition
A loaded definition
Poisoning the Well
Using loaded language to disparage an argument before even mentioning it. Like an “ad hominem,” but the poisoning is done before the opponent has a chance to make a case
Post hoc ergo propter hoc
Assumes causation too readily on the basis of mere succession in time. “Event C happened immediately prior to event D. Therefore, C caused D.”
