Fallacies Flashcards
Scare Tactics
Using ideas by scaring people and exaggerating possible dangers well beyond their statistical likelihood. Politicians and advertisers use this one a lot.
Either Or Choices
Reducing complicated issues to just two options, one obviously preferable to the other.
Slippery Slope
Portrays today’s misstep as tomorrow’s disaster.
Overly Sentimental Appeals
Uses tender emotions excessivelyto distract readers from the facts.
Bandwagon
Urging people to follow the same path everyone else is taking.
Appeals to False Authority
Occurs when writers offer themselves or other authorities as sufficient warrant for believing a claim.
Dogmatism
A writer who asserts or assumes that a particular position is the only one that is concievably acceptable.
Ad Hominem
Attacks the character of a person rather than the claims he or she makes.
Stacking the Deck
When writers only show one side of an argument - the one in their favor.
Hasty Generalization
An inference drawn from insufficient evidence.
Faulty Causality “Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc”
The faulty assumption that because one event or action follows another, the first causes the second.
Begging the Question
The claim is made on grounds that can’t be accepted as true because those grounds themselves are in question.
Equivocation
Half truths or arguments that give lies an honest appearance.
Non Sequitur
An argument whose claims, reasons, or warrants don’t connect logically.
Straw Man
Attacks an argument that isn’t really there.
Red Herring
Changes the subject abruptly to throw readers off the trail.
Faulty Analogy
Inaccurate or inconsequential comparisons between objects or concepts.
