Logical Fallacies Flashcards
Appeal to Antiquity
Description
Appeal to antiquity or tradition is a common logical fallacy that occurs when it is assumed that something is better or correct simply because it is older, traditional, or “always has been done that way.” It is based on the belief that how it “used to be done” is always better than how it’s currently done in the modern world.
The appeal to antiquity is considered the logical opposite of the appeal to novelty, which is the belief that because it’s new it’s better. Both logical fallacies have the goal of ignoring evidence, and using these fallacies to displace them.
Individuals may believe that “time tested” means “factual” and that “better people than I” were the ones who originally decided a thing, and “if it were wrong, it would have been challenged by now”. Tradition is often linked quite closely with the “appeal to authority“.
Example
Homeopathy has been around 200 years, so obviously it must work.
Appeal to Popular Belief
Description
The appeal to popular belief – also known as the Argumentum ad populum – is the logical fallacy that states that if most or many people in general or of a particular group accept a belief as true, it is evidence that the claim must be true. Accepting another person’s belief, or many people’s beliefs, without demanding evidence as to why that person accepts the belief, is lazy thinking and a dangerous way to accept information.
Appeal to Nature
Description
Appeal to Nature, similar to the naturalistic fallacy, when used as a fallacy, is the belief or suggestion that “natural” is always better than “unnatural”. It assumes that “nature” is good, and “unnatural” is not. Unfortunately, in many discussions about science and medicine, individuals take this as their default belief.
Of course, this fallacy ignores what might be considered the line between “natural” and “unnatural.” Sucrose, table sugar, can be manufactured by plants or by chemistry. Both sugars are exactly the same, containing “natural” carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.
Example
High fructose corn syrup is not natural so it must be bad for you.
Appeal to Novelty
Description
Appeal to Novelty, the opposite of the Appeal to Antiquity, is an argument that the novelty or newness of an idea is itself evidence of its truth.
Since every rejected idea in the history of man was once a “novel idea”, the fallaciousness of this argument is apparent. Moreover, every good idea was once novel. But it takes time to determine whether the novel idea is useful or not.
Example
If you want to lose weight, your best bet is to follow the latest diet..
Argument From Ad Hominem
Description
The ad hominem argument applies to any argument that centers on emotional (specifically irrelevant emotions) rather than rational or logical appeal. Generally, an ad hominem argument occurs when an individual attempts to refute a claim by attacking the maker of the claim rather than focusing on a refutation of the claim itself.
Simply, the fallacy passes the eye test when one observes that the arguer is attack the source of the claim rather than debunking it with evidence with counter arguments.
The argument is a subset of the genetic fallacy, which attempts to misdirect the line of reasoning by invoking the origins of a claim, rather than the quality of evidence. The appeal to false authority is another type of logical fallacy that related, as it focuses on the maker of the claim rather than the assertion itself.
Example
“Your evidence about the safety of vaccines is irrelevant, because you eat a quart of ice cream alone every night. All of that high fructose corn syrup has damaged your brain, and you cannot possibly know anything about vaccines.”
Argument From Ignorance
Description
Argument from ignorance, or argumentum ad ignorantiam, infers that a proposition is true from the fact that it is not proven to be false (or alternatively, that a proposition is false because it is not proven to be true).
The old argument that “the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence” is a form of this logical fallacy, because absence of evidence can be evidence of absence if substantial attempts to find evidence have proven negative.
Appeals to ignorance are used to shift the burden of proof to the other side. However, the burden of proof should be on the side that is making the assertion, not on the side that disputes the assertion.
Confirmation Bias
Description
Although not a formal logical fallacy, confirmation bias is simply the tendency for individuals to favor information or data that support their beliefs.It is also the tendency for people to only seek out information that supports their a priori, or pre-existing, conclusions, and subsequently ignores evidence that might refute that pre-existing conclusion.
Example
Anti-vaxxer: There is an article by Dr. Smith and Dr. Jones that states that confirms that Andrew Wakefield was right about vaccines and autism.
Pro-science/pro-vaxxer: But there are hundreds of articles from research across the world published in respected journals that say autism is absolutely unrelated to vaccines.
Anti-vaxxer: Not relevant, only the article by Smith and Jones is useful.
False Dichotomy
Description
A False Dichotomy, or false dilemma, is a dichotomy (a set of two mutually exclusive, jointly exhaustive alternatives) of arguments that ignores the potential for an infinite set of alternative arguments; for an infinite number of overlapping arguments; or for the potential that neither part of the dichotomy is correct.
A false dichotomy is often employed by an arguer to force the other side into an extreme position by assuming that there are only two possible positions. At it’s essence, it says “you are either with us or against us,” which ignores the all other possibilities, such as “we are with you on points A&B, but against you on points C,D&E.”
Fundamental Attribution Error
Description
The fundamental attribution error (also known as correspondence bias or attribution effect) describes the tendency to over-value dispositional or personality-based explanations for the observed behaviors of others while under-valuing situational explanations for those behaviors.
The fundamental attribution error is most visible when people explain the behavior of others. When one interprets ones own behavior, situational factors are often taken into consideration.
Fundamental attribution error is a social/psychological bias, is not a true logical fallacy. However, it is frequently used in arguments or debates.
Example
As a simple example, if Alice saw Bob trip over a rock and fall, Alice might consider Bob to be clumsy or careless (dispositional). If Alice tripped over the same rock herself, she would be more likely to blame the placement of the rock (situational), or that its color camouflaged it.
Gambler’s Fallacy
Description
The Gambler’s Fallacy is the fallacy of assuming that a short-term deviation from statistical probability will be corrected in the short-term. In a totally random event, past performance has no effect on the next attempt.
Arguing that a totally random event may have a result that will self-correct to the “average” is fallacious. It is based on the false belief that a random process becomes less random, and more predictable, as it is repeated.
This is most commonly observed in gambling, hence the name of the fallacy. For example, a person playing craps may feel that the dice are “due” for a certain number, based on their failure to win after multiple rolls. This is a false belief as the odds of rolling a certain number are the same for each roll, independent of previous or future rolls.
Example
This coin has landed heads-up nine times in a row. Therefore, It will probably land tails-up next time it is tossed.
Genetic Fallacy
Description
The genetic fallacy creates an argument that is accepted or rejected based on the source of the evidence, rather than on the quality or applicability of the evidence. It is also 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.
Essentially, the genetic fallacy is the broad grouping for several other fallacies including argumentum ad hominem and argument from authority, which attempts to misdirect the line of reasoning by invoking the origins of a claim, rather than the quality of evidence.
There are some cases where this fallacy may not be a fallacy–for example, when the source of the claim may be disputed or accepted if it is relevant to the quality of the evidence.
Example
Hitler ate sugar, so sugar must be evil.
Gish Gallop
Description
The Gish Gallop occurs when the putative expert slickly rattles off a long list of assertions without providing evidence or allowing questions.
Example
And just because YOU don’t know how the cheese is created on the moon, doesn’t mean that there isn’t a cheese creating mechanism at the core of the moon. Run by secret moon wizards. And there are moon cows, that only live on the far side of the moon, eating moon grass that grows during the 14.25 days of the month where it’s illuminated – presumably spending the remaining 14.25 days in hibernation or possibly storing metabolite like cacti.
Naturally, since the crust is mostly rock, then the grass would be mostly rock too, leading to heavier milk and cheese. There’s your Occam’s Razor! All you need to do is assume the existence of a completely novel form of biological life and the explanation becomes simple!
Even more so when this neatly explains the motivation for Big Milk – moon cheese is much more valuable than “earther cheese” and only the superwealthy can afford the biological processing necessary to make it edible instead of poisonous which is why only the super-rich members of the Illuminati and Freemasons know about it. NOW IT ALL MAKES SENSE!!!!!
The Nirvana Fallacy
Description
The Nirvana fallacy is an attempt to compare a realistic solution with an idealized one, and dismissing or even discounting the realistic solution as a result of comparing to a “perfect world” or impossible standard.
This reasoning ignores the fact that the solutions are often good enough to meet any reasonable standard. Furthermore, the fallacy often focuses on one single standard of an idea or thing without regards to the other qualities that may be important in evaluating that thing or idea.
In addition, the Nirvana fallacy can lead someone to ignore an unbiased evaluation of a risk versus benefit analysis. One could focus on the risk, demanding that it be completely eliminated, even if the benefit far outweighed the cost.
Example
The MMR vaccine has a 1 in 1 million chance of a serious adverse event. Thus, it should be considered so unsafe that it should be removed from the market until a vaccine that never has an adverse effect is available.
Non Sequitur
Description
The non sequitur is the Latin phrase for “(it) does not follow.” It means that the conclusion reached does not follow from the premise(s).
Examples of non sequitur arguments are hilariously disconnected, but often they can be subtle and may not be easily uncovered. The arguments are fallacious since they do not provide any evidence for an argument and are just meant to confuse the listener.
Example
Vaccines are dangerous. Which means the moon landings were faked.
Poisoning the Well
Description
Poisoning the well is a logical fallacy that uses the association of negative emotions to distract a subject from actual evidence in an argument. Usually, the arguer attempts to present any information that could produce a biased opinion of the subject, either in support or against.
The poisoning the well fallacy is related to the ad hominem argument, in that the subject is attacked or defended based on some irrelevant quality, rather than the actual evidence
Example
Big Pharma is immoral and greedy. They hide evidence of the failure of vaccines. They bribe the FDA and WHO. Therefore, vaccines shouldn’t be trusted.
