Logical Fallacies

Question 1

Ad Hominem

Answer 1

means “against the man”. This type of fallacy is sometimes called name calling or the personal attack fallacy. This type of fallacy occurs when someone attacks the person instead of attacking his or her argument.

Question 2

Straw Man

Answer 2

A form of argument and an informal fallacy of having the impression of refuting an argument, whereas the real subject of the argument was not addressed or refuted, but instead replaced with a false one. One who engages in this fallacy is said to be “attacking a straw man”.

Question 3

False Dilemma

Answer 3

An informal fallacy based on a premise that erroneously limits what options are available. The source of the fallacy lies not in an invalid form of inference but in a false premise.

Question 4

Slippery Slope

Answer 4

An argument in which a party asserts that a relatively small first step leads to a chain of related events culminating in some significant effect.

Question 5

Circular Argument

Answer 5

A logical fallacy in which the reasoner begins with what they are trying to end with.

Question 6

Hasty Generalisation

Answer 6

A fallacy that makes a claim based on evidence that is just too small. Essentially, you can’t make a claim and say that something is true if you have only an example or two as evidence.

Question 7

Red Herring

Answer 7

Something that misleads or distracts from a relevant or important question. It may be either a logical fallacy or a literary device that leads readers or audiences toward a false conclusion.

Question 8

Casual Fallacy

Answer 8

A category of informal fallacies in which a cause is incorrectly identified. For example: “Every time I go to sleep, the sun goes down. Therefore, my going to sleep causes the sun to set.”

Question 9

Sunk Cost

Answer 9

The phenomenon whereby a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that abandonment would be more beneficial.

Question 10

Equivocation

Answer 10

An informal fallacy resulting from the use of a particular word/expression in multiple senses within an argument. It is a type of ambiguity that stems from a phrase having two or more distinct meanings, not from the grammar or structure of the sentence.

Question 11

Bandwagon

Answer 11

An argumentum ad populum is a fallacious argument which is based on claiming a truth or affirming something is good because the majority thinks so.