Logical Fallacies

Question 0

Bandwagon approach

Answer 0

Everybody is doing it. If the majority of people believe or do something it must be true

Question 1

Ad hominem

Answer 1

Find fault with a person then reject their beliefs

Question 2

Either/or reasoning

Answer 2

An oversimplification that gives only two choices: either bright and shiny and good or sucky

Question 3

Equivocating

Answer 3

Conclusion is reached incorrectly by shifting the meaning of some word or phrase in the argument

Question 4

Hasty generalization

Answer 4

Reasoning from information about very few things to a conclusion about many things.

Question 5

Name calling

Answer 5

Calling an opponent a bad name and suggesting that the name itself is bad. “sheer romanticism” “starry eyed idealism”

Question 6

Personifying abstractions

Answer 6

Combines oversimplification and verbal distortionS. Makes and argument based on belief of a diverse group of sources instead of specific evidence. “History shows” “doctors say”

Question 7

Red herring

Answer 7

Avoiding the main argument by diversionary tactics such as following tangents.

Question 8

Slippery slope

Answer 8

Assuming that a proposed step will set off an uncontrollable chain of undesirable events. Some truth to it, but very extreme

Question 9

Straw man

Answer 9

Attempts to “prove” an argument by over stating, exaggerating and over simplifying opponents argument. Making a caricature of the opposition.