Logical Fallacies

Question 1

Strawman

Answer 1

Misrepresenting someone’s argument to make it easier to attack.

Question 2

False Cause

Answer 2

Presuming that a real or perceived relationship between things means that one is the cause of the other.

Question 3

Appeal to Emotion

Answer 3

Manipulating an emotional response in place of a valid or compelling argument.

Question 4

Fallacy Fallacy

Answer 4

Presuming that because a claim has been poorly argued, or a fallacy has been made, that the claim itself must be wrong.

Question 5

Slippery Slope

Answer 5

Asserting that if we allow A to happen, then Z will consequently happen too, therefore A should not happen.

Question 6

Ad Hominem

Answer 6

Attacking your opponent’s character or personal traits in an attempt to undermine their argument.

Question 7

Tu Quoque

Answer 7

Avoiding having to engage with criticism by turning it back on the accuser - answering criticism with criticism.

Question 8

Personal Incredulity

Answer 8

Saying that because one finds something difficult to understand that it’s therefore not true.

Question 9

Special Pleading

Answer 9

Moving the goalposts or making up exceptions when a claim is shown to be false.

Question 10

Loaded Question

Answer 10

Asking a question that has a presumption built into it so that it can’t be answered without appearing guilty.

Question 11

Burden of Proof

Answer 11

Saying that the burden of proof lies not with the person making the claim, but with someone else to disprove.

Question 12

Ambiguity

Answer 12

Using double meanings or ambiguities of language to mislead or misrepresent the truth.

Question 13

The Gambler’s Fallacy

Answer 13

Believing that ‘runs’ occur to statistically independent phenomena such as roulette wheel spins

Question 14

Bandwagon

Answer 14

Appealing to popularity or the fact that many people do something as an attempted form of validation.

Question 15

Appeal to Authority

Answer 15

Saying that because an authority thinks something, it must therefore be true.

Question 16

Composition / Division

Answer 16

Assuming that what’s true about one part of something has to be applied to all, or other, parts of it.

Question 17

No True Scotsman

Answer 17

Making what could be called an appeal to purity as a way to dismiss relevant criticisms or flaws of an argument

Question 18

Genetic

Answer 18

Judging something good or bad on the basis of where it comes from, or from whom it comes.

Question 19

Black-or-white

Answer 19

Where two alternative states are presented as the only possibilities, when in fact more possibilities exist.

Question 20

Begging the Question

Answer 20

A circular argument in which the conclusion is included in the premise.

Question 21

Appeal to Nature

Answer 21

Making the argument that because something is ‘natural’ it is therefore valid, justified, inevitable, good, or ideal.

Question 22

Anecdotal

Answer 22

Using personal experience or an isolated example instead of a valid argument, especially to dismiss statistics.

Question 23

The Texas Sharpshooter

Answer 23

Cherry-picking data clusters to suit an argument, or finding a pattern to fit a presumption.

Question 24

Middle Ground

Answer 24

Saying that a compromise, or middle point, between two extremes is the truth.