Logical Fallacies

Question 1

What is the Ad Hominem Fallacy

Answer 1

Using personal attacks instead of advancing good or sound reasoning.

• A fallacy of relevance where someone rejects or criticizes another person’s view on the basis of personal characteristics, background, physical appearance, or other features irrelevant to the argument at issue.*
• Latin: “Against the man”*

Question 2

What is the Straw Man fallacy?

Answer 2

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

Question 3

What is the False Cause fallacy?

Answer 3

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

Correlation does not necessarily equal causation

Question 4

What is The Fallacy fallacy?

Answer 4

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

Question 5

What is the composition/division fallacy?

Answer 5

When you assume that one part of something has to be applied to all, or other, parts of it; or that the whole must apply to its parts.

Question 6

What is the burden of proof fallacy?

Answer 6

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

Question 7

What is the begging the question fallacy?

Answer 7

When you present a circular argument in which the conclusion was included in the premise.

Question 8

What is the appeal to emotion fallacy?

Answer 8

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

Question 9

What is the tu quoque fallacy?

Answer 9

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

Question 10

What is the personal incredulity fallacy?

Answer 10

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

Question 11

What is the special pleading fallacy?

Answer 11

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

Question 12

What is the loaded question fallacy?

Answer 12

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

Question 13

What is the ambiguity fallacy?

Answer 13

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

Question 14

What is the gambler’s fallacy?

Answer 14

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

Question 15

What is the bandwagon fallacy?

Answer 15

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

Question 16

What is the appeal to authority fallacy?

Answer 16

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

Question 17

What is the no true scotsman fallacy?

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

What is the genetic fallacy?

Answer 18

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

Question 19

What is the black-or-white fallacy?

Answer 19

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

Question 20

What is the appeal to nature fallacy?

Answer 20

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

Question 21

What is the anecdotal fallacy?

Answer 21

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

Question 22

What is the texas sharpshooter fallacy?

Answer 22

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

Question 23

What is the middle ground fallacy?

Answer 23

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