Logical Fallacies examples Flashcards
It makes no difference if he was guilty of Nazi war crimes. The man is 88 years old and in frail health, so he should not be made to stand trial.
ad misericordiam
How could Tom accuse her of being careless? He’s such a slob.
ad hominem
Paula is 16 years old and lives on welfare with her mother; she suffers serious depression and functions like a child half her age. She should not be sent to adult court, where she will be tried for robbery, so she can spend her formative years behind bar.
ad misericordiam
Of course he doesn’t see anything wrong with violent movies. The guy’s a warmonger.
ad hominem
We cannot expect Ms. Lucas to know what it means to feel oppressed; she is the president of a large bank.
ad hominem
High school students don’t learn anything these days. Today’s teachers are academically underprepared.
ad populum
Everybody’s going to the System of a Down concert.
bandwagon appeals
That foolish law should be repealed.
begging the question
People who are happy with their work are cheerful because they enjoy what they’re doing.
circular reasoning
If torture can save the lives of those who would be killed by terrorists, then the government should employ torture as a preemptive measure of protection.
dicto simpliciter
If you want to see the crime rate drop, tell Hollywood to stop making movies that glorify violence.
ad populum
Nobody will go along with that proposal.
bandwagon appeals
She is compassionate because she’s a woman.
begging the question
Smoking is bad for you because it ruins your health.
circular reasoning
Exercise is good for people. Now that Bob is out of the hospital, he should get back to the treadmill.
dicto simpliciter
Doctors oppose health reform because it will reduce their large incomes.
ad populum
The majority of the American people want a constitutional amendment outlawing flag burning.
bandwagon appeals
If you haven’t written short stories, you shouldn’t be allowed to criticize them.
begging the question
Bank robbers should be punished because they broke the law.
circular reasoning
Guns kill. So we cannot allow the average citizen to possess a weapon.
dicto simpliciter
The ship of state is about to wreck on the rocks of recession; we need a new pilot.
false analogy
English should be the official language of the United States, and anybody who doesn’t like it can leave.
false dilemma
You should buy these vitamins because Lady Gaga recommended them on TV last night.
faulty use of authority
This whole gun control issue is polarizing the nation the way slavery did people living above and below the Mason-Dixon Line. Do we want another Civil War?
false analogy
Movies today are full of either violence or sex.
false dilemma
The American Bar Association states that secondhand smoke is a serious cancer threat to nonsmokers.
faulty use of authority
Letting emerging nations have nuclear weapons is like giving loaded guns to children.
false analogy
Either we put warning labels on records and compact discs, or we’ll see more and more teenage girls having babies.
false dilemma
Americans shouldn’t find hunting objectionable because one of our most popular presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, was an avid hunter.
faulty use of authority
That shopping mall is unsafe because there was a robbery there two weeks ago.
hasty generalization
Mr. Thompson has such bad breath that it’s a wonder he sings so well.
non sequitur
Just two weeks after they raised the speed limit, three people were killed on that road.
post hoc, ergo propter hoc
I’m failing organic chemistry because the teaching assistant doesn’t speak English well.
hasty generalization
She’s so pretty; she must not be smart.
non sequitur
I saw Ralph in the courthouse; he must have been arrested.
post hoc, ergo propter hoc
This book was written by a Stanford professor, so it must be good.
hasty generalization
I supported his candidacy for president because his campaign was run so efficiently.
non sequitur
It’s no wonder the crime rate has shot up. The state legislature voted to lower the drinking age.
post hoc, ergo propter hoc
Even though that hockey player was convinced of vehicular homicide, he shouldn’t go to jail because he’s such a great athlete.
red herring
Legalized abortion is a step toward creating an anti-life society.
slippery slope
Parents should realize that private schools simply encourage elitism in young people.
stacking the deck
Susan didn’t hire John for the job because his wife is always late for meetings.
red herring
A ban on ethnic slurs will mean no more free speech
slippery slope
We cannot take four more years of her in office given the way she voted against the death penalty.
stacking the deck
The teacher gave me an F in the course she doesn’t like me.
red herring
If we let them build those condos, the lake will end up polluted, the wildlife will die off, and the landscape will be scarred forever.
slippery slope
Dickens’s Bleak House is six hundred pages of boring prose.
stacking the deck
Homeschooling is dangerous because it keeps kids isolated from society.
straw man
Discrimination in hiring is not unfair. An employer has to discriminate between competent and incompetent, good and bad workers. Otherwise, we’d be hiring people least qualified for the job.
straw man
People who are opposed to urbanization just want to go back to living in caves.
straw man
