Rhetorical/Logical Fallacies

Question 1

Argumentum ad Hominem

Answer 1

(Argument against the person): arguments attack a person’s character rather than reasoning through the issues.

Question 2

Red Herring

Answer 2

Attempts to distract by shifting attention away from an important issue.

Question 3

Ad Populum

Answer 3

(Bandwagon): an argument that appeals to the emotions or prejudices of a certain group, despite being logically unsound.

Question 4

Ad Misericordiam

Answer 4

An argument that appeals to pity.

Question 5

Non-Sequitur

Answer 5

This fallacy draws conclusions from premises that do not necessarily apply to each other.

Question 6

False Dichotomy

Answer 6

The either/or fallacy that makes the assumption that there are only two alternatives.

Question 7

Straw Person

Answer 7

Arguments excessively simplify an opponent’s viewpoint to argue against it more easily.

Question 8

Begging the Question (Circular Reasoning)

Answer 8

Occurs when a writer assumes that a statement under dispute is in fact true; such an argument is circular.

Question 9

Sentimental Appeals

Answer 9

Tug at an audience’s heartstrings to the point of ignoring the facts, perhaps to keep the audience from disagreeing with the writer.

Question 10

Equivocation (Splitting Hairs)

Answer 10

A statement that is partially correct but that purposely obscures the entire truth.

Question 11

Faulty Analogy

Answer 11

An inaccurate, inappropriate, or misleading comparison between two things.

Question 12

Hasty Generalization

Answer 12

Draws conclusions from scanty evidence.

Question 13

Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc

Answer 13

(After this, therefore because of this): an argument assumes causation based on the passing of time.

Question 14

Ad Ignorantiam

Answer 14

(An appeal to ignorance): an argument that claims something is false because there is no evidence to prove otherwise.

Question 15

Reductio Ad Absurdum

Answer 15

(Reduction to the absurd): a disproof by showing that the consequences of the proposition are absurd; or proof of a proposition by showing that negation leads to a contradiction.

Question 16

Slippery Slope

Answer 16

When someone makes a claim about a series of events that would lead to one major event, usually a bad event.

Question 17

Appeal to Emotion (argumentum ad passiones)

Answer 17

A logical fallacy characterized by the manipulation of the recipient’s emotions in order to win an argument, especially in the absence of factual evidence.

Question 18

Guilt by Association

Answer 18

Occurs when someone connects an opponent to a demonized group of people or to a bad person in order to discredit his or her argument

Question 19

Appeal to Nature

Answer 19

Because something is ‘natural’ it is therefore valid, justified, inevitable, good, or ideal.

Question 20

False Causation

Answer 20

Occurs when the link between premises and conclusion depends on some imagined causal connection that probably does not exist.

Question 21

Appeal to Authority (argumentum ad verecundiam)

Answer 21

Insisting that a claim is true simply because a valid authority or expert on the issue said it was true, without any other supporting evidence offered.