LOGICAL FALLACIES

Sophistical Refutations
Aristotle
Ad Hominem
An attack on the character of a person
rather than his/her opinions or arguments

Green Peace's strategies aren't effective because they are all dirty, lazy hippies.

Do you believe that racist pig?

Identify the attack and prove that neither the character nor the circumstances
of the person have anything to do with the veracity of the proposition.
Ad Logicam
Straw man fallacy.
- I don’t think it’s a good idea for teenagers to go on vacation on their own.

- Forcing our children to stay locked at home is harmful to their emotional development.

“But with all respect, we do not need to build a bridge to the past.
We need to build a bridge to the future...” (Bill Clinton, 1996)

Prove that the arguments by the opposition have been misinterpreted,

and clarify with a more solid argument.
Petitio Principii (Begging the Question)
The conclusion is assumed to be true in the argument’s
premise.
The Bible is the Word of God… because the Bible says so.

Paranormal activity is real because what I have experienced

can only be described as paranormal activity.

Identify the premise that is trying to evade the important question.

False Dichotomy
Multiple choices are reduced artificially to only a binary
choice.
If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.

You’re either with me or against me.

Clearly enumerate the other options,

arguing why they are viable and more preferable options.
Ad Ignorantiam (Appeal to ignorance)
Claims that a conclusion must be true if it hasn’t been proven
false,
or false if it hasn’t been proven true.
- You failed because you cheated on the exam.
- That’s not true.
- Can you demonstrate that you didn’t cheat?

Nobody has proven that aliens don’t exist, therefore they must exist.
Nobody has proven that aliens exist, therefore they don’t exist.

If an affirmation is made, it has to be proven, no more no less.

Being ignorant on the facts doesn’t entitle people to make up claims.
Ad Nauseam
Tireless repetition of an idea.
- Your Honor, I didn’t do it.
- But this is your gun, sir.
- Yes, but I didn’t do it.
- It has your fingerprints.
- But I didn’t do it.

Repeating constantly that a particular political ideology is good or bad.

No matter how many times a lie is repeated, it still won’t become true.
Ad Populum
Appeal to what most people think
in order to persuade others to think the same way.

It must be a great movie, for millions of people have seen it in theaters.

You can skip the yellow light, everybody does.

The popularity of an idea has no relation with its veracity.

No true Scotsman
Appeal to purity as a way to dismiss
relevant criticism or flaws in the argument.

- No Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge.

- But my uncle is a Scotsman, and he puts sugar in his porridge.

- Yes, but no true Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge.

The exception to the rule breaks all generalizations.

Ad Consequentiam
Appeal to irrelevant or untrue consequences.

God must exist, because if He didn’t, there would be chaos and immorality.

He didn’t make his best effort, otherwise we would’ve won the championship.

She is not a corrupt politician… if she were, she would lose the election.

Desirability is not related to the veracity of the idea or proposition.

Slippery Slope
If “A” is allowed to happen, then “Z” will eventually happen,
therefore, ”A” should not be allowed to happen.

If we ban Hummers because they are bad for the environment

eventually the government will ban all cars, so we should not ban Hummers.

If we legalize marijuana now, next they will legalize all other drugs,
and the crime will explode.

Request the Cause/Effect relation that is being put forward.

 Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc
“After this, therefore, because of this.”

I drank some water and I got sick. Therefore, water makes me sick.

After the President took office, the pandemic hit the world,
therefore he caused the pandemic.

Everyone who went to the Moon has eaten chicken.

therefore chicken makes you go to the Moon.

Prove that the co-relation is not necessarily a consequence of the premise, demonstrate that
other factors cause the effect or that the effect might be the same with different causes.
Secundum Quid
Hasty generalization.

A man tried to rape me… All men are potential rapists.

The first session was very boring, I bet the rest of the course will also be boring.

I just saw a mouse. There’s an infestation in my house!

Determine the sample size and compare it with the total size of the population,
proving that the sample is too small.
Ad Baculum
Appeal to force or threat.

You need this job, and I need an efficient secretary.

We should be getting along well.

Officer, I know that I parked in the wrong spot, but you don’t know who you’re talking to.
One phone call and you’ll lose your job, understand?

Identify the threat and prove that it doesn’t relate to the veracity of the premise.
Ad Verecundiam
Appeal to authority.

Vladimir Putin mentioned that there is life on Mars, so I’m conviced that there is.

The priest said on his sermon that the vaccine is bad for people,
if he said so, then I won’t get the shot.

Trust me on this, I worked for the government for many years.

Prove that the person whose authority is being put forward

is not an expert in the area.
Red Herring
Attempt to redirect the argument to another issue.
“I don’t know Putin, have no deals in Russia, and the haters are going crazy!
Yet Obama can make a deal with Iran, number one in terror, no problem.” (Donald Trump)

We haven’t given our staff a pay raise, but we put a lot of money
into making a top quality product.

We can’t worry about the environment, we’re in the middle of a war!

Don’t allow the main issue to be redirected before its discussion is finalized.
Non Sequitur
The conclusion does not follow logically from the
premise.
People died from cancer before cigarettes were invented,
so smoking doesn’t cause cancer.

Diets don’t work for most people, therefore

we shouldn’t put obese children on diet.

Millions of people have seen lights in the sky which they can’t identify.
Life on other planets is becoming a certainty.

Prove that the result is not a direct consequence of the premise.