Misrepresenting someone's argument to make it easier to attack

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Logical Fallacies

Term	Definition	Example
Strawman	Misrepresenting someone's argument to make it easier to attack	After Will said that we should put more money into health and education, Warren responded by saying that he was surprised that Will hates our country so much that he wants to leave it defenceless by cutting military spending.
False cause	Presuming that a real or perceived relationship between things means that one is the cause of the other	Pointing to a fancy chart, Roger shows how temperatures have been rising over the past few centuries, whilst at the same time the numbers of pirates have been decreasing; thus pirates cool the world and global warming is a hoax.
Appeal to emotion	Manipulating an emotional response in place of a valid or compelling argument	Luke didn't want to eat his sheep's brains with chopped liver and brussel sprouts, but his father told him to think about the poor, starving children in a third world country who weren't fortunate enough to have any food at all.
Fallacy fallacy	Presuming that because a claim has been poorly argued, or a fallacy has been made, that the claim itself must be wrong	Recognising that Amanda had committed a fallacy in arguing that we should eat healthy food because a nutritionist said it was popular, Alyse said we should therefore eat bacon double cheeseburgers every day.
Slippery slope	Asserting that if we allow A to happen, then Z will consequently happen too, therefore A should not happen	Colin Closet asserts that if we allow same-sex couples to marry, then the next thing we know we'll be allowing people to marry their parents, their cars and even monkeys.
Ad hominem	Attacking your opponent's character or personal traits in an attempt to undermine their argument	After Sally presents an eloquent and compelling case for a more equitable taxation system, Sam asks the audience whether we should believe anything from a woman who isn't married, was once arrested, and smells a bit weird.
To quoque	Avoiding having to engage with criticism by turning it back on the accuser - answering criticism with criticism	Nicole identified that Hannah had committed a logical fallacy, but instead of addressing the substance of her claim, Hannah accused Nicole of committing a fallacy earlier on in the conversation.
Personal incredulity	Saying that because one finds something difficult to understand that it's therefore not true	Kirk drew a picture of a fish and a human and with effusive disdain asked Richard if he really thought we were stupid enough to believe that a fish somehow turned into a human through just, like, random things happening over time.
Special pleading	Moving the goalposts or making up exceptions when a claim is shown to be false	Edward Johns claimed to be psychic, but when his 'abilities' were tested under proper scientific conditions, they magically disappeared. Edward explained this saying that one had to have faith in his abilities for them to work.
Loaded question	Asking a question that has a presumption built into it so that it can't be answered without appearing guilty	Grace and Helen were both romantically interested in Brad. One day, with Brad sitting within earshot, Grace asked in an inquisitive tone whether Helen was still having problems with her drug habit.
Burden of proof	Saying that the burden of proof lies not with the person making the claim, but with someone else to disprove	Bertrand declares that a teapot is, at this very moment, in orbit around the Sun between the Earth and Mars, and that because no one can prove him wrong, his claim is therefore a valid one.
Ambiguity	Using double meanings or ambiguities of language to mislead or misrepresent the truth	When the judge asked the defendant why he hadn't paid his parking fines, he said that he shouldn't have to pay them because the sign said 'Fine for parking here' and so he naturally presumed that it would be fine to park there.
Gambler's fallacy	Believing that 'runs' occur to statistically independent phenomena such as roulette wheel spins	Red had come up six times in a row on the roulette wheel, so Greg knew that it was close to certain that black would be next up. Suffering an economic form of natural selection with this thinking, he soon lost all of his savings.
Bandwagon	Appealing to popularity or the fact that many people do something as an attempted form of validation	Shamus pointed a drunken finger at Sean and asked him to explain how so many people could believe in leprechauns if they're only a silly old superstition. Sean, however, had had a few too many Guinness himself and fell off his chair.
Appeal to authority	Saying that because an authority thinks something, it must therefore be true	Not able to defend his position that evolution 'isn't true' Bob says that he knows a scientist who also questions evolution (and presumably isn't a primate).
Composition/Division	Assuming that what's true about one part of something has to be applied to all, or other, parts of it	Daniel was a precocious child and had a liking for logic. He reasoned that atoms are invisible, and that he was made of atoms and therefore invisible too. Unfortunately, despite his thinky skills, he lost the game of hide and go seek.
No true scotsman	Making what could be called an appeal to purity as a way to dismiss relevant criticisms or flaws of an argument	Angus declares that Scotsmen do not put sugar on their porridge, to which Lachlan points out that he is a Scotsman and puts sugar on his porridge. Furious, like a true Scot, Angus yells that no true Scotsman sugars his porridge.
Genetic	Judging something good or bad on the basis of where it comes from, or from whom it comes	Accused on the 6 o'clock news of corruption and taking bribes, the senator said that we should all be very wary of the things we hear in the media, because we all know how very unreliable the media can be.
Black or white	Where two alternative states are presented as the only possibilities, when in fact more possibilities exist	Whilst rallying support for his plan to fundamentally undermine citizens' rights, the Supreme Leader told the people they were either on his side, or they were on the side of the enemy.
Begging the question	A circular argument in which the conclusion is included in the premise	The word of Zorbo the Great is flawless and perfect. We know this because it says so in The Great and Infallible Book of Zorbo's Best and Most Truest Things that are Definitely True and Should Not Ever Be Questioned.
Appeal to nature	Making the argument that because something is 'natural' it is therefore valid, justified, inevitable, good, or ideal	The medicine man rolled into town on his bandwagon offering various natural remedies, such as very special plain water. He said that it was only natural that people should be wary of 'artificial' medicines such as antibiotics.
Anecdotal	Using personal experience or an isolated example instead of a valid argument, especially to dismiss statistics	Jason said that that was all cool and everything, but his grandfather smoked, like, 30 cigarettes a day and lived until 97 - so don't believe everything you read about meta analyses of methodologically sound studies showing proven causal relationships.
Texas sharpshooter	Cherry-picking data clusters to suit an argument, or finding a pattern to fit a presumption	The makers of Sugarette Candy Drinks point to research showing that of the five countries where Sugarette drinks sell the most units, three of them are in the top ten healthiest countries on Earth, therefore Sugarette drinks are healthy.
Middle ground	Saying that a compromise, or middle point, between two extremes is the truth	Holly said that vaccinations caused autism in children, but her scientifically well-read friend Caleb said that this claim had been debunked. Their friend Alice offered a compromise that vaccinations must cause some autism, just not all autism.

Created by: Pavan Korada

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