Fallacies

Front 1

Fallacy of Composition

Back 1

The fallacy of Composition is committed when a conclusion is drawn about a whole based on the features of its constituents when, in fact, no justification provided for the inference.

Front 2

Appeal to Emotion

Back 2

An Appeal to Emotion is a fallacy with the following structure:

Favorable emotions are associated with X.
Therefore, X is true.

Front 3

Confusing Cause and Effect or Post Hoc

Back 3

Confusing Cause and Effect is a fallacy that has the following general form:

A and B regularly occur together.
Therefore A is the cause of B.

Front 4

Fallacy of Division

Back 4

When an inference is based upon generality and specifics are based upon the general assumptions

Front 5

Circular Reasoning, Begging the Question

Back 5

Begging the Question is a fallacy in which the premises include the claim that the conclusion is true or (directly or indirectly) assume that the conclusion is true. This sort of "reasoning" typically has the following form.

Premises in which the truth of the conclusion is claimed or the truth of the conclusion is assumed (either directly or indirectly).
Claim C (the conclusion) is true.

Front 6

Middle Ground, Fallacy of Moderation, Golden Mean Fallacy

Back 6

This fallacy is committed when it is assumed that the middle position between two extremes must be correct simply because it is the middle position. this sort of "reasoning" has the following form:

1. Position A and B are two extreme positions.
2. C is a position that rests in the middle between A and B.
3. Therefore C is the correct position.

Front 7

Misleading Vividness

Back 7

Misleading Vividness is a fallacy in which a very small number of particularly dramatic events are taken to outweigh a significant amount of statistical evidence. This sort of "reasoning" has the following form:

1. Dramatic or vivid event X occurs (and is not in accord with the majority of the statistical evidence) .
2. Therefore events of type X are likely to occur.

Front 8

Relativist Fallacy, The Subjectivist Fallacy

Back 8

The Relativist Fallacy is committed when a person rejects a claim by asserting that the claim might be true for others but is not for him/her.

Front 9

Red Herring, Wild Goose Chase, Smoke Screen

Back 9

A Red Herring is a fallacy in which an irrelevant topic is presented in order to divert attention from the original issue. The basic idea is to "win" an argument by leading attention away from the argument and to another topic.

Front 10

Slippery Slope, The Camels Nose

Back 10

The Slippery Slope is a fallacy in which a person asserts that some event must inevitably follow from another without any argument for the inevitability of the event in question. In most cases, there are a series of steps or gradations between one event and the one in question and no reason is given as to why the intervening steps or gradations will simply be bypassed.