Informal Fallacies

Front 1

Appeal to Force

Back 1

The conclusion is based on some type of threat.

Front 2

Appeal to Pity

Back 2

Support the conclusion by evoking pity from the reader.

Front 3

Appeal to the People

Back 3

Exploits our desire to be liked, accepted, loved, etc. Appeals to our desires.

Bandwagon argument (everyone else does it)

Appeal to vanity - you are special (so you deserve this car)

Appeal to snobbery (only the elite)

Appeal to fear - fear mongering (home security ads)

Appeal to tradition

Front 4

ad Hominem - Argument Against the Person

Back 4

When two or more people are involved, one attacks the person instead of keeping within the argument.

Abusive - verbally attacks the person

Circumstantial- discredits the person

tu quoque (you do it too) - trying to make the person look hypocritical

Front 5

Accident

Back 5

A general rule (principle) is misapplied. (Promises don't always need to be kept as in wedding vows)

Front 6

Straw Man

Back 6

Distorts the arguers argument in order to attack it. Creates a fictional point of view in order to attack it.

Front 7

Missing the Point

Back 7

The conclusion doesn't go along with the premise.

Front 8

Red Herring

Back 8

The arguer changes the subject to something not related to the main subject.

Front 9

Appeal to Unqualified Authority

Back 9

Not a qualified authority on the subject.

Front 10

Appeal to Ignorance

Back 10

Nothing has been proven one way or another.

Front 11

Hasty Generalization

Back 11

Conclusion drawn against a group of people based on a small sample of people.

Front 12

False Cause

Back 12

Link between premise & conclusion depends on some imagined causal connection that probably doesn't exist.

Gambler's fallacy.

General lack of causal connection.

Reverse of causal sequence.

Oversimplified causes.

Front 13

Slippery Slope

Back 13

Variety of the False Cause except there is a sequence of events (chain reaction).

Front 14

Weak Analogy

Back 14

When the analogy is not strong enough to support the conclusion.

Front 15

Begging the Question

Back 15

Leaves out a shaky key premise.

Conclusion restates a shaky premise.

Reasoning in a circle.

Front 16

Complex Question

Back 16

Two or more questions are asked in one question that would be just a yes or no answer.

Front 17

False Dichotomy

Back 17

"Either...or..." premise presents two unlikely alternatives as if they were the only ones available then eliminates the undesirable one, leaving the desirable one as the conclusion.

Front 18

Suppressed Evidence

Back 18

An important piece of evidence is left out of the premise.

Front 19

Equivocation

Back 19

A word is used two different ways in an argument.

Front 20

Amphiboly

Back 20

A statement is misinterpreted then the conclusion is based on that misinterpretation.

Front 21

Composition

Back 21

When parts have an attribute and the attribute is transferred to the whole.

Front 22

Division

Back 22

Reverse of composition. Attributes of the whole are applied to the parts.