Logical Fallacies | SpringBoard 3.12

Logical Fallacies

What are logical fallacies?

Logical fallacies are errors in reasoning that are based on poor or faulty logic. When presented in a formal argument, they can cause you to lose your credibility as a writer, so you have to be careful of them (https://owl.excelsior.edu). Read the following slides to prepare for a quiz on the terms.

Ad bactum, or Scare Tactics

an attempt to scare people into accepting your position

Ad hominem/genetic fallacy

attacking your opponent instead of attacking their argument

Ad Misericordiam

an attempt to use compassion or pity to replace a logical argument; appealing to pity as an argument for special treatment

Ad Populum (Bandwagon)

appeal to a crowd; arguing that something is true because other people think so

Argument from Outrage

showing anger to support your point

(This includes name calling. Remember: if you call someone a name, you have lost your argument.)

Either-Or (or False Dilemma)

Oversimplifying the argument by suggesting that there are only two possible conclusions or outcomes

Hasty Generalization

A fallacy in which a faulty conclusion is reached because of inadequate evidence. To leap to a conclusion based on only a few facts or instances

Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc

A person assumes that, because one thing happened before another, that thing caused the other;

after this, therefore because of this

Red Herring/Smokescreen

Answering the question by changing the subject.

For example, when pulled over for speeding, a person might respond to the officer's question, "Why were you speeding?" by saying, "The school no longer offers driver's education classes."

Slippery Slope

A person suggests that one action will lead to a sequence of events that will cause an inevitable and undesireable outcome

Straw Man

Erecting a distorted or exaggerated representation of an opponent's argument;

When a writer argues against a claim that nobody actually holds or is universally considered weak.