Logical Fallacies

A rainbow appeared in the sky the day before basketball tryouts, and I made the team! If there's a rainbow when I try out in the spring, I'm sure I'll make the team again.

• Is this a HASTY GENERALIZATION (a very broad claim based on very little evidence) ?

• Is this a FALSE CAUSATION (the assumption that because two things happened together, one caused the other)?

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.7.8

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RL.8.1

I'm not surprised, frankly, that someone who gets lost in his own neighborhood would argue that New York has better pizza than Chicago.

• Is this AD HOMINEM (a personal attack against the opponent)?

• Is this STRAW MAN (a misrepresentation of opponent's position to make it easier to argue against)?

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.7.8

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RL.7.1

CCSS.RL.8.1

Of course you don't like rap or hip-hop music! You wear the same clothes every day and have zero fashion sense.

• Is this CIRCULAR REASONING (an argument that supports the claim with the claim itself)?

• Is this AD HOMINEM (personal attack against opponent)?

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.7.8

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RL.7.1

Cassie has no school spirit—she never comes to any of our football games.

guilt by association: a negative association intended to discredit someone or something

• Is this FALSE DICHOTOMY (an argument that presents only two choices when more options exist)?

• Is this GUILT BY ASSOCIATION (a negative association intended to discredit someone or something)?

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.7.8

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RL.8.1

The number of off-leash dogs I've seen in Livingston is completely unacceptable. Let's make our streets safe again by addressing this dog problem, before our city becomes a haven for criminals.

• Is this BANDWAGON ( the assumption that the popular choice is automatically correct) ?

• Is this RED HERRING ( the use of a completely unrelated topic or idea) ?

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.8

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RL.7.1

CCSS.RL.8.1

All the popular guys at school are dyeing their hair purple, so you should, too!

• Is this CIRCULAR REASONING ( an argument that supports a claim with the claim itself)?

• Is this BANDWAGON FALLACY (the assumption that the popular choice is automatically correct) ?

• Is this AD HOMINEM (personal attack against opponent) ?

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.7.8

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RL.7.1

Sure, we haven't given raises to our employees in more than ten years. However, we do pride ourselves on providing customer service in over seven different languages.

• Is this using a RED HERRING ( the use of a completely unrelated topic or idea as a distraction) ?

• Is this using a HASTY GENERALIZATION ( a very broad claim based on very little evidence) ?

• Is this using GUILT BY ASSOCIATION (a negative association intended to discredit someone/something) ?

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.7.8

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RL.8.1

Dean, the company you work for just filed for bankruptcy! How can I trust you with our money?

• Is this GUILT BY ASSOCIATION (a negative association intended to discredit someone or something) ?

• Is this a HASTY GENERALIZATION (a very broad claim based on very little evidence) ?

• Is this a STRAW MAN (a misrepresentation of an opponents claim to make it easier to argue against) ?

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.7.8

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RL.8.1

Mayor Kerr wants to create more bicycle lanes in Greenpoint. Why is he forcing us to give up our cars and bike everywhere?

• Is this using BANDWAGON FALLACY (the popular choice has to be the best/right one)?

• Is this using an APPEAL TO NATURE (the assumption that natural things are always good) ?

• Is this using a STRAW MAN ( a misrepresentation of an opponent's position that makes it easier to argue against) ?

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RL.7.1

CCSS.RL.8.1

Officer, I was only driving as fast as everyone around me. I'm sure I wasn't speeding.

• Is this using BANDWAGON FALLACY (the assumption that the popular choice is automatically correct) ?

• Is this using FALSE CAUSATION ( the assumption that because two things happened together, one caused the other) ?

• Is this using FALSE DICHOTOMY (an argument that presents only two choices when there are obviously more) ?

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.7.8

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RL.7.1

CCSS.RL.8.1