Library ThinkingCritically.net

LibraryFallacies

10 entries

Section

Fallacies

Errors in the structure of an argument. The conclusion may be true or false, but these reasons don't get you there.

  1. Definition
  2. Form
  3. How to spot it
  4. Examples
  5. Why it persuades
  6. How to counter it
  7. When it's not a fallacy
  8. Related
  9. Sources & further reading

Relevance

2
  1. 01 Ad HominemAttacking the person making an argument instead of the argument itself.
  2. 02 Straw ManReplacing someone's real position with a weaker version that's easier to knock down.

Presumption

3
  1. 01 False DilemmaPresenting two options as the only possibilities when there are more.
  2. 02 False EquivalenceTreating two things as equal because they share one feature, while ignoring big differences in size, kind, or evidence.
  3. 03 Shifting the Burden of ProofMaking a claim, then demanding that others disprove it instead of supporting it yourself.

Causal

2
  1. 01 Post HocConcluding that because one thing followed another, the first thing caused it.
  2. 02 Slippery SlopeClaiming that a first step will set off a chain of events ending in disaster, without showing the chain is likely.

Ambiguity

1
  1. 01 EquivocationUsing one word in two different senses within an argument, so the conclusion only seems to follow.

Statistical

1
  1. 01 Cherry-PickingPointing to the evidence that supports a claim while ignoring the evidence that doesn't.

Formal

1
  1. 01 Affirming the ConsequentReasoning that because a result occurred, the thing that would have caused it must have happened.