LESSON 2

• “Logical Fallacies”

  What is a Fallacy?

  • A fallacy is a common error in reasoning, which undermines the logic of the argument.
  • Fallacies can be :
  • illegitimate arguments
  • irrelevant points
  • claims that lack evidence
• 1. Ad Hominem

  • A logical fallacy that discredits the opponent’s arguments through attacking the person’s character or skill level rather than the argument itself
• Types of Ad Hominem

  1. Abusive Ad Hominem
  2. Circumstantial Ad Hominem
  3. Ad Hominem Tu Quoque
• • Abusive Ad Hominem

  ● Often referred to as “personal attack” or “mudslinging”

  ● Most common type of ad hominem argument

  ● Occurs when someone verbally attacks the person making the argument, rather than criticizing the validity of their claim.
• Circumstantial Ad Hominem

  ● Also known as “appeal to motive”

  ● Happens when one attempts to attack a claim by asserting that the person making the claim is making it simply out of self-interest

  ● Also involves substituting an attack on a person’s circumstances (religion, political affiliation, ethnic background, gender, etc.)
• Ad Hominem Tu Quoque

  ● Latin for “you too”

  ● Also known as “appeal to hypocrisy”

  ● Happens when one claims that someone’s argument must be false because it is not consistent with his/her past actions or words.
• 2. Guilt by Association

  • Happens when someone is discredited due to their supposed association with something negative.
  • The attempt to discredit an idea based upon disfavored people or groups associated with it.
• 3. Bandwagon / Ad Populum

  • Assumes that something must be true or good because it is popular or believed by the majority
• 4. Hasty Generalization

  • Reaches a conclusion or generalization that is NOT logically justified by sufficient or unbiased evidence, or that is usually based on a sample size that is too small to support that conclusion.
• 5. Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

  • Translated as “after this, therefore because of this.
  • A logical fallacy that occurs when someone assumes that one event must have caused a later event simply because it happened after the other.
• 6. Straw Man Fallacy

  • Happens when an argument is distorted, oversimplified, or misrepresented for it to be more easily refuted.
  • Ignores the original argument and then substitutes it by a distorted version of it.
• 7. False Dilemma/False Dichotomy Fallacy

  • Occurs when a limited number of choices, outcomes, or views are presented as the only possibilities when, in fact, more possibilities exist
  • Also known as “either-or fallacy” and “black-and-white thinking”
• 8. Slippery Slope Fallacy

  • Occurs when someone argues that a certain action or proposition will lead to an undesirable outcome via a series of events, without providing adequate evidence.