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- Fallacies of Distraction
- False Dilemma: two choices are
given when in fact there are three options.
- From Ignorance: because something
is not known to be true, it is assumed to be false.
- Slippery Slope: aseries of
increasingly unacceptable consequences is drawn.
- Complex Question: two unrelated
points are conjoined as a single proposition
- Appeals to Motives in Place
of Support
- Appeal to Force: the reader
is persuaded to agree by force
- Appeal to Pity: the reader is
persuaded to agree by sympathy
- Consequences: the reader
is warned of unacceptable consequences.
- Prejudicial Language:
value or moral goodness is attached to believing the author.
- Popularity: a proposition
is argued to be true because it is widely held to be true.
- Changing the Subject.
- Attacking the Person:
(1) the person's character is attacked (2) the person's circumstances are noted
(3) the person does not practise what is preached.
- Appeal to Authority: (1)
the authority is not an expert in the field (2) experts in the field disagree
(3) the authority was joking, drunk, or in some other way not being serious.
- Anonymous Authority: the
authority in question is not named.
- Style Over Substance:
the manner in which an argument (or arguer) is presented is felt to affect the
truth of the conclusion.
- Inductive Fallacies.
- Hasty Generalization:
the sample is too small to support an inductive generalization about a population.
- Unrepresentative Sample:
the sample is unrepresentative of the sample as a whole.
- False Analogy: the two objects
or events being compared are relevantly dissimilar.
- Slothful Induction: the
conclusion of a strong inductive argument is denied despite the evidence to the
contrary.
- Fallacy of Exclusion:
evidence which would change the outcome of an inductive argument is excluded from
consideration.
- Fallacies Involving
Statistical Syllogisms.
- Accident: a generalization is applied
when circumstances suggest that there should be an exception.
- Converse Accident : an exception
is applied in circumstances where a generalization should apply.
- Causal Fallacies
- Post Hoc: because one thing follows
another, it is held to cause the other.
- Joint effect: one thing is held
to cause another when in fact they are both the joint effects of an underlying
cause.
- Insignificant: one thing is
held to cause another, and it does, but it is insignificant compared to other
causes of the effect.
- Wrong Direction: the direction
between cause and effect is reversed.
- Complex Cause: the cause identified
is only a part of the entire cause of the effect.
- Missing the Point.
- Begging the Question:
the truth of the conclusion is assumed by the premises.
- Irrelevant Conclusion:
an argument in defense of one conclusion instead proves a different conclusion.
- Straw Man: the author attacks an
argument different from (and weaker than) the opposition's best argument
- Fallacies of Ambiguity
- Equivocation: the same term is used with two different meanings.
- Amphiboly: the structure of a sentence
allows two different interpretations.
- Accent: the emphasis on a word or
phrase suggests a meaning contrary to what the sentence actually says.
- Category Errors.
- Composition: because the attributes
of the parts of a whole have a certain property, it is argued that the whole has
that property.
- Division: because the whole has
a certain property, it is argued that the parts have that property.
- Non Sequitur,
- Affirming the Consequent:
any argument of the form: If A then B, B, therefore A.
- Denying the Antecedent:
any argument of the form: If A then B, Not A, thus Not B.
- Inconsistency: asserting that
contrary or contradictory statements are both true.
- Syllogistic Errors .
- Fallacy of Four Terms: a syllogism
has four terms.
- Undistributed Middle:
two separate categories are said to be connected because they share a common property.
- Illicit Major: the predicate
of the conclusion talks about all of something, but the premises only mention
some cases of the term in the predicate.
- Illicit Minor: the subject of
the conclusion talks about all of something, but the premises only mention some
cases of the term in the subject.
- Fallacy of Exclusive Premises:
a syllogism has two negative premises.
- Fallacy of Drawing an
Affirmative Conclusion From a Negative Premise: as the name implies.
- Existential Fallacy: a
particular conclusion is drawn from universal premises.
- Fallacies of Explanation.
- Subverted Support the phenomenon
being explained doesn't exist.
- Non-support evidence for the phenomenon
being explained is biased.
- Untestability the theory which
explains cannot be tested.
- Limited Scope the theory which
explains can only explain one thing.
Limited Depth the theory which
explains does not appeal to underlying causes.
- Fallacies of Definition.
- Too Broad the definition includes
items which should not be included.
- Too Narrow the definition does
not include all the items which shouls be included.
- Failure to Elucidate the
definition is more difficult to understand than the word or concept being defined.
- Circular Definition the
definition includes the term being defined as a part of the definition.
- Conflicting Conditions
the definition is self-contradictory.
Permission is granted to use, abuse and reproduce this document in any way you wish provided (a) you don't claim copyright over it, (b) you don't charge anyone for using it, and (c) you indicate its original authorship. Read more on my views about copyright if you're curious. 13 August 1996. See theReferences.