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