Also Known As… Politician’s Syllogism A very dangerous contemporary fallacy, this one arises when tragedies and crises triggers the response: “We have to do something!” – regardless of whether or not that “something” is an overreaction, ineffective, or even makes things works. The logic, or lack thereof, usually flows like this: 1. We must do…

Also Known As… Two Wrongs Make a Right, Look Who’s Talking, The Appeal to Hypocrisy (a variety of the Ad Hominem, related to Red Herring)  Pronounced “too-KWO-kwee” and literally translating as “you too,” this fallacy attempts to justify a wrong action because someone else also does it. It’s commonly used as a red herring because…

Also Known As… Argumentum ad Misericordiam, Playing to Emotions, Appeal to Pity, “E” for Effort, Noble Effort, Sob Story This fallacy occurs when someone attempts to invoke an emotional response (fear, hope, anxiety, love, surprise, guilt, shame, distress, interest, excitement, joy, anger, disgust sadness, happiness, amusement, peacefulness) instead of using a valid or compelling argument.…

Also Known As… Argument from Authority (a type of Ad Hominem) A type of ad hominem, this fallacy occurs when one believes what an authority figure says just because they are an authority figure. In other words, the claim is true because of the identity of the person advancing the claim, often regardless of their…

Also Known As… False Dilemma, Black/White Fallacy, Either-Or Reasoning, Fallacy of False Choice, Fallacy of Exhaustive Hypotheses, Fallacy of False Alternative, Fallacy of the Excluded Middle Closely related to the straw man fallacy, this occurs when choices are artificially reduced to only two options, ignoring all other alternatives, either intentionally or unintentionally. It implies that…

Also Known As…Hasty Generalization, Fallacy of Exclusion, Faulty Sign, Hasty Conclusion, Jumping to a Conclusion, Misunderstanding Statistics or Non-Representative Sample, Composition/Division, Sweeping Generalization A type of association fallacy, this occurs when you draw a conclusion without sufficient evidence, often using one or two examples as a basis of judgment for all examples. It is frequently…

Also Known As… False Balance, Argument to Moderation, Golden Mean Fallacy, False Compromise, Gray Fallacy, argumentum ad temperantium The opposite of the false dichotomy, this fallacy occurs when someone asserts that the extremes are always wrong and the middle ground is always right or when we give equal weight and credence to both sides of…

Also Known As… Fallacy of Origins, Fallacy of Virtue The term “genetic” here refers to the Latin meaning of the word “gen” – to create – usually in reference to the beginning of something. This fallacy is a type of association fallacy where the conclusion is based entirely on the origin of something or someone…

This fallacy occurs when one doctrine is pushed, often intensely, as the only acceptable conclusion and that that belief is beyond question. Dogmatists are unwilling to even consider an opposing argument and believe that they are so correct that they can’t even examine evidence to the contrary. Some even believe that thinking about questioning the…

Also Known As… “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Appeal to Antiquity, Appeal to Common Practice, Appeal to the Old, Old Ways are Best, Fallacious Appeal to the Past, Appeal to Age, Proof from Tradition, Appeal to Past Practice, argumentum ad antiquitatem (opposite of Appeal to Innovation) This fallacy is based on the argument…