Post by Fringe Pioneer on Jan 10, 2011 21:27:12 GMT
I put this thread in debate so that future debates could be made without logical fallacies. This thread will always be under construction, as there will doubtlessly be more fallacies to include that aren't already listed.
This thread was originally posted here.
Logical Fallacy
Example of fallacy
Explanation of how/why it is a fallacy
Hasty Generalization
I am a fish out of water.
Fish out of water become dehydrated.
I will therefore die of dehydration.
Where did death enter into the equation?
Hypothesis Contrary to Fact
If I wouldn't have made this post, we wouldn't ever have a discussion of logical fallacies.
I DID make this post, so oh well...
Opposing a Straw Man / Slippery Slope
If we recruit new members, then they will be the worst of the Community. Since they will be the worst of the Community, they will bring their inherent idiocy into the forums.
The recruits being the worst of the Community is only one of several possibilities: maybe they will all be experienced users with common sense; maybe they will be the average Community members; maybe there will be a mixture of ingenuity and idiocy; who knows for sure?
Non-Sequitur
This is a post; ergo, I am king of the universe.
What does being king of the universe have anything to do with this being a post?
Appeal to Bathos (a.k.a. "Appeal to Pity")
EMPLOYER: What are your qualifications?
EMPLOYEE: I have a wife and ten children. My wife resorts to begging, and less than half of my children have good clothes to wear.
The employee relied on pity (bathos) to win an "argument." He never answered the employer's question.
Ad Hominem (a.k.a. "Poisoning the Well")
At the beginning of a debate, politician A calls politician B a disillusioned fool.
Instead of relying on true argumentation, politician A makes the audience refuse to listen to anything that politician B will say.
Guilt by Association
Emperor Palpatine opposed tobacco consumption.
King James II opposed tobacco consumption.
Emperor Palpatine is therefore wrong in opposing tobacco consumption.
Just because the supporter (or a dissident) of an idea was hated doesn't mean that the idea is wrong (or right). If anything National Socialist takes the place of King James II in similar arguments, then the fallacy is renamed "playing the Hitler Card."
Post Hoc, ergo Propter Hoc
Every time the rooster crows, the sun rises; ergo, the sun rises because the rooster crows.
The sun's rising isn't necessarily caused by the rooster's crow.
Appeal to Prejudice: Bandwagon
Everyone is happy with an iPod, ergo I will be happy with an iPod.
Just because everyone else is doing it doesn't mean you should, too.
Appeal to Authority
A majority of pharmacists have approved "Buff-Me-Up" as an excellent product that will make me fit; ergo, I should use "Buff-Me-Up" to become fit.
Just because "experts" approve something doesn't mean that something is good.
Appeal to Tradition
I was always taught that it was correct to brush my teeth before eating, ergo I should always brush my teeth before eating.
I was always taught that it was correct to brush my teeth before eating, ergo to not brush my teeth after eating is wrong.
Just because something is traditional, ingrained, customary, or habitual doesn't mean that it is correct or that alternatives are wrong.
Circular Reasoning
Energy looks like this because it should look like this.
Energy should look like this, therefore it does.
Not only is the last statement itself illogical, but the entire argument proved absolutely nothing.
Fallacy Fallacy (a.k.a. "Fallacist's Fallacy")
The argument is illogical (it is Post Hoc, ergo Propter Hoc), ergo the conclusion is false.
There is always the possibility that the conclusion is indeed true, even though the argument supporting it is a fallacy.
Equivocation
All murderers are inhumane; ergo, no murderer is a human.
There IS a difference between "human" and "humane": the arguer apparently fails to see that difference...
Amphiboly
If something alien to one's pajamas are in one's pajamas, then one is weird.
The photographer shot an elephant in his pajamas; ergo, he is weird.
Hold on, was the photographer in his pajamas when he shot the elephant, in which case the conclusion has nothing to do with the premises, or was the elephant in his pajamas when he shot the elephant, in which case the conclusion does logically follow the premises?
False Analogy
Construction workers get to use their tools when working on construction projects; ergo, students should get to use their tools when working on their tests.
There is not enough in common for one of these to serve as an argument for another. Students are being tested for their knowledge: construction workers are building structures which would truly be impossible to build without their tools.
This thread was originally posted here.
Logical Fallacy
Example of fallacy
Explanation of how/why it is a fallacy
Hasty Generalization
I am a fish out of water.
Fish out of water become dehydrated.
I will therefore die of dehydration.
Where did death enter into the equation?
Hypothesis Contrary to Fact
If I wouldn't have made this post, we wouldn't ever have a discussion of logical fallacies.
I DID make this post, so oh well...
Opposing a Straw Man / Slippery Slope
If we recruit new members, then they will be the worst of the Community. Since they will be the worst of the Community, they will bring their inherent idiocy into the forums.
The recruits being the worst of the Community is only one of several possibilities: maybe they will all be experienced users with common sense; maybe they will be the average Community members; maybe there will be a mixture of ingenuity and idiocy; who knows for sure?
Non-Sequitur
This is a post; ergo, I am king of the universe.
What does being king of the universe have anything to do with this being a post?
Appeal to Bathos (a.k.a. "Appeal to Pity")
EMPLOYER: What are your qualifications?
EMPLOYEE: I have a wife and ten children. My wife resorts to begging, and less than half of my children have good clothes to wear.
The employee relied on pity (bathos) to win an "argument." He never answered the employer's question.
Ad Hominem (a.k.a. "Poisoning the Well")
At the beginning of a debate, politician A calls politician B a disillusioned fool.
Instead of relying on true argumentation, politician A makes the audience refuse to listen to anything that politician B will say.
Guilt by Association
Emperor Palpatine opposed tobacco consumption.
King James II opposed tobacco consumption.
Emperor Palpatine is therefore wrong in opposing tobacco consumption.
Just because the supporter (or a dissident) of an idea was hated doesn't mean that the idea is wrong (or right). If anything National Socialist takes the place of King James II in similar arguments, then the fallacy is renamed "playing the Hitler Card."
Post Hoc, ergo Propter Hoc
Every time the rooster crows, the sun rises; ergo, the sun rises because the rooster crows.
The sun's rising isn't necessarily caused by the rooster's crow.
Appeal to Prejudice: Bandwagon
Everyone is happy with an iPod, ergo I will be happy with an iPod.
Just because everyone else is doing it doesn't mean you should, too.
Appeal to Authority
A majority of pharmacists have approved "Buff-Me-Up" as an excellent product that will make me fit; ergo, I should use "Buff-Me-Up" to become fit.
Just because "experts" approve something doesn't mean that something is good.
Appeal to Tradition
I was always taught that it was correct to brush my teeth before eating, ergo I should always brush my teeth before eating.
I was always taught that it was correct to brush my teeth before eating, ergo to not brush my teeth after eating is wrong.
Just because something is traditional, ingrained, customary, or habitual doesn't mean that it is correct or that alternatives are wrong.
Circular Reasoning
Energy looks like this because it should look like this.
Energy should look like this, therefore it does.
Not only is the last statement itself illogical, but the entire argument proved absolutely nothing.
Fallacy Fallacy (a.k.a. "Fallacist's Fallacy")
Whenever people use their brains, smart things come out; ergo, smart things come out because people use their brains.
The argument is illogical (it is Post Hoc, ergo Propter Hoc), ergo the conclusion is false.
There is always the possibility that the conclusion is indeed true, even though the argument supporting it is a fallacy.
Equivocation
All murderers are inhumane; ergo, no murderer is a human.
There IS a difference between "human" and "humane": the arguer apparently fails to see that difference...
Amphiboly
If something alien to one's pajamas are in one's pajamas, then one is weird.
The photographer shot an elephant in his pajamas; ergo, he is weird.
Hold on, was the photographer in his pajamas when he shot the elephant, in which case the conclusion has nothing to do with the premises, or was the elephant in his pajamas when he shot the elephant, in which case the conclusion does logically follow the premises?
False Analogy
Construction workers get to use their tools when working on construction projects; ergo, students should get to use their tools when working on their tests.
There is not enough in common for one of these to serve as an argument for another. Students are being tested for their knowledge: construction workers are building structures which would truly be impossible to build without their tools.
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