num_pages: 59
description: A fallacy is an error in reasoning. That is, it is a piece of bad logic. Just as it is a good idea to avoid eating bad food, it is also a rather good idea to avoid bad reasoning. Unfortunately, bad reasoning is all too common—it pours out of the television and infests the web like an army of venomous spiders. Perhaps even worse than the fallacies inflicted from the outside are self-inflicted fallacies. These can lead people to make poor decisions about matters great and small.Fortunately, there is a defense against bad reasoning, namely knowledge. This concise book provides the reader with definitions and examples of forty-two common fallacies—the knowledge a person needs to defend herself in a world awash in fallacies. This short book is not intended to be a handbook on winning arguments or a text on general logic.The book contains the following fallacies:Ad HominemAd Hominem Tu QuoqueAppeal to the Consequences of a BeliefAppeal to AuthorityAppeal to BeliefAppeal to Common PracticeAppeal to EmotionAppeal to PopularityAppeal to FearAppeal to FlatteryAppeal to NoveltyAppeal to PityAppeal to PopularityAppeal to RidiculeAppeal to SpiteAppeal to TraditionBegging the QuestionBiased GeneralizationBurden of ProofCircumstantial Ad HominemFallacy of CompositionConfusing Cause and EffectFallacy of DivisionFalse DilemmaGambler’s FallacyGenetic FallacyGuilt by AssociationHasty GeneralizationIgnoring a Common CauseMiddle GroundMisleading VividnessPeer PressurePersonal AttackPoisoning the WellPost HocQuestionable CauseRed HerringRelativist FallacySlippery SlopeSpecial PleadingSpotlightStraw ManTwo Wrongs Make a RightTwo Wrongs Make a Right
language: English
title: 42 Fallacies