name stringlengths 3 46 | category stringlengths 5 30 | explanation stringlengths 37 330 | example stringlengths 0 94 |
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Appeal to Force | Relevance | Uses force, threats, or intimidation to persuade rather than reason.
Uses threats to compel agreement rather than logic. | If you don’t agree with me, you’ll lose your job. |
False Equivalence | Comparison Errors | Assumes two situations are equivalent when they are not.
Describing two or more statements as virtually equal when they are not. | Not recycling is just as bad as littering in the ocean. |
False Dilemma | Presumption | Presents only two options when more may exist, thereby limiting the argument unfairly.
Presents two choices as the only possibilities, when more exist.
Two alternative statements are given as the only possible options when, in reality, there are more. | You're either with us or against us. |
Appeal to Nature | Relevance | Asserts that something is good or right because it is natural.
Claims something is good because it’s 'natural'. | Organic food must be healthier because it's natural. |
Red Herring | Relevance | Introduces an irrelevant topic to divert attention from the original issue.
Introduces irrelevant information to distract from the real issue. | Why are you talking about income inequality when there are people starving in other countries? |
Cherry Picking | Data Misuse | Selects only evidence that supports a position while ignoring the rest.
Pointing to individual cases or data that seem to confirm a particular position while ignoring a significant portion of related cases or data that may contradict that position. | These three studies show it's safe (ignores 12 that show harm). |
Appeal to Ridicule | Mockery | Mocks an argument rather than addressing it logically. | Only an idiot would believe that! |
Special Pleading | Presumption | Involves creating a special exception when a claim is shown to be false, without proper justification.
Applies standards to others while exempting oneself without justification. | Yes, everyone must pay taxes — but my case is different because I’m morally opposed to it. |
Argument by Repetition | Rhetorical Tactics | Repeats a claim often enough to persuade, rather than proving it. | This product works. This product works. This product works! |
Appeal to Poverty | Status Fallacies | Assumes poverty implies wisdom or truth.
Supporting a conclusion because the claimant is poor or refuting because the opponent is wealthy. | He’s poor, so he must be more honest. |
No True Scotsman | Ambiguity | Attempts to protect a generalization from counterexamples by changing the criteria.
Dismisses counterexamples by redefining terms to protect a claim. | No Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge. Angus does? Then he’s not a true Scotsman. |
Fallacy of Composition | Ambiguity | Mistakenly infers that the properties of parts apply to the whole.
Assumes that what’s true for a part is true for the whole.
Assuming that something true of part of a whole must also be true of the whole. | Each part of the machine is lightweight, so the whole machine must be lightweight. |
Appeal to Emotion | Relevance | This fallacy manipulates emotions instead of presenting valid arguments to win agreement.
Uses emotion instead of reason to win an argument. | If you care about children at all, you’ll support this education bill! |
Appeal to Consequences | Relevance | Argues a belief is true or false based on the desirability of its consequences.
Argues something must be true or false based on the consequences of it being so.
The conclusion is supported by a premise that asserts positive or negative consequences from some course of action in an attempt to distract from the initial d... | God must exist because life would be meaningless without Him. |
Appeal to Fear | Emotion and Manipulation | Scares people into accepting a claim. | If you don’t vote for me, terrorists will win. |
Appeal to Authority | Relevance | Asserts a claim is true because an authority figure believes it, regardless of their expertise in the subject.
This fallacy occurs when someone claims a statement is true because an authority says it is, without evidence. | My doctor says the Earth is flat — and he’s a doctor! |
Appeal to Tradition | Relevance | Argues that something is better or correct because it has always been done that way.
Argues something is good or correct because it’s traditional.
A conclusion supported solely because something is 'always' done that way. | We can’t allow online voting — we’ve always voted in person! |
Circular Reasoning | Logic | A logical fallacy where the conclusion is included in the premise, often reworded to appear as if it's a different point.
The conclusion is assumed in the premise. | The Bible is the word of God because it says so in the Bible. |
Slippery Slope | Presumption | Argues that a relatively small first step will inevitably lead to a chain of negative events, often without evidence.
Argues that one small step will inevitably lead to extreme outcomes. | If we allow students to redo their tests, next they’ll want to redo entire courses. |
Appeal to Ignorance | Presumption | This fallacy asserts that a proposition is true simply because it has not been proven false, or vice versa.
Asserts something is true because it hasn’t been proven false, or vice versa. | No one has proven that aliens don’t exist, so they must be real. |
Burden of Proof | Presumption | Shifts the obligation to disprove a claim rather than provide evidence for it.
Shifts the burden of disproof to others rather than proving one’s own claim. | Prove to me that ghosts don’t exist! |
Hasty Generalization | Presumption | Draws a conclusion based on an insufficient or unrepresentative sample.
Draws a conclusion from insufficient evidence. | I met two rude people from France. Therefore, all French people are rude. |
Moralistic Fallacy | Presumption | Assumes that because something ought to be a certain way, it therefore is that way.
Inferring factual conclusions from purely evaluative premises in violation of fact–value distinction. | People shouldn’t cheat, so cheating must not happen often. |
False Cause | Causality | Assumes a cause-and-effect relationship between two unrelated events.
Assumes a real or perceived relationship between things means one caused the other. | Every time I wear this shirt, my team wins. It must be lucky. |
Ad Hominem | Relevance | An Ad Hominem attacks the character or traits of the person making the argument rather than engaging with the substance of the argument itself.
An ad hominem fallacy occurs when someone attacks a person’s character instead of engaging with the substance of their argument. | You're wrong about economics because you failed math in high school. |
Tu Quoque | Relevance | Attempts to discredit an argument by asserting the opponent’s failure to act consistently with their position.
Rejects criticism by accusing the other party of hypocrisy. | You say I shouldn't lie, but you lie all the time! |
Genetic Fallacy | Relevance | Judges a claim based on its origin or source, not its merit.
Judges a claim based on its origin rather than its merits.
A conclusion is based on an argument that the origins, history, or legacy of a person/idea has bearing on its validity. | That idea came from a politician, so it must be wrong. |
Bandwagon | Relevance | Argues that a proposition is true because many or most people believe it.
Encourages adoption of a belief because others do. | Everyone’s switching to this new phone, so it must be the best. |
Straw Man | Ambiguity | A Straw Man fallacy occurs when someone misrepresents an opponent’s position in order to make it easier to attack.
Misrepresents someone's argument to make it easier to attack. | My opponent wants to cut military funding. He must want to leave the country defenseless. |
Equivocation | Ambiguity | Uses ambiguous language to mislead or misrepresent the truth.
Uses ambiguous language to mislead or misrepresent.
Using an ambiguous term in more than one sense, thus making an argument misleading. | A feather is light. What is light cannot be dark. Therefore, a feather cannot be dark. |
Division | Ambiguity | Assumes that what is true of the whole must be true of its parts.
Assumes what's true of the whole is true of its parts.
Assuming that the parts have the same properties as the whole. | The soccer team is great; therefore, every player must be great. |
Accent | Ambiguity | Changes the meaning of a statement by emphasizing different words.
Changing the meaning of a statement by stressing different words. | I didn't say she stole the money. |
Hypostatization | Ambiguity | Treats an abstract concept as if it were a concrete thing. | Science says we shouldn’t believe in miracles. |
Complex Question | Presumption | Asks a question that assumes a particular answer to another, unasked question.
A question that implies something not established. | Have you stopped cheating on your taxes? |
False Analogy | Ambiguity | Draws a comparison between two things that aren’t truly comparable.
Draws a comparison between two unlike things and treats them as the same. | Employees are like nails. Just as nails must be hit on the head to work, so must employees. |
Middle Ground | Ambiguity | Asserts that the compromise between two extremes must be the truth.
Claims the middle between two extremes must be correct. | One person says the Earth is round, another says it’s flat — so maybe it’s a dome? |
Loaded Language | Ambiguity | Uses emotionally charged or biased language to persuade without logical argument. | Only a heartless fool would oppose this bill. |
Fallacy of Division | Ambiguity | Assumes that what is true of the whole must be true of each part individually.
Assumes what's true for the whole applies to individual parts.
Assuming that something true of a thing must also be true of all or some of its parts. | The team is the best in the league, so every player must be the best. |
Amphiboly | Ambiguity | Exploits grammatical ambiguity to mislead or misinterpret.
Using a sentence with multiple interpretations due to grammar. | The professor said he would give a lecture on Monday, so it must be Monday. |
Appeal to accomplishment | Conditional fallacies | Dismissing a person's criticism of a position by claiming that the critic has not achieved something relevant to the position. | |
Appeal to equality | Conditional fallacies | Asserting an equality of outcome without considering differences in input or effort. | |
Association fallacy | Conditional fallacies | Arguing that because two things share a property they are the same. | |
Fallacy of the beard | Conditional fallacies | Assuming that two ends of a spectrum are the same, since one can travel along the spectrum in very small increments. | |
Pooh-pooh | Conditional fallacies | Dismissing an argument as being unworthy of serious consideration. | |
Appeal to worse problems | Conditional fallacies | Dismissing an argument or complaint due to what are perceived to be more important problems. | |
Fallacy of relative privation | Conditional fallacies | Dismissing an argument or complaint due to what are perceived to be more important problems. | |
Traitorous critic fallacy | Conditional fallacies | A critic's perceived affiliation is portrayed as the underlying reason for the criticism and the critic is asked to stay away from the issue altogether. | |
Appeal to motive | Conditional fallacies | Dismissing an idea by questioning the motives of its proposer. | |
Judgmental language | Conditional fallacies | Insulting or pejorative language to influence the recipient's judgment. | |
Vacuous truth | Conditional fallacies | A claim that is technically true but meaningless, in the form no A are B because no A exist at all. | |
Argumentum ad populum | Conditional fallacies | Claiming something is true because the majority thinks so. | |
Chronological snobbery | Conditional fallacies | A thesis is deemed incorrect because it was commonly held when something else, clearly false, was also commonly held. | |
Naturalistic fallacy | Conditional fallacies | Inferring evaluative conclusions from purely factual premises in violation of fact–value distinction. | |
Suggestio veri, suggestio falsi | Conditional fallacies | A statement that insinuates a falsehood while saying something that is literally true. | |
Appeal to Pity | Emotion and Manipulation | Tries to win support by making people feel sorry. | I deserve an A because I tried really hard. |
Double Bind | False Dilemma | Presents two choices where both are problematic. | If I speak up, I’m rude. If I don’t, I’m weak. |
Fallacy of exclusive premises | Formal syllogistic fallacies | A categorical syllogism that is invalid because both of its premises are negative. | |
Negative conclusion from affirmative premises | Formal syllogistic fallacies | A categorical syllogism has a negative conclusion but affirmative premises. | |
Affirmative conclusion from a negative premise | Formal syllogistic fallacies | A categorical syllogism has a positive conclusion, but at least one negative premise. | |
Modal scope fallacy | Formal syllogistic fallacies | A degree of unwarranted necessity is placed in the conclusion. | |
Fallacy of four terms | Formal syllogistic fallacies | A categorical syllogism that has four terms. | |
Illicit minor | Formal syllogistic fallacies | A categorical syllogism that is invalid because its minor term is not distributed in the minor premise but distributed in the conclusion. | |
Illicit major | Formal syllogistic fallacies | A categorical syllogism that is invalid because its major term is not distributed in the major premise but distributed in the conclusion. | |
Non sequitur | Informal fallacies | A conclusion or statement that does not logically follow from the previous argument or statement. | |
Proof by intimidation | Informal fallacies | Using threats or coercion to assert a conclusion is correct. | |
Argument to moderation | Informal fallacies | Assuming that a compromise between two positions is always correct. | |
Two wrongs make a right | Informal fallacies | Assuming that if one wrong is committed, another wrong will cancel it out. | |
Argument from anecdote | Informal fallacies | Using a personal experience or an isolated example instead of sound reasoning or compelling evidence. | |
Invincible ignorance | Informal fallacies | The act of refusing to consider evidence that contradicts one's belief. | |
Double counting | Informal fallacies | Counting events or occurrences more than once in probabilistic reasoning, which leads to the sum of the probabilities of all cases exceeding unity. | |
Divine fallacy | Informal fallacies | Arguing that, because something is so phenomenal or amazing, it must be the result of superior, divine, alien or paranormal agency. | |
You too fallacy | Informal fallacies | Dismissing another person's argument as invalid because they are hypocritical. | |
Lie | Informal fallacies | A falsehood asserted or implied under oath or intended to deceive. | |
Ignoratio elenchi | Informal fallacies | An argument that may in itself be valid, but does not address the issue in question. | |
Proof by assertion | Informal fallacies | A proposition is repeatedly restated regardless of contradiction. | |
Third option fallacy | Informal fallacies | A fallacy that occurs when a speaker assumes that there are only two options when in fact there are more. | |
Begging the Question | Logic | Assumes the conclusion within the premise rather than proving it.
The conclusion is assumed in the premise.
Providing what is essentially the conclusion of the argument as a premise. | Reading is beneficial because it's good for you. |
Appeal to Flattery | Manipulation | Uses compliments or praise to gain support or acceptance of an argument. | You're so smart — surely you agree with me. |
Relative Privation | Minimization | Dismisses an issue by pointing to more important problems. | Why care about student debt when children are starving? |
Strawman | Misrepresentation | Misrepresents someone's argument to make it easier to attack. | 'You want to cut military spending? You must want to leave us defenseless!' |
False Attribution | Misuse of Authority | Uses an irrelevant or fabricated source to support a claim.
Appealing to an irrelevant, unqualified, unidentified, biased or fabricated source in support of an argument. | Einstein believed in astrology! |
Fallacy of the Single Cause | Oversimplification | Attributes an outcome to a single cause when there are many. | He failed because he didn't study. |
Appeal to Popularity | Popularity and Common Practice | Claims an idea is true because many people believe it. | Most people use this brand, so it must be the best. |
Continuum Fallacy | Precision Bias | Dismisses claims because a line or distinction can't be clearly defined.
Improperly rejecting a claim for being imprecise. | You can’t define when a heap becomes a heap, so there’s no such thing as a heap. |
Poisoning the Well | Preemptive Attack | Discredits a person in advance to undermine their argument. | Before my opponent speaks, remember he's a known liar. |
Hot Hand Fallacy | Probability Errors | Believes that past success increases the likelihood of future success in random events. | He made 3 baskets in a row — he can’t miss now! |
Gambler's Fallacy | Probability Misuse | Believes past events affect the probability of future random events.
The tendency to think that future probabilities are altered by past events, when in reality they are unchanged. | I’ve flipped 5 heads — the next must be tails! |
Moving the Goalposts | Rhetorical Tactics | Changes the criteria for success after they've been met.
Argument in which evidence presented in response to a specific claim is dismissed and some other (often greater) evidence is demanded. | Sure, you showed evidence — but not the kind I wanted! |
Appeal to Wealth | Status Fallacies | Assumes wealth means correctness or value.
Supporting a conclusion because the claimant is wealthy or refuting because the opponent is poor. | He’s rich, so he must know what’s right. |
Appeal to History | Tradition | Claims something is right or inevitable because it has always happened that way. | War has always existed, so it’s natural. |
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