APPENDIX 1

Logical Fallacies
Understanding logical fallacies
Part 1
What Are Logical Fallacies?
A logical fallacy is an error in reasoning.
When someone tries to argue based on
erroneous reasoning, they are committing a
logical fallacy.
Some logical fallacies are more common than
others
Being able to pick out errors in your own
reasoning and others is a great skill that is
becoming increasingly rare.
Formal vs. Informal Fallacies
Formal fallacies are called deductive, while
informal fallacies are called inductive.
For each type of argument, there is a
different understanding of what constitutes a
fallacy.
Formal arguments usually have a higher
standard than informal ones.
Formal (Deductive) Arguments
and Fallacies
Formal arguments must be water-tight.
For a deductive argument to be valid, it must be
impossible for both its premises to be true and its
conclusion false.
For example:
1) All human beings are mortal.
2) Socrates is a human being
Therefore:
3) Socrates is mortal.
Its simply not true that 1 and 2 are true and 3 is false,
so this argument is deductively valid. Any deductive
argument that fails to meet this high standard is
fallacious it is a formal fallacy.
Informal (Inductive) Arguments
and Fallacies
Inductive arguments arent as rigorous as deductive
arguments.
Even if its premises are true, the argument still may have a
false conclusion.
All inductive arguments are technically invalid, and are
therefore not right or wrong, but rather strong or
weak.
For example:
1) The sun has come up every day in recorded history.
Therefore:
2) The sun will come up tomorrow.
It is the informal fallacies that are of most concern to
critical thinkers and guides to good thinking.
Types of Fallacies
We can group informal fallacies as related to
either relevance, ambiguity, or presumption.
Arguments that commit fallacies of relevance
rely on premises that are not relevant to the
truth of the conclusion.
Arguments that commit fallacies of ambiguity
manipulate language in misleading ways.
Arguments that commit fallacies of presumption
contain false premises and fail to establish their
conclusion.
Lets look at some examples.
Although there are many fallacies out there that we
wont cover, these are the most common ones.
Learn them so that you can avoid them in your own
arguments, and also so that you can easily pick
them out in others arguments.
The Fallacies
Fallacies of Relevance
Ad Hominem (Personal Attack)
Arguments not focusing on evidence, but
rather on the person making the claim, are
guilty of the Ad Hominem fallacy.
People committing this fallacy seek to
discredit the people behind an idea rather
than the idea itself.
Its important to always attack arguments,
not the arguers themselves.
Ad Hominem: Example
1) My pastor at church says that modern
biology supports the idea of an intelligent
designer.
2) Hes compelled to say that because hes
religious, and probably hasnt studied the
issue.
Therefore:
3) Modern biology doesnt support an
intelligent designer.
Bandwagon
The Bandwagon fallacy (also called the
Appeal to Popularity) attempts to focus on
the growing popularity of an idea as a basis
for accepting its truth.
This is a fallacy because there are many other
areas of an idea that could increase its
popularity other than truth, including peer
pressure, tangible benefits, and even mass
ignorance.
Bandwagon: Example
1) A recent study reveals that the idea of
gender segregation in education is growing
increasingly popular, and that as many as
80% of Americans think its a good idea.
Therefore:
2) Gender segregation in education is a good
idea.

Appeal to Antiquity/Tradition
This fallacy assumes that older ideas are
better, and the fact that because something
has been around for a while implies that it is
true or good.
We cant, of course, learn anything about an
idea simply based on how old it is.
This fallacy in reverse the idea that
something is good or true just because it is
new is also a fallacy, called the Appeal to
Novelty.
Appeal to Antiquity/Tradition:
Example
1) The institution of slavery dates back to
some of the worlds oldest civilizations, and
even existed in early America.
Therefore:
2) Slavery must be good for civilizations.
Appeal to Authority
This fallacy happens when the truth or
validity of a claim is based (wholly or partly)
on support from a supposed authority.
Even a legitimate authority on a subject may
affirm a falsehood, so no testimony is ever
guaranteed to be true.
However, this informal fallacy only occurs
when the speaker on the topic is either not an
authority at all, or is not an authority on the
subject at hand.
Appeal to Authority: Example
1) My math teacher said that George
Washington never cut down a cherry tree.
Therefore:
2) George Washington never cut down a
cherry tree.

*Note that the conclusion here may be true, but
as the math teacher is an authority in math
and not history, appealing to him or her
would be a fallacy.
Appeal to Pity
An Appeal to Pity happens when an arguer
attempts to persuade using sympathy rather
than evidence.
Our emotional responses are not always a
good guide to truth.
Emotions tend to cloud, rather than clarify,
issues.
In seeking truth, we should base our beliefs
on reason rather than emotion.
Appeal to Pity: Example
A common example of the Appeal to Pity is in
the pro-life practice of picketing with posters
that display images of aborted fetuses. By
showing people pictures of dead babies, they
hope to create anger and disgust in people so
they will turn against the practice of abortion.
Red Herring
This logical fallacy is a common debate tactic
that you should always watch out for.
A Red Herring happens when someone attempts
to divert attention from an argument by
introducing a new topic.
The diversion often seems to be related to the
argument, and therefore its easy to get an
opponent off track.
A Red Herring can be both frustrating and
effective but always remember that it is also
fallacious.
Red Herring: Example
1) I missed the deadline for my exam.
2) I was up all night with my sick daughter,
and was then in a car accident this morning,
and so I was tired and overwhelmed and
completely lost track of time.
Therefore:
3) I should be allowed to make up the exam.
*Notice that this Red Herring also takes the
form of an Appeal to Pity.
False Analogy
A False (or Weak) Analogy attempts to rely on
an analogy in order to persuade.
However, the strength of an analogy rests on
the strength of the comparison being made.
The fallacy happens with the analogys
comparison is not strong enough.
False Analogy: Example (designed
by William Paley)
1) A watch and the universe are similar in that they
both display order and complexity.
2) A watch is the product of intelligent design.
Therefore:
3) The universe must be the product of intelligent
design.

The question here is whether or not the similarities in
the kind and degree of order exhibited by watches
and the universe are sufficient enough to support an
inference in the similarity of their origins.
Fallacies of Ambiguity
Straw Man
This fallacy happens when someone presents
an argument as weaker than it actually is.
When an argument is misrepresented as
weaker than it is, it can be easily knocked
down (like a straw man).
When this happens, though, what has
actually been refuted is not the real issue, and
therefore presents a fallacy.
Straw Man: Example
1) The Christian belief in a Trinity proposes
that three equals one.
2) Three does not equal one.
Therefore:
3) The belief in a Trinity is false.

Fallacies of Presumption
Appeal to Ignorance
Arguments from ignorance propose a claim
to be true because it hasnt been proven to be
false.
Sometimes arguers claim that their positions
are justified because they havent been
proven false, but remember that this is
fallacious.
Appeal to Ignorance: Example
1) No one has been able to disprove the
existence of mermaids and sirens.
Therefore:
2) I am justified in believing that mermaids
and sirens exist.

*The argument is fallacious because the non-
existence of mermaids is perfectly consistent
with no one having been able to prove their
non-existence.
Begging the Question (Circular
Reasoning)
An argument is circular if its conclusion is
among its premises or if it assumes what it is
trying to prove.
These arguments are said to beg the
question.
Circular arguments fail as proof because it will
only be judged to be sound by those who
already accept the conclusion.
Begging the Question: Example
1) Women have a right to choose an abortion or
not
Therefore:
2) Abortion should be legal.

*Having a right to X is the same as other people
having an obligation to allow you to have X, so
this argument begs the question, assuming
exactly what it is trying to prove. The same
would be said of 1) the unborn have a right to
life, and therefore 2) abortion should be illegal.
False Dilemma
The false dilemma happens when people are
asked to choose between only two options
when there is at least one other option
available.
This fallacy is an attempt to make people
think that a certain issue is black and white,
when in fact it is gray, and urge them into a
decision.
False Dilemma: Example
There are a few examples we can look to in terms of this fallacy.
One example is the famous Pascals Wager. It presents that a
person is better off choosing to be a Christian because 1) they
lose nothing if theyre wrong and 2) they gain everything if
theyre right; while 1) nonbelievers lose everything if theyre
wrong and 2) gain nothing if theyre right. This is a false dilemma
because its not taking into account the many other heavens and
hells besides the Christian one(s) that might damn the Christian,
or the monetary and time losses a Christian might experience if
wrong.
Another example is any time a person says, Youre either with us
or against us. This reasoning is leaving out the possibility of
neutrality which, especially in times of war, is often a very viable
position that claims to neither be for or against either side.
Hasty Generalization
A Hasty Generalization happens when an
arguer draws a conclusion from a small, and
perhaps atypical, case.
The conclusions drawn may very well be
false, as the example used is often not
typical.
Hasty Generalization: Example
1) My lawyer neighbor is very grouchy.
Therefore:
2) All lawyers must be grouchy.
Post Hoc
The term literally means, after this,
therefore because of this.
This fallacy occurs when an arguer assumes
that because one thing occurred after
another, it occurred because of it.
Mere temporal succession, however, does not
entail causal succession.
Post Hoc: Example
1) School shootings began happening soon
after we removed prayer from schools.
Therefore:
2) Removing prayer from schools resulted in
school shootings.
Slippery Slope
This fallacy assumes that one thing must lead to
another.
The slippery slope fallacy happens when we say
that one thing leads to another, which will lead
to something else, and before we know it well
be led to something we definitely dont want.
The fallacy happens when its recognized that its
possible to complete the first step without falling
down the slope of the supposed subsequent
steps.
Slippery Slope: Example
1) We cant legalize marijuana because then
wed be legalizing heroin, LSD, cocaine, and
all other illegal drugs.
Therefore:
2) Legalization of marijuana will lead to
legalization of every illegal drug imaginable.