Top Ten Informal Fallacies

Appeal to Emotion (Ad Populum)

 Reliance is made on expressive

language and other devices meant to
excite the emotions for or against some
cause.

 Example: Bandwagon, i.e., do or

believe something because everyone
else is doing it
Appeal to Emotion (Ad Populum)

 A specific type of appeal to emotion is

appeal to pity (ad misericordiam).

 Example: Mary will be broken hearted if

she does not get an A in logic;
therefore, she ought to get one.
 2

Argument Against the Person

(Ad Hominem)
 The attack is directed not at the
argument but at the person who
defends it. It may be abusive or
circumstantial.

 Example: Your argument is bad

because you suck! (abusive)
Argument Against the Person
(Ad Hominem)
 Example: I think that we should reject
what Father Jones has to say about the
ethical issues of abortion because he is
a Catholic priest. After all, Father Jones
is required to hold such views.
(circumstantial)
 3

Appeal to Force (Ad Baculum)

 Threats or strong-arm methods are used

to persuade others to accept an
argument.

 Example: To intimidate someone with

the possibility of termination from work if
he does not agree with company policy.
 4

Argument from Ignorance

(Ad Ignorantiam)
 It is argued that something is true
because it has not been proven false
(and vice versa).

 Example: Believers of psychic

phenomena (e.g., telepathy) insist that
they are real, pointing out that skeptics
have not proven them false.
 5

Appeal to Inappropriate Authority (Ad

Verecundiam)
 A claim is forwarded on the strength of
the opinion of one who has no
legitimate claim to authority in the issue.

 Example: Advertisers urge consumers to

buy an automobile of a particular make
because a famous pop star affirms its
superiority.
 6

False Cause (Non Causa Pro Causa)

 It is assumed that one event is the cause

of another when it is not. It usually arises
when one event precedes another.

 It is sometimes called post hoc ergo

propter hoc (“after the thing, therefore
because of the thing”)
False Cause (Non Causa Pro Causa)

 Example: He had bad luck after he

broke the mirror; therefore, his bad luck
came because he broke the mirror.
 7

Hasty Generalization
(Converse Accident)
 A conclusion is drawn about an entire
class or group on the basis of
knowledge about one (or very few)
members of that class or group.

 Example: As I walked to the library not

one person spoke to me. Lander
University is not as friendly as I was led to
believe.
 8

The Red Herring

 Attention is drawn to some other aspect

of the topic and led away from the issue.

 A red herring is anything that diverts

attention away from a relevant or
important issue. The term comes from the
practice of using a strong-smelling
smoked fish to train hunting dogs.
The Red Herring

 Example: There is a lot of commotion

regarding saving environment. We
cannot make this world an Eden. What
will happen if it does become Eden?
Adam and Eve got bored there!

Question: What's the real issue? How is the

speaker trying to divert the audience's
attention?
The Red Herring

 To divert attention from the real issue –

which is that we should save the
environment – the speaker talks about
“the perils” of turning the world
(assuming we could do so) into an Eden:
it would be boring!
 9

The Straw Man

 The position of one’s opponent is

misrepresented or distorted,
exaggerated or oversimplified.

 One then attacks this “superficially

similar yet unequivalent proposition (the
'straw man')” and claims to destroy it
(but he has not actually refuted the
original argument).
The Straw Man

Example:

A: “Sunny days are good.”

B: “If all days were sunny, we'd never
have rain, and without rain, we'd have
famine and death.”
Question: Which is the straw man?
The Straw Man

B falsely frames A's claim to imply that A

believes only sunny days are good. B
then argues against that assertion. But
the only thing A actually asserts is that
sunny days are good. A does not say
anything about rainy days nor does A say
that all days should be sunny.
 10

Begging the Question

(Petitio Principii)
 The premises include the claim that the
conclusion is true or assume that the
conclusion is true. It is a circular
argument.

 Example: Logic is an essential course

because it is required at many colleges.
It is required because the ability to
reason is vital, and it is vital because
logic is essential.