Logical Fallacies

Fallacies of Relevance
Appeal to Force/Scare Tactics
• The appeal to force/scare tactics (or ad baculum fallacy) occurs when
a conclusion is defended by a threat to the well-being of those who do
not accept it.
• Mr. Ali, you helped us import the drugs. For this, the Boss is grateful. But now
you say you’re entitled to 50 percent of the profits. The Boss says you’re
entitled to 10 percent. Unless you see things the Boss’s way, you’re going to
have a very nasty accident. So, you’re entitled to 10 percent. Got it?
• “You can avoid harm by accepting this statement. So, the statement is
true.”
Appeal to Force...
• Lately there has been a lot of negative criticism of our policy on medical
benefits. Let me tell you something, people. If you want to keep working
here, you need to know that our policy is fair and reasonable. I won’t
have anybody working here who doesn’t know this.
• Listen, Nadia, I know you disagree with my view about the building
project. You’ve made your disagreement clear to everyone. Well, it’s
time for you to see that you are mistaken. Let me get right to the point. I
know you’ve been lying to your husband about where you go on
Wednesday afternoons. Unless you want him to know where you really
go, it’s time for you to realize that I’ve been right about the building
project all along. You follow me?
Appeal to Force or Not?
• If you smoke, you increase your risk of getting lung cancer. It’s not in
your interest to do something that increases your risk of getting lung
cancer. So, it’s not in your interest to smoke.

• If you don’t get off my property right now, I’ll call the police and have
you arrested. [It’s not in your interest to be arrested. So, it’s not in
your interest to stay on my property.]
Appeal to the People (Bandwagon)
• The appeal to the people/Bandwagon (or ad populum fallacy) is an
attempt to persuade a person (or group) by appealing to the desire to be
accepted or valued by others.
• I look out at you all, and I tell you, I am proud to be here. Proud to belong to a
party that stands for what is good for Pakistan. Proud to cast my lot with the kind
of people who make this nation great. Proud to stand with men and women who
can get our nation back on its feet. Yes, there are those who criticize us, who
label our view of trade agreements as “protectionist.” But when I look at you
hard-working people, I know we’re right and the critics are wrong.
• Premises: You will be accepted or valued if you believe this statement.
• Conclusion: This statement is true.
Appeal to the People...
• Ms. Riley, are you saying that President Bush made a moral error
when he decided to go to war with Iraq? I can’t believe my ears.
That’s not how Americans feel. Not true Americans, anyway. You are
an American, aren’t you, Ms. Riley?
• The new Audi isn’t for everyone. But then, you’ve always stood apart
from the crowd, haven’t you? So, Audi is the car for you.
Appeal to Pity
• The appeal to pity (or ad misericordiam fallacy) is the attempt to
support a conclusion merely by evoking pity in one’s audience when
the statements that evoke the pity are logically unrelated to the
conclusion.
• Taxpayer to judge: Your Honour, I admit that I declared thirteen children as
dependents on my tax return, even though I have only two. But if you find me
guilty of tax evasion, my reputation will be ruined. I’ll probably lose my job, my
poor wife will not be able to have the operation that she desperately needs,
and my kids will starve. Surely I am not guilty.
• You have heard that my client was seen in the vicinity of the crime scene on
the day of the murder. But look at his narrow shoulders and frightened eyes.
This is a man—a boy really—more sinned against than sinning.
Appeal to Pity...
• Premises: You have reason to pity this person (or group).
• Conclusion: You should do X for the benefit of this person (or group),
although doing X is not called for logically by the reason given.
• Call for compassion is different
• As a result of war and famine, thousands of children in country X are
malnourished. You can help by sending money to Relief Agency Y. So, please
send whatever you can spare to Relief Agency Y.
Red Herring
• Any argument in which the premises are logically unrelated to the
conclusion commits this fallacy.
• There is a good deal of talk these days about the need to eliminate pesticides
from our fruit and vegetables. But many of these foods are essential to our
health. Carrots are an excellent source of vitamin A, broccoli is rich in iron,
and oranges and grapefruits are high in vitamin C.
• Premises: Something relevant to the topic at hand is described.
• Conclusion: A distracting but often unnoticed change of subject
occurs.
Equivocation
• Equivocation occurs when two (or more) meanings of a word (or
phrase) are used in a context in which validity requires a single
meaning of that word (or phrase).
• Only man is rational. But no woman is a man. Hence, no woman is rational.
• Only humans are rational. No woman is a male human. So, no woman is
rational.
• Premises: Contain a key word (or phrase) that is ambiguous.
• Conclusion: Is reached not by valid logical inference but by trading on
the ambiguity of the key word (or phrase).
Equivocation or not?
• I agree with Christians in their claim that God is love. But unlike
Christians, I’m not afraid to draw the obvious logical consequence:
Love is God.
Begging the Question
• An argument begs the question when it assumes the point to be proved.
• The defendant is not guilty of the crime, for she is innocent of having committed it

• Everyone must be allowed to speak his or her mind because otherwise

freedom of speech would be violated
• God does not exist. Why? Because natural selection is true, and according
to natural selection, all species came into being by purely blind, natural
forces. How do I know natural selection is true? Well, it is the best
scientific theory. “Scientific theories” of course, by definition, exclude any
supernatural claims or assumptions.
Begging the Question...
• 1. No supernatural or theological theory is true.
• So, 2. The best explanation for the order in the universe is natural
selection.
• So, 3. Natural selection is true.
• So, 4. God does not exist.
Examples
• Social Darwinists such as Herbert Spencer hold that the development
and structure of human societies can be explained in terms of
evolutionary principles such as the survival of the fittest. But I reject
Social Darwinism because Spencer was a real bonehead.
• All the really hot new thinkers are using principles from sociobiology.
It’s the new wave in ethics. So, you should accept the principles of
sociobiology.
Examples
• It is quite clear what the proponents of legalized euthanasia are
seeking. Put simply, they are seeking the power to kill anyone who
has a serious illness. And that is why I stand opposed to legalized
euthanasia.
• Professor Jackson, this paper merits at least a “B.” I stayed up all night
working on it. And if I don’t get a “B,” I’ll be put on academic
probation.