What are Fallacies?

• A fallacy is roughly defined as an argument that is deductively invalid or has

very little inductive strength (Dowden, n.d.). Roughly speaking fallacies are
when an argument is illogical.
• But unfortunately, just like most things in philosophy this definition of
philosophy is highly inaccurate and faulty (Ibid, n.d.). But it serves as a basic
understanding of what fallacies really are.
 Some common Fallacies
1. Fallacy Ad Hominem 7. Argument to moderation Fallacy
2. Strawman Fallacy 8. Circular reasoning Fallacy
3. Burden of Proof Fallacy 9. Red herring Fallacy
4. Anecdotal Fallacy 10. Appeal to Authority Fallacy
5. Appeal to Emotion Fallacy 11. Appeal to False Authority Fallacy
6. Argumentum ad populum 12. Hasty Generalization Fallacy
Fallacy Ad Hominem
When you attack the person and not
the idea.
No matter what the character or personal
trait of a person, they can produce good
arguments. To not dismiss their argument
based on who they are is a logical
contradiction. This is because who they
are has nothing to do with the argument of
idea they are presenting.
Strawman Fallacy

Misrepresenting someone’s argument

then attacking the misrepresentation
instead of the actual argument
presented.
Burden of Proof
Fallacy
To ask someone to disprove a claim you
made. Claiming that not being able to
disprove the claim, provides evidence
for a argument is fallacious.

Example: Since you can’t disprove that

there is a fairy living under my bed, it
proves that there is one.
Anecdotal Fallacy
The Anecdotal Fallacy is committed when a
recent memory, a striking anecdote, or a news
story of an unusual event leads one to
overestimate the probability of that type of
event, especially when one has access to better
evidence.

Example: My grandfather was a heavy smoker and

lived to be 90 years without any health problems,
therefore smoking isn’t harmful
Appeal to Emotion Fallacy

You attempted to manipulate an emotional

response in place of a valid or compelling
argument.

Example: The suspect must be guilty. Look at how

the victim is crying.
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugjCCWdKr8
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Argumentum ad
populum

Argumentum ad populum (Aka- Appeal to

majority) is a fallacious argument which
aims to justify a conclusion by imploring
to majority belief. But in actual fact, just
majority belief cannot be evidence or
proof for something to be true or false.

Example: Majority of Americans believe that

diversity improves organizational quality
therefore it is true.
Argument to
moderation Fallacy
The middle ground fallacy. The idea
that the middle ground between two
opposite ideas is correct.
Circular Logic Fallacy
The Fallacy of Circular Reasoning
occurs when the reasoner begins with
what he or she is trying to end up with.

Example 01: You must obey the law,

because it's illegal to break the law.
Example 02: Bangladesh is the best
country in the world because there is no
other country like it.
 This fallacy consists in diverting attention from the real
Red Herring issue by focusing instead on an issue having only a
Fallacy surface relevance to the first.
Example: Son: "Wow, Dad, it's really hard to make a living
on my salary." Father: "Consider yourself lucky, son. Why,
when I was your age, I only made $40 a week."
Hasty Generalization
Fallacy
It is a logical fallacy to take an
inadequately small sample and
generalize it.
 Appeal to Authority Fallacy
Insisting that a claim is true simply because a
valid authority or expert on the issue said it
was true, without any other supporting
evidence offered.

Appeal to False
Authority Fallacy
The “authority” is an expert in another area.