Friday, 03 December 2010
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The 10 Most Frequent Logical Fallacies
Useful? Yes. Interesting? Not so much.
Just because I like to do things the right way when I can and we are bloggers, I thought it'd be nice to post a blog of reference. Here is a list of10 of the most frequent logical fallacies and examples:
1. Ad Hominem: This fallacy disregards a valid argument by attacking the person making it.
"I think eating cheese is better than eating trash."
"You would think that, you're from Wisconsin."Attacking the person so that their future statements are invalid is called Poisoning The Well, and if you really want to get nerdy with it, can engender questions of self-fulfilling prophecies.
2. Begging the Question: This fallacy is committed when a statement is believed to be true because the statement says it is true.
"I believe in God because the Bible says He exists and God wrote the Bible."
3. Generalization: This fallacy is committed when a conclusion is drawn from an incomplete (Hasty Generalization) or inaccurate (Biased Generalization) set of data.
"All funny people have big, red noses."
"How do you know?"
"All the clowns I've ever seen had big, red noses."4. Appeal to Ignorance: When the burden of proof is placed on the wrong side, or when lack of evidence for the negative is said to support the positive (or vice versa).
"I've never seen anything disproving the existence of flying pigs, so I think they exist."
5. Questionable Cause: When a statement assumes that one event causes another simply because they occur together.
In the Middle Ages, it was thought that grain left in a dark corner turned into rats because over time the grain disappeared and rats appeared.
"Rap music is causing violence and drug use in society."
6. False Dilemma: Stating that X must be true because Y is false, when in reality both could be false.
"I didn't make the sky fall down, so you must have!"
7. Straw Man: Arguing against a distorted representation to appear correct.
Kanye West to George Bush. Definitely a bit of Ad Hominem in there, too.
8. Slippery Slope: If one action occurs, then others will happen afterwards.
"If we allow gay marriage now, then next we'll have polygamy!"
9. Appeal to Tradition: A statement is true because it was true or was considered true in the past.
"'Cuz that's the way we've always done it."
10. Appeal to Emotion: A statement is true because it feels true.
"But taking my underage girlfriend to bars with a fake ID feels so right."
Feel free to use these on me whenever you see fit. As iron sharpens iron.
This site has a much longer list and more details. I highly recommend it.
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About the Author
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- From: Huck
- Name: Huck
- Location: Olympia, Washington, United States
- About Me: I like to think of myself as a pragmatic idealist, which probably comes from my existential background. I know what I want my life to look like, so I try to experience as much as I can to learn how to make it that way. I've been halfway around the world looking, and I can't wait to bring that world home again.
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Comments (42)
!!!!!!!!!!! <~~~~~~~ That's how I give positive feedback on Ebay.
I hate hate hate ad-hominem attacks. Loathe!!!
Good post. I always think about these.
I totally have a final on this stuff on Tuesday. Haha.
Excellent work.
But slippery slopes are so much fun. I mean, c'mon... they're slippery!!!
Hahah, memorizing 30 logical fallacies in highschool sure paid off.. I'm notorious for calling out logical fallacies mid-arguement. And it really pisses people off.. :)
this coulda saved me while i was taking critical thinking in college >.<
Already learned this freshman year in college in a critical thinking philosophy course.
@a_drunken_cellist@xanga - Because with mancouch comes great knowledge buried deep in the humor of today's men. And I don't think anyone on Lovelyish would allow it.
I remember learning these in high school. Kinda cool revisiting.
This is fantastic because it's totally what we're learning right now in AP Language. Yay for things that actually apply to real life!(:
You forgot Appeal to Artistium:
Person A: Obviously grass is green. And that means that Depeche Mode is the best band ever.
Person B: What does the grass have to do with Depeche Mode?
Person A: Well, you wouldn't understand anyway. I'm an artist.
I'm sure there are a few real fallacies that could count under (loosely), but I prefer to make my own :).
If you haven't figured it out yet, logic is not always useful or welcome outside of theories and abstract debates. Its a good tool to examine certain aspects of reality, but if is the only tool in your toolkit, you're going to have a hard time forming meaningful relationships with others and learning from them.
I don't think this is a logical fallacy, but I enjoy the comments that begin something like this:
"Darling, if you actually decided to educate yourself "
Note the use of the sweet word, "darling," before the implicit accusation of "ignorance."
Reference blog, yay! This is convenient actually. I'm taking a critical thinking class that covered the same criteria. Nice examples, too! Though I don't think I've heard of "the straw man" before for some reason.
Well, blogs like this are a good alternative to the tedious dating and weight-loss blogs. It's cool to read a little something else for a change. Thanks for posting!
Unfortunately most people on Xanga that "debate" or "argue" will fall into all of these fallacies because they're too incompetent not to.