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What are logical fallacies?

Fallacies are “flaws” in reasoning, used in place of evidence, to persuade an audience.
Fallacies are often effective, but they can backfire if the audience is savvy to the rhetor’s technique
Fallacious arguments are pervasive; you see them all over the place.
Logical fallacies can be hard to detect.

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Bandwagon Appeal

A fallacy of relevance (presenting evidence irrelevant to the argument at hand) that suggests that one should do something because others are doing it

“The cool kids are doing it…”

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Bandwagon Appeal

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Slippery Slope

A fallacy of process that suggests that one premise will inevitably lead to something awful, when in fact, a lot of steps would have to occur in between for it to be true

Marijuana is the gateway drug to heroin addiction.

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Slippery Slope

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False Dichotomy (or False Dilemma)

A fallacy that presents only two options as if there were only two, when in fact there may be others or shades of grey in between

You’re either for us or against us.

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False Dichotomy

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Ad Hominem

“Against the Man”
Attacking the person, rather than his or her argument

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Ad Hominem

Dreadfully common at election time

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False Cause

Argument mistakenly claims causal connection

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False Cause

Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc:

Arguing that A caused B because B happen happened after A

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Hasty Generalization

Making broad assumptions about a whole group or range of cases based on a small sample size.

Stereotypes are this type of fallacy

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Hasty Generalization

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Red Herring

A tangent that takes the argument away from the point at hand by distracting the audience from what is really at stake

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Straw Man

Misrepresenting your opponent’s argument, making it easier to “knock down.”
Creates the illusion that an argument has been refuted, when in fact, the straw man distracts from actual argument
Common and can be hard to detect!

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Begging the Question

“Circular Reasoning”
Reasoning that simply restates claim rather than giving evidence
“America is the most powerful military superpower on Earth because we have the strongest armed forces.”

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Begging the Question

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Non sequitur

Latin: “It does not follow”

A fallacy in which a conclusion does not follow from what preceded it

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