Reading and Writing Reviewer ex.
ex. If you allow the students to redo this test, they
Logical Fallacy
 These are errors in reasoning that
invalidate an argument
1. False Dilemma
 occurs when arguer presents
his/her argument as one of only two
options despite the presence of
multiple possibilities
ex. Drink water every day and be
healthy, or continue to drink sodas and
be unhealthy. Those are the only
options.
o You either support Hillary
Clinton for President or you
don't believe in women's rights.
o You either like kids or you don't.
2. Slippery Slope
 occurs when a series of
increasingly superficial and
unacceptable consequence is
drawn
 It is an argument that suggests
taking a minor action will lead to
major and sometimes ludicrous
consequences.
of Mars, so it is reasonable for me to
are going to want to redo every assignment for
the rest of the year.
o If we let this child bring the permission slip
late, there is no reason to ever set a
deadline for anything again!
3. Complex Question
 occurs when two or more points are
rolled into one and the reader is
expected to either accept or reject
both at the same time, when one
point maybe satisfactory while the
other is not.
Ex. How long can one survive
without water?
o Here, it is presumed that we need water to
survive, which very few would deny that
fact.
4. Appeal to Ignorance
 occurs when something is instantly
concluded to be true just because it
is not proven to be false, and vice
versa
Ex. You can't prove that there aren't
Martians living in caves under the surface
- jmr
believe there are.
o No one can actually prove that God exists;
therefore God does not exist.
5. Appeal to Force
 argumentum ad baculum
 When force, coercion, or even a
threat of force is used in place of a
reason in an attempt to justify a
conclusion.
 If you don’t accept X as true, I will
hurt you.
Example:
Melvin: Boss, why do I have to work weekends
when nobody else in the company does?
Boss: Am I sensing insubordination?  I can find
another employee very quickly, thanks to
Craigslist, you know.
Explanation: Melvin has asked a legitimate
question to which he did not get a legitimate
answer, rather his question was deflected by a
threat of force (as being forced out of his job).
6. Appeal to Pity
  ad misericordiam
 The attempt to distract from the
truth of the conclusion by the use of
pity.
Logical Forms:
Person 1 is accused of Y, but person 1 is
pathetic.Therefore, person 1 is innocent. X
is true because person 1 worked really
hard at making X true.
7. Appeal to Consequences
 argumentum ad consequentiam
 Concluding that an idea or
proposition is true or false because
the consequences of it being true or
false are desirable or undesirable.  decides that he should also apply to those
The fallacy lies in the fact that the
desirability is not related to the truth
value of the idea or proposition.  9. Attacking the Person
This comes in two forms: the
positive and negative.   Using faulty logic to make a point is
 Logical Forms:
o X is true because if people did not accept
X as being true then there would be
negative consequences.
o X is false because if people did not accept
X as being false, then there would be
negative consequences.
o X is true because accepting that X is true
has positive consequences.
o X is false because accepting that X is false
has positive consequences.
8. Bandwagon
 is a type of logical fallacy-an argument
based on reasoning that is unsound
 argues that one must accept or reject an
argument because of everyone else who
accepts it or rejects it-similar to peer
pressure.
Example:  Marcus wants to go to a small
community college close to home, but
most of the kids in his class are applying
to larger colleges out of state. Marcus
colleges.
called fallacy.
 This fallacy occurs when someone
refutes another's ideas by attacking
the person rather than the ideas.
Example: A senator claims that his new
tax plan will help the middle class. His
opponent says that the rich senator
doesn't care about the middle class.
- jmr
10. Appeal to Authority
 is a common type of fallacy, or an
argument based on unsound logic.
 claims that something must be true
because it is believed by someone
who said to be an "authority" on the
subject.

 Whether the person is actually an
authority or not, the logic is
unsound. Instead of presenting
actual evidence, the argument just
relies on the credibility of the
"authority."
Example:  A commercial claims that
a specific brand of cereal is the best
way to start the day because
athlete Michael Jordan says that it
is what he eats every day for
breakfast.
11. Anonymous Authority
 When an unspecified source is
used as evidence for the claim. 
 This is commonly indicated by
phrases such as “They say that...”,
“It has been said...”, “I heard
that...”, “Studies show...”, or
generalized groups such as,
“scientists say...”
  Logical Form:
- Person 1 once heard that X
was true.Therefore, X is
true.
12. Hasty Generalization
 an argument that is based on
mistaken reasoning
 applies a belief to a larger
population than he should based
on the information that he has
Ex. Three out of four school teachers prefer
Bright Marks Markers, but I only asked four
teachers total.
13. False Analogy
 when a comparison is made
between two ideas or objects that
seemingly have similar
characteristics, but the comparison
does not hold up.
 The characteristics of the two things
actually differ in the area that is
being compared.
Example: People who cannot go
without their coffee every morning are
no better than alcoholics.
14. Accident
 When an attempt is made to apply
a general rule to all situations when
clearly there are exceptions to the
rule
 Logical Form:
- X is a common and
accepted rule. Therefore,
there are no exceptions to
X.
15. Post Hoc
 when an argument is made using
illogical reasoning. 
 a fallacy where one reasons that
since an event occurred before
another, then the first event caused
the other. This is not always the
case.
Example : Our soccer team was losing until I
bought new shoes. We have not lost a game
since I got my lucky shoes!
- I sneezed at the same time the power
went off. My sneeze did something to
make the power go off.
16. Wrong Direction
- jmr
 when someone uses false logic to
make an argument
 when someone incorrectly says that
one thing causes another
Example: When I wake up in the morning, the
sun comes up. I must be causing the sun to rise.
- When flowers bloom in the spring, birds
also begin to sing. The flowers must cause
the birds to sing.
17. Complex Cause
 a fallacy of questionable cause that
occurs when it is assumed that there is a
single, simple cause of an outcome when
in reality it may have been caused by a
number of only jointly sufficient causes.
 Logical Form :  " X caused Y; therefore, X
was the only cause of Y" 
18. Irrelevant Conclusion
  the informal fallacy of presenting
an argument that may or may not be
logically valid and sound, but (whose
conclusion) fails to address the issue in
question
19. Straw Man
  an argument or belief based on
erroneous reasoning.
 occurs when someone argues that a
person holds a view that is actually not
what the other person believes.
Instead, it is a distorted version of
what the person believes. So, instead
of attacking the person's actual
statement or belief, it is the distorted
version that is attacked.
Example: Senator Smith says that the
nation should not add to the defense
budget. Senator Jones says that he
cannot believe that Senator Smith
wants to leave the nation defenseless.
- Biology teacher begins teaching
evolution by stating that all things
evolve. Student says she just can't
accept that humans came from bugs.
20. Affirming the Consequent
 An error in formal logic where if the
consequent is said to be true, the
antecedent is said to be true, as a
result.
 Logical Form: If P then Q. Q.
Therefore, P.
Example #1:
If taxes are lowered, I will have more money to
spend.
I have more money to spend.
Therefore, taxes must have been lowered.
Explanation: I could have had more money to
spend simply because I gave up crack-cocaine,
prostitute solicitation, and baby-seal-clubbing
expeditions.
21. Denying the Antecedent
 To disprove something, show how it can
be caused by something else. Then
show that the cause does not happen
(then assume that this proves the
antecedent is also false).
 Logical Form : If A is true then B is true.
A is not true, therefore B is not true.
22. Inconsistency
 Multiple statements are given which
contradict one another.
 These may be given together or may be
separated in time. Sometimes the
contradictions are rather subtle and are
difficult to spot. At other times, they are
obvious. If you have enough authority,
then you may be able to carry this off.
- jmr