Logical Fallacy - RationalWiki

11/1/21, 12:34 PM Logical fallacy - RationalWiki
Logical fallacy
From RationalWiki
“ We reason from our bedrock beliefs, not to them. Infanticide and

slavery are not forbidden in our society because the arguments
Cogito ergo sum
Logic and rhetoric

against these practices are stronger than the arguments in favor of
them, but because the practices revolt us. We would not listen to
anyone who cared to make arguments in favor of them.
—Judge Richard Posner, Overcoming Law (technically an Appeal to Disgust, showing why
”
pure logic is best left to Vulcans).
Key articles
A logical fallacy is an error in the logic of an argument[1][2] that prevents it from Logical fallacy
being logically valid or logically sound but does not prevent it from swaying Syllogism
people's minds. Argument
Examples of fallacies include the straw-man fallacy in which one distorts another General logic
person's argument that often makes his or her argument easier to attack. As with
most fallacies the straw-man fallacy may result from sloppy thinking or more Argument from
dubiously used on purpose. The ad hominem is also a common fallacy where you incompatible attributes
attack the person who makes the argument (their history, personality, ideologies, Argumentum ad populum
etc.), even though the validity of an argument is likely entirely independent of the Illusory truth effect
character of a person who makes it. This is frequently used in political discourse. List of media biases
Another common fallacy is the non sequitur, in which someone takes premises Münchhausen Trilemma
and then forms a conclusion that the premises do not logically support. When a Two wrongs make a right
fallacy is identified, one should be careful not to assume that therefore the
conclusion is wrong. This is another well-known fallacy called the Fallacy Bad logic
fallacy. One may be wrong in how one arrived at a conclusion, but that doesn't
Affirming the consequent
mean the conclusion itself is wrong. It may be true based on some other premise
Argumentum ad nauseam
or logical conclusion. For example, one may say: Fallacy of amphiboly
Scope fallacy
P1: Bears are animals.
Sheeple
P2: All two legged animals are mammals.
Weasel word
C: Therefore a bear is a mammal.
v-t-e
There are multiple problems with this argument. One of the premises is false (https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?
(there are two legged animals that are not mammals), the premise is confusing as title=Template:Logicnav&action=edit)
most bears have four legs and the conclusion is a non sequitur as the first premise
doesn't state how many legs bears have, meaning the conclusion would not follow from the premises even if they
were correct. However it is not wise to then conclude that just because one or more premises are false and/or the
argument isn't sound that the conclusion must be wrong. In this case bears actually are mammals, though one
should arrive at that conclusion by an entirely different set of arguments.
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Logical_fallacy 1/26
Logical fallacies often result from some particularities of human intuition. A logical fallacy is not necessarily a
Bayesian fallacy,[3] so given a particular circumstance, jumping to the conclusion will be more likely than not, and
get baked into human thinking as a heuristic.[4] When the heuristic is applied outside its reasonable bounds, it
becomes a cognitive bias.
The problem is that this can lead to one being grievously wrong about reality.[5] So one may form an opinion by a
heuristic (System 1 thinking), but one needs to show oneself working to make sure that one hasn't just said
something silly (System 2 thinking).
This particularly applies to thinking about science, because scientific thinking is unintuitive for most people unless
trained into it; and to arguing your points in general, because heuristics are full of glaring exceptions.
Contents
1 Explanation
1.1 Must be used in argument
1.2 Validity versus truth
1.3 Fallacy-dropping
1.4 Reductio ad absurdum
1.5 The relationship of paradoxes to logical fallacies
2 Types
3 Formal
3.1 Syllogistic fallacy
3.2 Fallacies of quantificational logic (also known as fallacies of predicate logic)
3.3 Probabilistic fallacy
3.4 Bad reasons fallacy
3.5 Fallacy of modal logic
3.6 Masked man fallacy
4 Informal
4.1 Fallacies of presumption
4.1.1 Jumping to conclusions
4.1.2 No True Scotsman
4.1.3 Category mistake
4.1.4 False dilemma
4.1.5 False equivalence
4.2 Fallacies of relevance
4.2.1 Argument from ignorance
4.2.2 Genetic fallacy
4.2.2.1 Appeal to false authority
4.2.2.2 Ad hoc
4.2.3 Weak analogy
4.3 Fallacies of clarity/ambiguity/vagueness
5 Conditional
6 Argumentative
7 Fallacy collections
8 In a nutshell
9 See also
10 External links
11 Notes
12 References
Explanation
See the main article on this topic: Syllogism
Must be used in argument
One common error when first learning about logical fallacies is to fail to realise that a fallacy can only be present if
it is used as part of an argument.[6] For example, "So-and-so is a socialist" is not an ad hominem fallacy (see
below) because it is simply a statement. So-and-so may be a socialist. "So-and-so is a socialist, therefore s/he is
wrong" is an ad hominem because a conclusion is being drawn, and the conclusion has nothing to do with the
premise. It attacks the opponent; not the opponent's argument. This can be more complicated than it sounds,
however, because the conclusion that s/he is wrong is often implied.
Likewise, "You are an idiot" is merely an assertion. Further, "you are saying idiotic things, therefore you are an
idiot" may be a valid argument regardless of whether the premise (the opponent is saying idiotic things) is true.
However, it is only a sound argument in the event the premise is true, and if "saying idiotic things" makes one an
idiot. (Even geniuses have said idiotic things. Just ask their spouses.)
Validity versus truth
Just because an argument is valid does not mean the conclusion is true. A valid argument simply means that if the
premises are true, the conclusion must be true as well. A sound argument is a valid argument with the additional
requirement that the premises (and thus the conclusion) are true.[4] For instance, consider the following argument.
P1: All humans are cows.
P2: All cows are plants.
C: All humans are plants.
Although the conclusion is false and the premises are false, this is still a valid argument because if the premises
were true, the conclusion must be true as well. Since at least one premise is false, the argument is valid but not
sound.[5]
Fallacy-dropping
“ What we have here is a blatant example of argument by assertion. It's therefore clear your mother
was a whore, and you flunked out of elementary school
”
—Colonel Custer[7]
It is not acceptable to merely state that one's opponent is using a fallacy (as above). One must explain how the
opponent's argument is fallacious (e.g., they claim that you are a shill), why it is wrong (there's no evidence that
you are a paid government disinformation agent), and what that means for their argument (if you're not a shill, then
your arguments can't be handwaved away).[8]
This need not be a drawn-out paragraph. Even "your ad hominem is irrelevant to my argument, so my argument
stands" is sufficient.
Otherwise, one runs into the risk of fallacy dropping — claiming someone's argument is wrong without bothering
to explain why — which comes dangerously close to ad hominem. (It's equivalent to shouting "your logic is bad!"
and claiming victory.)
A related concept is that of logic chopping[9] where the tools of logic are used unhelpfully and only serve to
obfuscate a conversation. This can include fallacy dropping, or nitpicking at statements rather than focusing on the
actual discussion.
Reductio ad absurdum
One of the techniques that is often used to expose fallacies is reductio ad absurdum. When using this technique,
one attempts to show that an argument is fallacious by showing that an argument with the same form can be used
to produce a conclusion known to be false. For example, if someone commits the fallacy of affirming the
consequent, one might say "by your logic, we can prove that 'Elvis Presley was a US President', as follows: If Elvis
was a US President, he was famous. Elvis was famous. Therefore, he must have been a US President". It is an
example of modus tollens with the form "If the logic of Argument A is valid, then Conclusion C follows from the
set of true Premises P. But C is false. So the logic of A is not valid".
The exact details of how to use reductio ad absurdum is complex, so we shall refer you to the page on reductio ad
absurdum instead of trying to recap it here. A good example of reductio ad absurdum in action is the page on the
flat Earth model of the world which shows the absurdities that arise when one takes the flat earth model of the
Earth seriously which some people still do.
The relationship of paradoxes to logical fallacies
Logical fallacies are a common theme of paradoxes (infinite regress, circular definitions, and equivocation). [The
artist] Patrick Hughes outlines three laws of the paradox:[10]
Self-reference: An example is "This statement is false", a form of the liar paradox. The statement is referring to
itself. Another example of self-reference is the question of whether the barber shaves himself in the barber
paradox. One more example would be "Is the answer to this question 'No'?"
Contradiction
"This statement is false"; the statement cannot be false and true at the same time. Another example of
contradiction is if a man talking to a genie wishes that wishes couldn't come true. This contradicts itself
because if the genie grants his wish, he did not grant his wish, and if he refuses to grant his wish, then he did
indeed grant his wish (well technically he still didn’t since he can’t both grant and refuse to grant wishes),
therefore making it impossible either to grant or not grant his wish because his wish contradicts itself.
Vicious circularity, or infinite regress: "This statement is false"; if the statement is true, then the statement is
false, thereby making the statement true. Another example of vicious circularity is the following group of
statements:
"The following sentence is true."

"The previous sentence is false."
W. V. Quine distinguished between three classes of paradoxes:[11]
A veridical paradox produces a result that appears absurd but is demonstrated to be true nonetheless.
A falsidical paradox establishes a result that not only appears false but actually is false, due to a fallacy in
the demonstration. The various invalid mathematical proofs (e.g., that 1 = 2) are classic examples,
generally relying on a hidden division by zero. Another example is the inductive form of the horse
paradox, which falsely generalises from true specific statements. Zeno's paradoxes are 'falsidical',
concluding, for example, that a flying arrow never reaches its target or that a speedy runner cannot catch up
to a tortoise with a small head-start.
A paradox that is in neither class may be an antinomy, which reaches a self-contradictory result by
properly applying accepted ways of reasoning. For example, the Grelling–Nelson paradox points out
genuine problems in our understanding of the ideas of truth and description.
A fourth kind, which may be alternatively interpreted as a special case of the third kind, has sometimes been
described since Quine's work.
A paradox that is both true and false at the same time and in the same sense is called a dialetheia. In
Western logics it is often assumed, following Aristotle, that no dialetheia[i] exist, but they are sometimes
accepted in Eastern traditions (e.g. in the Mohists, [12] the Gongsun Longzi, [13] and in Zen[14]) and in
paraconsistent logics. For example, it would be mere equivocation or a matter of degree to both affirm and
deny that "John is here" when John is halfway through the door, but it is self-contradictory to both affirm and
deny the event simultaneously. (This is equivocation owing to the ambiguity of the term here: Does it mean
the general vicinity, the building, the room, or a particular spot one metre to the speaker's left? Once this
ambiguity is resolved by defining terms, the apparent paradox promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.)
Types
There is no consensus among philosophers about how to best organize fallacies. They can be classified as inductive
and deductive, formal and informal, categories pertaining to the psychological factors that led people to create
them, and the epistemological or logical factors that underlie them.[15] Another problem that occurs when
organizing fallacies is that many of them can be placed in different areas. Consider, for example, the equality
fallacy. It is a fallacy of ambiguity as it is not often clear what people mean when they say one should be treated
“equally”. It is a political correctness fallacy, as liberal politicians advocate for the idea that one should be offended
if people are not treated "equally”. It is a jumping to conclusions fallacy, as it assumes that the blind should be
treated "equally" to someone who has 20/20 vision (which is clearly a logical error if one works at the DMV or one
is responsible for hiring referees). It is an appeal to self-evident truth fallacy as the Founding Fathers of the USA
claimed that "all men are created equal" is a self-evident truth even though it is quite clear that all men are not
created equal as some men are smarter than others, stronger than others, taller than others, etc. It is also a loaded
language fallacy as the term is imbued with emotional connotations. It is also a conditional fallacy as there are
logical ways to use the word equality such as the right to be equally judged by the law. And if you doubt that the
promotion of equality is a fallacy, then you probably don't know about how laws that promote equality in the USA,
namely the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, have led to the prison rape
of women by male guards.[16][17][18] But we digress.
Due to the difficulties organizing fallacies, often times sites will simply list the fallacies alphabetically and avoid
attempting to organize them. While this works on some level, it is often not very helpful when trying to understand
fallacies as there are a lot of them. People need to have some sort of schema in order to understand them and for
this reason this page has decided to organize them for you. The primary division of fallacies utilized is formal and
informal. A formal fallacy is an argument in which the conclusion would not necessarily be true whether or not its
premises are correct, because it does not follow valid logical structure. An informal fallacy, on the other hand, is
contingent on the argument's content or possibly the motive of the arguer. Within the informal category, the page
has further subdivided the fallacies into fallacies of presumption, fallacies of relevance, and fallacies of clarity.
This is a way of categorizing fallacies mentioned by the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy[15], is used elsewhere
such as at Wikiversity, and is one of the more common ways of organizing fallacies. Another site that was used as a
guide for organizing fallacies was Fallacy Files (http://www.fallacyfiles.org/). In addition to the formal and
informal fallacy sections, this page has added a section for conditional fallacies, which are broader categories that
have both a non-fallacious and a fallacious component, and a section for argumentative fallacies, which are
fallacious ways of presenting information that incorporate informal fallacies. While this list is quite extensive, it is
not comprehensive as there are subfallacies or fallacies that pertain to specific fields of study that may not have
been mentioned.
Formal
See the main article on this topic: Formal fallacy
All formal fallacies are forms of invalid (generally deductive) reasoning and specific types of non-sequitur.[15]
Syllogistic fallacy
See the main article on this topic: Syllogistic fallacy
A syllogistic fallacy is any instance in which a syllogism with incorrect structure is used.[19][20]
1. Four-term fallacy: Any syllogism in which four terms are present, instead of the mandatory three, often due
to using an ambiguous term in a premise of a logical syllogism.[19][21]
2. Enthymeme: When an unstated premise is necessary for logical validity.
1. Argument from incredulity: P1: One can't imagine how X could be true. P2: (unstated) If X is true,
then one could imagine how X could be true. C: X is false. The contrapositive of this fallacy is the
Argument from credulity: P1: One can imagine how X could be true. P2: (unstated) If one could
imagine how X could be true, then X is true. C: X is true.[21]
2. Commutation of Conditionals, known as illicit (false) conversion in quantificational logic and as
confusion of the inverse in statistics (If P then Q. Therefore, if Q then P.), is an argument which needs
to state P if and only if Q in order to be valid, but does not.[19][21][15]
3. It is possible to interpret these particular propositional fallacies as complementary enthymemes:
1. Affirming a disjunct (also depends on P or Q being ambiguous between inclusive and exclusive
or): P or Q. P. Therefore, not Q.[19][21]
2. Denying a conjunct (or false dilemma): Not both P and Q. Not P. Therefore, Q.[19][21]
4. It is possible to interpret these particular propositional fallacies as not stating If P then Q or If Q then P
(i. e. the principle of totality for material implication):
1. Affirming the consequent: If P then Q. Q. Therefore, P.[19][21][15]
2. Denying the antecedent: If P, then Q. Not P. Therefore, not Q.[19][21][15]
3. Negating antecedent and consequent (also known as improper transposition): If P then Q.
Therefore, if not-P then not-Q. (also leaves half of the conclusion, which also being necessary
for logical validity, unstated)
4. Confusion of the inverse: Given two events A and B, the probability of A happening given that
B has happened is assumed to be about the same as the probability of B given A. More formally,
P(A|B) is assumed to be approximately equal to P(B|A). It is a fallacy one encounters when
using Bayes' Theorem (as are base rate fallacies in general).[22][19][21]
5. It is possible to interpret these particular fallacies of quantificational logic as having an unstated
premise which is necessary for logical validity:
1. Existential assumption: All X, if they existed, would be Y. All Y that exist are Z. (An X exists.)
All X are Z.[19][21][20]
2. Some Are/Some Are Not (also known as unwarranted contrast and negative conclusion from
affirmative premises or affirmative conclusion from a negative premise): (Any S which exists is
P or it is not.) Some S are P. Therefore, some S are not P. or vice versa[19][21]
6. Emotional appeals frequently appear as enthymemes because they depend on evaluating an argument
based on feelings rather than logic.[19][21][15] Emotional appeals, while primarily syllogistic, are often
also informal fallacies.

1. Appeal to novelty (argumentum ad novitatem): Arguing that a claim is valid because it is
novel.[21][15]
2. What's the harm: It's just some water (and your payment of $50); what harm can it do?
3. Appeal to nature (argumentum ad naturam) — Arguing that something is good because it is
"natural".[21]
4. Appeal to ancient wisdom: It's right because the Maya/Chinese/Hebrews said it thousands of
years ago![21]
5. Appeal to age: It's right/wrong because the claim-maker is old/young.[23]
6. Argument to the Purse (argumentum ad crumenam): Using one's possession of money (or lack
of it) to prove the truth of a claim.[21]
1. Appeal to wealth: I have made a bunch of money so anything I tweet must be true![21][15]
2. Appeal to poverty: My lack of money proves that I know the secret to happiness.[21]
7. Appeal to Accomplishment (also known as appeal to success): I have three doctorates at BS
University and have written 7 best-selling books on the subject of the quantum dream states
therefore anything I say is true.[21]
8. Appeal to confidence/Trust: Trust me, I know what I'm doing.[21]
9. Appeal to Intuition: I have a gut feeling that something is true, therefore it is (even if it has at
most only a weak factual basis).[21]
10. Appeal to gravity: I'm the only one up here who takes this seriously. Disregard these jokers — I
have the truth.
11. Appeal to Desperation: Something must be done about these illegal immigrants. Let's build a
border wall![21]
12. Appeal to normality: It is normal in America to be in debt therefore it is nothing to worry about.
Let me tell you about our financing options…[21]
13. Appeal to Common Folk: Joe the Plumber is a common man. He says to do X. You are a
common man, therefore X is the right thing to do.[21]
14. Appeal to closure: Crime X occurred. Person Y looked suspicious but no evidence connected
him to it and no other suspects were found, thus facilitating the scapegoating of person Y, whom
the police then arrests out of a desire to close the case.[21]
15. Appeal to flattery: What a lovely fallacy you have there! You must be a smart person, someone
who'd find quantum healing quite fascinating.[21]
16. Appeal to (insert your favorite emotion).[21]
1. Appeal to shame/Ridicule (reductio ad ridiculum): Would you say that in front of your
mother (if you knew how ridiculous she thought it was)?
2. Appeal to Pity (argumentum ad misericordiam): Using the emotion of pity to distract from
the truth of an argument. Many people in the USA view innocent by reason of insanity as
an example of this fallacy which has lead to the adoption of guilty but mentally ill
laws.[19][21][24]
3. Argumentum ad fastidium: Ugh, that's so gross — it must be false.
4. Appeal to anger (argumentum ad iram): When Rush Limbaugh's anger is used to prove
the claims he is making.[21]
5. Appeal to hatred/spite (argumentum ad odium): Don't you hate it when people point out
your logical fallacies? I know I do. So come join me in my campaign against
logic!"[19][21]
6. Appeal to pride (argumentum ad superbiam): You know what is wrong with this country?
People are no longer proud to be an American. Well I am and together we can make
America great again![19]
7. Appeal to fear (argumentum ad metum, argumentum in terrorem): We're surrounded by

logical fallacies! RUN!![19][21]
17. Loaded language (also known as prejudicial language): Using terms such as “hard-working
Americans” that elicit strong emotions in the listener in order to establish the truth of an
argument.[21][15]
7. Argument by Pigheadedness: Stubbornly refusing to accept rational counter arguments to one’s
position without providing any reasons as to why the counter arguments are wrong.[21]
8. Fallacies of vacuity are the ultimate enthymemes because they "(do) not establish what the proponent
of the argument intended because (they don't) put forward a substantive claim in favor of the
conclusion [(i. e. a substantive premise)]."[25] Thought-terminating clichés often contain this type of
fallacy.
1. Self-sealing arguments can't be argued against because they are constructed in a way that seals
themselves off from criticism although they are obviously based on invalid reasoning or
speculative premises and therefore are Not even wrong or Fractally wrong (or unfalsifiable), but
nevertheless it is doubtful that they can truly be proven correct.[25][21]
1. Hypothesis contrary to fact: If Alexander the Great hadn't died, then the Greek Empire
wouldn’t have fought amongst itself and the world would be far more intelligent than it is
now as it would have been run by the Greeks.[21]
2. Conspiracy theory: Of course I can't prove JFK was assassinated by Ted Cruz's dad. The
government has covered it up![21]
2. Meaningless Question: How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck would
chuck wood?[21]
3. Circular reasoning (also known as circulus in demonstrando) and begging the question (also
known as petitio principii): Assuming the initial point. Claim A assumes A is true. Therefore,
claim A is true.[19][21][25][15][24]
1. Homunculus fallacy: If I say X, and then say that X proves that X is true, then I win![21]
2. Subverted Support: Trying to explain how some phenomenon occurred when there is no
evidence that the phenomenon occurred. Example – Conservative Christian explanations
of the great flood and Noah's Ark.[21]
3. Appeal to faith: Arguing that one must use faith rather than reason to understand
something to be true.[21]
4. Complex question fallacy (also known as plurium interrogationum or loaded question):
Asking a question, which has an assumption built into it, so that it can't be answered
without appearing to confirm the assumption, or else appearing evasive by questioning the
assumption. To be distinguished from a leading question, which is not a fallacy, but is a
way of suggesting the desired answer by how the question is phrased. "Are you still
beating your wife?" is a loaded or complex question, for it assumes that at one time you
did beat your wife; while "You weren't beating your wife, were you?" is a leading
question, for it suggests the simple answer no.[21][15][24]
5. Tautology: A is true because A is true (Necessitarian determinism strengthens this A is
true because A always had to be true), e.g. the just because fallacy (not to be confused
with ipse dixit, a.k.a. because I said so): Student: Why is the Sun yellow? Teacher: Just
because.[21]
4. Inconsistencies: An error in logic that concerns compound propositions, two of whose parts
contradict one another in such a way that both cannot be true. (i.e., P and not P; If P then not P.
P. Therefore, not P: which is also ambiguous between modus tollens and modus ponens)[19][21]
1. Self-refuting idea (also known as contradictio in adjecto and conflicting conditions): A
claim that on closer inspection disagrees with itself.[21][15]
1. Stolen concept fallacy: When the thing you are seeking to disprove requires the
existence of the thing you are trying to disprove. Example: "Logic can't possibly be
a way to derive truth. To prove to you why I think this way…"[21]

2. Kettle Logic: A collection of arguments made to try and prove a point but the
arguments contradict one another.[21]
2. Double standard: Using one set of criterion for one person (or group of people) and
another set of criterion for a different person (or group of people) when only one set of
criterion should be used.[21][15]
3. Special pleading: When universal rules no longer apply in this specific instance.
Examples:
1. I know the law says that there is no left turn on red, but I was in a real
hurry…[19][21][15]
2. Notable Effort: You have made a notable effort while in prison, therefore life
imprisonment no longer means spending your life in prison.[21]
5. Having your cake: If-by-whiskey: Using words with strong connotations to hide the fact that one
is supporting both sides of an issue and therefore not stating a position.[21]
6. Argument by assertion: If you say something enough times, it eventually becomes true and
therefore you win the argument. The less kind name for this is Argumentum ad nauseam
(argument by repetition): If you say something often enough to make people vomit, you win.
The reverse side of this is argumentum e[x] nausea: If people have told you something often
enough to make you vomit, you win by saying anything that is not that.[21]
1. Argument from silence (argumentum e[x] silentio): The lack of response to my point(s)
makes my point(s) correct!/The lack of response to my counterpoint(s) to your point(s)
makes your point(s) incorrect![21] Example: the Silent Majority.
7. Circular definition: fails to establish any new information about its referend.[21]
8. Phantom distinction (also known as distinction without a difference): When someone spends
time arguing for the superiority of one term over another (rather than the intended debate), yet
there is no effective difference.[21]
9. Deepity: A statement which equivocates between one vacuous meaning it has, which is true, and
another, which, though sounding profound, is false if it is at all meaningful.
3. Universal conclusion from a particular premise: Asserting some universal fact from particular premises.
Only IAA/AIA, IIA and IOE/OIE syllogisms commit this fallacy without drawing an impossible conclusion
(AIA also has an undistributed middle term and OIE also has an illicit minor)
1. Some S are M. All M are P. Therefore, all S are P./All S are M. Some M are P. Therefore, all S are P
2. Some S are M. Some M are P. Therefore, all S are P. (i.e., induction)
3. Some S are M. Some P are not M. Therefore, no S are P./Some S are not M. Some P are M. Therefore,
no S are P.
4. Negative conclusion from affirmative premises: Asserting some negative fact from positive premises.
5. Affirmative conclusion from a negative premise: Asserting some positive fact from negative
premises.[19][21][20]
6. Fallacy of exclusive premises (also known as two negative premises): a categorical syllogism that is invalid
because both of its premises are negative.[19][21]
7. Illicit process: Incorrectly concluding for all of a set when the premises apply to only some of a set.
Specifically, the illicit major and illicit minor.[19]
1. Illicit major: All A are B. No C are A. Therefore, no C are B.[19][21]
2. Illicit minor: All A are B. All A are C. Therefore, all C are B.[19][21]
8. Undistributed middle: the middle term in a categorical syllogism is not distributed in either the minor
premise or the major premise.[19][21][15]
Fallacies of quantificational logic (also known as fallacies of predicate logic)
A logical mistake that involves numerical concepts such as the difference between "some" and "all".[19]
1. Illicit contraposition: No S are P. Therefore, no non-P are non-S.[19][21]

2. Quantifier-shift fallacy (or scope fallacy): Every X has the relation R to some Y. Therefore, some Y has the
inverse of relation R to every X.[19][21][15]
Probabilistic fallacy
When the conclusion reached from the premises of an argument violates the laws of probability.[19][note 1]
1. Base rate fallacy (also known as base rate neglect): Incorrectly ignoring statistical information in favor of
irrelevant information to make a judgment.[19][21]
1. Prosecutor's fallacy: Jurisprudence in the USA can be described as poorly executed statistical
inference done by three unqualified statisticians before a statistically ignorant jury. In Europe, this is
not necessarily the case as they appear to understand the importance of Bayesian inference.[note 2] The
prosecutor's fallacy occurs when someone overemphasizes the weight of the evidence proving
someone's guilt.[27][15] Very frequently, this comes down to false allegations as proof (blindly trusting
the accuser, assuming the guilt of the accused) when people assume that the victim of an alleged crime
is telling the truth and this assumption is wrong. This is an ipse dixit fallacy committed by overzealous
prosecutors.[note 3]
2. Defense attorney's Fallacy: When someone downplays the weight of the evidence proving someone's
guilt.[27] Very frequently, this comes down to blaming the victim when a victim's actions are used as
proof that some offense against them was justified or didn't occur. This is an ad hominem fallacy
commonly used by defense attorneys in cases involving rape.
2. Multiple comparisons fallacy: A group of statistical studies shows that out of N studies, B number of studies
produced result C and D number of studies produced result E. The media reports "Studies show E," ignoring
result C.[19][21]
3. Overfitting: Failing to ignore data outliers resulting in a model that is not representative of the general trend
of the data set.[29][15]
4. Data dredging (also known as post-designation, data fishing and the Texas sharpshooter fallacy): This is
when you test all kinds of different hypotheses against the same set of data until you find something that is
statistically significant, which you then use as an ad hoc conclusion without looking for corroborating data
(or using any that you already know). This is a fallacy because that statistical result is most likely due to
chance.[29] This is also a pattern recognition error.[19][21][15]
5. Conjunction fallacy: A is a subset of B. Therefore, A is more probable than B.[19][21][15]
6. Disjunction fallacy: Event A is more probable than the likelihood of event A or event B.[21]
7. Gambler's fallacy: I lost the last twenty dice rolls — I'm due for a win, so I had better double down!
Conversely, I won the last twenty dice rolls — What if I'm due for a loss? At least I can absorb it if I don't
get carried away with my next bet.[19][21][15]
8. Clustering illusion:
1. The Hot hand fallacy: I am on a hot streak! Just one more hand! I can't lose!
2. Drought fallacy: I am in a drought! No more hands! I must lose![19][21]
Bad reasons fallacy
Fallacy fallacy (argumentum ad logicam):
1. Forward: Argument A for the conclusion B is fallacious. Therefore, B is false.

2. Converse: The conclusion B is false. Therefore, Argument A for B is fallacious.
3. Converse of Inverse: Argument A for the conclusion B is not fallacious. Therefore, B is true.
4. Inverse: The conclusion B is true. Therefore, Argument A for B is not fallacious.[19][21]
Fallacy of modal logic
The Fallacy of modal logic is a formal fallacy in which modalities play a role in creating a fallacious argument.[19]
Modal Scope Fallacy: A fallacy in which an unwarranted degree of necessity falls on the conclusion of an
argument. An example would be, "if Barack is President, then he must be 35-years old or older,"[30] since it is not
his presidency that causes him to be this age.
Masked man fallacy
The masked man fallacy (also known as illicit substitution of identicals) is a fallacy that involves confusion
between extensions and intensions.[19][21][15] Effectively, conflating knowing something with knowing it under all
of its names. E.g. "I know who Bruce Wayne is, but I don't know who Batman is. Therefore, Bruce Wayne is not
Batman."
Informal
See the main article on this topic: Informal fallacy
Fallacies of presumption
Fallacies of presumption occur when one uses a fallacious or unwarranted assumption to establish a conclusion.[15]
Jumping to conclusions
See the main article on this topic: Jumping to conclusions
Jumping to a conclusion occurs when coming to a judgement without taking the time to rationally evaluate the
merits of the argument.[21][15]
1. Accident Fallacy (a dicto simpliciter ad dictum secundum quid): When a rule of thumb is taken to be
universally true.[19][21][15]
1. Ecological fallacy: Interpreting statistical data about a group to make inferences about an individual of
that group and coming to an incorrect conclusion.[21]
2. Stereotyping fallacy: Assuming that all individuals of a group have a certain characteristic when this
doesn't hold true for all individuals. Example: Stipulating that "All men are taller than women," is a
stereotype as there are women who are taller than most men and men that are shorter than most
women. On the other hand, stipulating "Men are usually taller than women." is not a stereotype fallacy.
Rather, it is an accurate statistical statement.[21][15]
2. Hasty generalization (also known as overgeneralization and conversely the fallacy of accident): Taking a few
specifics and making a general rule out of them, without the few specifics adequately representing the entire
group. This is frequently due to an Unrepresentative Sample (also known as biased sample fallacy and
selection bias) leading to one drawing a conclusion about a population based upon a sample that isn't
reflective of the population that it is supposed to represent.[21][19][15]
1. Self–selection — a fallacious way of collecting data where the participants who choose to participate
in the study are not likely to be representative of the population that it is supposed to represent (such as
online polls).[15]
2. Double counting — When something is counted twice resulting in a statistical error. For example, let's
say that one is wishing to determine what percentage of people have a medical condition that could be
described as intersex. In order to tabulate this figure, one could include people who have a genetic
disorder called MKRH syndrome and people who have a phenotype called vaginal hypoplasia. If one
includes both groups unquestioningly, there is likely to be double counting as MKRH syndrome causes
vaginal hypoplasia.[21]
3. Survivorship fallacy: An unrepresentative sample where 'survivors', 'winners' or 'high performers' are
cherry picked to form an optimistically-biased sample. Example: Say 80% of people in a population
are Christian and 20% are not, and car crashes kill and save lives independent of one's religious
beliefs. 80% of the survivors say that Christianity saved their life which leaves the false impression
that Christianity works because the 80% of the people who died who are Christians don't get to tell
how Christianity didn't save their life… because they are dead.[21]
4. Reverse survivorship/Casualty fallacy: An unrepresentative sample where 'casualties', 'losers' or 'low
performers' are cherry picked to form a pessimistically-biased sample.[31]
5. Small sample: Using a sample size that is too small to generate statistically relevant conclusions due to
insufficient data.[15]
1. Insufficient statistics: the drawing of statistical conclusions from the small sample size.[15]
2. Overprecision (also known as fake precision): Assuming a prediction is exactly correct for any
given point.[21][15]
3. Anecdotal evidence or pragmatic fallacy: Using anecdotal evidence to make a general point.
Example: Lorenzen Wright married his high-school sweetheart who is now on trial for his
murder. This proves that you should never marry your high-school sweetheart. Cherry picking
(also known as one-sidedness, suppressed evidence, and the fallacy of exclusion among others)
is the result of intentionally only using information that supports one's desired general point and
ignoring the evidence that contradicts it.[19][21][15]
1. Apex fallacy: Using the best/worst group to generalize to the whole group, e.g. nutpicking
where one is using examples that are insane(ly great) to represent a group.[15]
2. Lack of proportion: Exaggerating or downplaying and/or contradicting a piece(s) of
evidence that one is using to reach a conclusion.[15]
1. Disregarding known science: Making a claim (without good evidence) that ignores
and/or contradicts a scientifically-substantiated fact.[15]
2. Exaggeration: Overemphasizing information of questionable relevance when
coming to a conclusion.[15]
3. Argument by selective reading: Acting as if the weakest argument made by an opponent
was the only one made and focusing one's rebuttal on only that argument.[21]
4. Oversimplification: Making a complicated issue appear simple when it really isn’t.[15][19]
6. Ludic fallacy: Presuming that your statistical model works in situations where it doesn't.[21]
7. Selective attention: Focusing on certain particulars of an argument while ignoring other aspects of it,
such as in the case of the availability heuristic when certain facts are more easily recalled than others,
resulting in an unrepresentative sample from which to draw conclusions.[21][15]
1. Misleading vividness: A few dramatic events such as plane crashes give the mistaken
imprecision that it is unsafe to fly when, in fact, it is statistically safer to fly than it is to
drive.[21][15]
2. Spotlight fallacy: when highly publicized data on a group is incorrectly assumed to represent a
different or larger group, e.g. the tokenism of a rich politician who goes to a homeless shelter on
Thanksgiving and shakes a couple of hands for about an hour then goes home to his or her
mansion. News reports show the politician shaking hands. The next day, the politician gives tax
breaks to the 1% and raises taxes on the middle class.[21][15]
3. Historian's fallacy: Dixiecrat fallacy: Dems supported segregation! Dems are racist![21]
4. Retrospective determinism: Assuming that because an event occurred under a set of
circumstances, that it was bound to happen under those circumstances.
5. Confirmation bias: Seeing only evidence that supports one's hypothesis and overlooking
evidence that would contradict it. The toupée fallacy strengthens this with the claim that one is
inherently not privy to this evidence.[15]
No True Scotsman
See the main article on this topic: No True Scotsman
When groups are redefined on the spot such as because they are indefensible from someone pointing it out the their
obvious deficiencies so the claimant revises their claim, most frequently by using numerous exceptions to a claim
to make it "accurate," in spite of this resulting in the claim having no real meaning, and acts as if was the same as
the original claim. Examples:
1. P: Christians are inherently moral people, but there are Catholic priests who have molested altar boys
(because people with authority tend to abuse it), which is inherently immmoral. C1: Therefore the molested
altar boys, and not the priests (if anybody in that scandal could have been) were the true Christians. C2:
Therefore, the true Christians are the ones have no "true" authority within the church.[21][15]
2. Except for 9/11, the invasion of Iraq, the federal response to Katrina, and the financial crisis, George W.
Bush's tenure as President proved that he was skilled at his job.[21]
Category mistake
See the main article on this topic: Category mistake
Confusing what is true of a part with what is true of the whole.
1. Fallacy of composition: Individual things a whole entity is comprised of has characteristics A, B and C etc.,
therefore the whole entity has characteristics A, B and C.[19][21][15][24]
2. Fallacy of division: The whole entity has characteristics A, B and C therefore its parts have characteristics A,
B and C.[19][21][15][24]
False dilemma
False dilemma (also known as the Black-or-White fallacy, false dichotomy or false dilemma): When two opposing
views are presented as the only options when they are not.[19][21][15]
The alternative advance is when both of the options presented to you are essentially the same thing, just worded
differently.[21]
False equivalence
False equivalence: When you presume that two things are the same when they are not.[32][15]
1. Moral equivalence: Arguing that two things are morally equal, even though they are not.[32]
2. Political correctness fallacy: When you presume that people's ideas are of equal value or are equally true
when they are not. (Think Galileo.) In the case of argument to moderation (argumentum ad temperantiam),
one is technically presuming that somewhere between two disparate positions, both of which being partially
incorrect, there must be a compromise position between them that is correct. Examples:
1. Medicare Part D was such a great bill because it was a compromise between the positions of the
Republicans and the Democrats. In fact, it was so great that pharmaceutical companies are price-fixing
drugs, violating anti-trust laws, and costing American taxpayers billions of dollars. Here is a 60
Minutes expose[33] of just how great the compromise between Republicans and Democrats is for
America.
2. Winner-take-all is an anti-democratic way to run a multi-candidate election, but people would have
"too much of a vote" in a purely proportional system. Therefore, Republican Presidential Primaries
began to be run so as to award delegates to all candidates so long as none must have gotten an absolute
majority of the vote in that state.[21] This also involves excluded middle as it ignores gerrymandering
of districts.
3. Balance fallacy — Giving equal weighting to both sides of an argument, even if one really doesn't deserve
the time.[15]
4. The fallacy fallacy – presumption that because a claim has been poorly argued, or a fallacy has been made,
that the claim itself must be wrong.
Fallacies of relevance
Red herring: A group of fallacies which bring up facts or issues which are irrelevant to the argument often in an
attempt to distract the opponent and/or audience.[19][21][15][24]
1. Rights To Ought: The speaker deflects criticism for a behaviour or statement by declaring that they have the
'right' to perform said action. This is utterly irrelevant. Just because you can do something, does not mean it
is desirable, pragmatic, or beneficial in anyway to anyone.[34]
1. Ignoratio elenchi: Missing the point by refuting something that is not stated. Related to the straw man.
2. Appeal to Force: using force or the threat of force to gain acceptance to his or her conclusion
Argument from ignorance
Argument from ignorance (argumentum ad ignorantiam): When it is claimed that a proposition is true because it
has not yet been proven false or that it is false because it has not yet been proven true.[19][21][15]
1. Science doesn't know everything: P1: If science (or a person) can't explain X, then Y is true. P2: Science
can't explain X. C: Y is true.
1. Moving the goalposts: Science explains/discovers the X of the first premise leading to the refutation of
the support for Y. New requirement: Well if science can't explain Z then Y is true. Science explains Z.
New requirement: Well is science can't explain W… Inflation of conflict results if the argument refers
to an incomplete agreement on a certain X, Z, or W, as sufficient to cause people not to know anything
at all.[21]
2. Confusing the currently unexplained with the unexplainable: Science hasn't explained how the Big
Bang began (X), therefore Y = it will forever remain unknown.[21]
3. One single proof: Dismissing all circumstantial evidence in favor of a single "smoking gun" that may
not (and may not need to) exist.
2. Shifting of the burden of proof (onus probandi): When one asserts something to be true without evidence for
one's position, or against it in the case of a negative proof (also known as proving non-existence), and then
one asks people to prove them wrong. (A person asserting a fact is the one who has to have proof, not the
other way around.)[21][15]
3. Missing data fallacy: One's hypothesis has been proven wrong. One asserts, "Well there is yet to be
discovered information that will prove my flawed hypothesis or conclusion to be true."[21]
4. Appeal to complexity: I can't understand something therefore no one else can either. This could be due to
Willful ignorance.[21]
Genetic fallacy
Genetic fallacy: Occurs when the origin of a claim is used to establish truth or falsehood rather than the claim's
current factual merits.[19][21][15]
Appeal to false authority
Appeal to false authority (argumentum ad verecundiam): Incorrectly asserting that respect given to some authority
proves the assertion to be true.[19][21][24]
1. Ultracrepidarianism: When a source is quoted outside their expertise, as if expertise in one field extended to
another.
1. Professor of nothing: When a source is introduced as "Prof." or "Dr.", yet they aren't, or their
credentials are from a diploma mill.
2. Appeal to celebrity: When a source is supposedly authoritative because of the respect people give
them.[21]
2. False attribution: Using an unreliable, fabricated, irrelevant or other form of untrustworthy source as the
basis of one's argument.[21]
1. Appeal to definition (argumentum ad dictionarium): If the dictionary says what I think something
means, the dictionary is right. If not, find a new dictionary. The etymological fallacy occurs when this
fallacy confuses the original meaning of a word and its current meaning.[19][21][15]
2. Generalization from fictional evidence: Using a fake story to make a general point.
3. Linking to authority: When a source is "cited" in-text yet the reference doesn't exist / is irrelevant /
says something else.
4. Anonymous authority: When a source is quoted (or supposedly quoted), but no name is given, e.g.
because the person citing it doesn't have first-hand knowledge of it but knows somebody (who knows
somebody…) who said that this is what it said. (It is not hearsay if the source states something so do
that instead.)[21]
5. Quote mining (it is also a fallacy of accent): When an authority is selectively quoted to distort their
views, or misquoting someone to gain the appearance of authority.[19][21][15]
6. Invincible authority: When a source is the entirety of an argument (which one knows due to amazing
familiarity with the source/argument if not complete omniscience).[21]
3. Alleged certainty: Asserting that a conclusion is certain because everyone knows it to be true even though
there are people who would rationally disagree with one's assertion.[21]
1. Appeal to common sense: Arguing that the conclusion one reached is supported by “common sense."
As many of the readers of this page probably realize, there is no agreed upon common sense. Or, if it
does exist, it is awfully fallacious.[21]
2. Appeal to self-evident truth: Arguing that something is true because it is "self-evident." What is or is
not self-evident is highly debatable and subjective by definition. But that (self-evidently) doesn't stop
you from fantasy projection, or expecting other people to accept your subjective interpretation of
experiences as the basis for objective truth.[21]
3. Proof surrogate: To prove X, I will assert it to be true without providing any evidence for my
conclusion, but I will assert it confidently so you will believe me.[21][15]
4. Blind authority fallacy (also known as the appeal to the law and appeal to Heaven or deus vult): When one
believes something to be true simply because the person saying it is in charge, e.g. the "rights to ought
fallacy" of confusing what one has a legal right to do with what one ought to do. Which is to say, one has the
legal right to protest a march for breast cancer awareness. Having that right doesn't mean that one ought to
do it though.[21]
5. Appeal to consequences of a belief (argumentum ad consequentiam): Whether something is true or not
depends on whether the consequences of it being true are desirable or undesirable e. g. appeal to force
(argumentum ad baculum) wherein one uses force or the threat of it to provide support to one's argument.
The negative outcomes are being actualized by the one making the argument.[19][21][15][24]
1. Argument by censorship: I have created silence; this shows that my point cannot be responded to!
2. Galileo gambit — If someone is going against the tide of popular thinking, for which people have even
died (argumentum ad martyrdom), they must be correct because Galileo was right, while in reality,
Galileo was right because he had evidence.[21]
3. (Self-)Righteousness fallacy: Assuming that if a person (whether self or other) has good intentions,
then they also know the truth.[21]
4. Wishful thinking: The desire for something, especially if improbable (appeal to possibility) or even
impossible, to be true makes it true.[19][21][15]
6. Argumentum ad populum (also known as the bandwagon fallacy, appeal to common belief, and the authority
of the many among others): Most people believe X to be true therefore it must be true.[19][21][15][24]
1. Groupthink: When one reasons the same way everyone else does in their group out of a desire for
social acceptance or because one is too stupid to think independently.[15]
2. Appeal to tradition (argumentum ad antiquitatem): Because it's always been that way, it's absolutely
the right way![21][15]
3. Appeal to popularity (argumentum ad numeram): The popular thing to do or believe in is also the right
thing to do or believe in, even in spite of a Silent Majority precluding much, if any evidence of its
popularity.[21][15]
7. Ipse dixit: When a source is the person making the argument. Example: Person X stole 10 million dollars
from me because I said so even if I don't actually have 10 million dollars for anybody to steal.
Ad hoc
Ad hoc (meaning literally, "for this"): When some idea is asserted purely to shore up some other idea.[21][15]
1. Lying: Intentionally saying something that isn't true.[15]

1. Argumentum ex culo: When some fact is cited to defend something, but the fact is entirely fictional.
2. Rationalization (also known as making excuses): Inventing a reason for something instead of giving
the real reason. Example: "I can't go on a date with you because I am too busy with school right now
to get involved with someone."[21][15]
2. Misrepresentation: A mischaracterization of an opposing position, very often a straw man which is for
greater rhetorical flexibility like what Ayn Rand did with socialism.[19][21][15]
3. Non causa pro causa (also known as false cause) is an enthymeme which does not state that everything is the
effect of something else, especially in certain forms:
1. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc: Because event A happened before B, A must have caused B.[19][20][15][24]
2. Cum hoc, ergo propter hoc (also known as correlation does not imply causation): Concluding that
because A is correlated with B, A caused B.[19][21][15]
1. Confounding causation (also known as joint effect): Asserting X causes Y when, in reality, X
and Y are both caused by Z (either simultaneously or sequentially).[20][15][19][35]
2. Coincidence: Asserting X causes Y when, in reality, the correlation is a statistical
anomaly.[19][35]
3. Reverse causation (or wrong direction): When a cause is mistakenly considered an
effect.[20][15][19][35]
3. Regression fallacy: Something naturally fluctuates. For example, a person gets sick on occasion. When
they get sick, they take snake oil as a cure-all. They later feel better because they have reverted to the
mean which for them is feeling healthy. They falsely conclude snake oil was a cure even though they
only reverted to the mean.[19][21][15]
4. Magical thinking (or superstitious thinking): Making causal connections between A and B based upon
superstition rather than evidence. I danced for rain. It rains a week later. I caused the rain. I wore my
lucky baseball cap. My team won. My wearing of the baseball cap has the power to make my team
win.[21][15]
5. Fallacy of the single cause (also known as causal oversimplification, causal reductionism, and the
reduction fallacy): 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 jointly sufficient causes, e.g. the insignificant cause,
which is the one minor factor out several contributing factors that is the sole cause.[21][15][20]
4. Irrelevant reason — When one uses premises that are not relevant to the issue at hand.[15]
1. Psychogenetic Fallacy: Assuming that there is a psychological reason why an argument is invalid.
Example: You think I am dumb because you are on your period.[21]
2. Confusing an explanation with an excuse: Assuming that someone’s explanation for bad behavior
somehow excuses it.[21][15]
5. Slothful induction (also known as appeal to coincidence): Ignoring the strongest conclusion of an inductive
argument to focus on a weaker one.[21]
1. Least Plausible Hypothesis: Favoring a hypothesis with a lower probability of likelihood over one that
is far more probable.[21]
2. Far-Fetched Hypothesis: Favoring a hypothesis that is not plausible over the more probable
hypothesis.[21][15]
6. Smokescreen: offering up irrelevant information to obscure the relevant information.[15]
1. Quantum Physics Fallacy: Hmmm… how do I prove point X? Oh I know. People don't understand
quantum physics so I will say that point X is proven by the uncertainty principle.[21]
2. Zero-Sum Fallacy: Hmmm… now how do I now prove point Y? I think I will use game theory and
call it a zero sum game. This is a fallacy commonly found in economics. There are valid ways to use
game theory in economics but you have got to be smart about it like this guy. [32]
3. Spiritual Fallacy: When something can not be explained using conventional logic, the person claims
that it's correct in a 'spiritual' way. Examples:
1. the Holy Trinity of Christianity (i.e., "The Holy Spirit, God, and Jesus are all one entity but they
are also three separate entities at the same time").
2. the interpretation of the Bible as somehow forbidding male-male sex absolutely (also includes
Quote Mining and Destruction in Translation)[21]
4. Chewbacca Defense which is a parody of Johnnie Cochran's famous closing argument in the O. J.
Simpson trial: "Cochran: Ladies and gentlemen of this supposed jury, I have one final thing I want you
to consider. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Chewbacca. Chewbacca is a Wookiee from the planet
Kashyyyk. But Chewbacca lives on the planet Endor. Now think about it; that does not make sense!"
(technically not ad hoc, most of this is true of what is in Star Wars)
5. Ad hominem: When the source of the argument is attacked, rather than their idea.[19][21][15][24]
1. Association fallacy: When someone's associations are used as evidence against their
ideas.[19][21][15]
1. Bad Seed: Arguing that the "Apple doesn't fall far from the tree."[15]
2. The Hitler Card (also known as Reductio ad Hitlerum or Hitler Ate Sugar[36]): Hitler
spoke German and you are learning to speak German as a second language, therefore your
arguments have no merit as you are just like Hitler.[19][21]
2. Appeal to bias (also known as ad hominem circumstantial and vested interest): Arguing that
someone's argument has no merit because he or she stands to profit from it being true in some
way.[21][15] The Shill gambit (also known as faulty motives) is the form of this fallacy asserting
an arguer is working for someone and spreading disinformation.[15]
3. Ad Fidentiam (argumentum ad fidentiam): attacking a person's self-confidence.[21] Argumentum
ad cellarium is the form of this fallacy specifically accusing the arguer of still being in "mom's
basement".
4. Poisoning the well and demonization: Where an opponent is pre-painted as (unequivocally)
terrible.[21][15]
5. Tu quoque (argumentum ad hominem tu quoque): Where a criticism is falsely dismissed because
its author is also guilty of the charge. Whataboutism is the form of this fallacy which includes
red herrings or balance fallacies.[19][21][15][24]

6. Subjectivist fallacy (also known as: relativist fallacy): When some objective fact is asserted to
be true for some people but not true for others.[21][15]
7. Damning with faint praise: When someone is attacked through praise of an achievement that
isn't praiseworthy or isn't significantly praiseworthy, suggesting that no achievements worthy of
praise exist.
8. Tone argument: If you can't keep it civil, you clearly can't make truthful statements!
9. Identity fallacy (also known as Bulverism): When the truth of an argument is determined by
one's physical appearance, social class, or other form of social identity[21]: Chinese immigrant:
Not all Chinese people are good at math. Person 2: Yes they are. And why should I believe you?
You are Chinese![21]
10. Fallacy of opposition (a.k.a., Gadarene swine fallacy, traitorous critic [fallacy ergo decedo]):
Example — Person 1: No foreign country has as many problems with gun violence as America
because of their tougher gun laws. Person 2: Well if you like them all so much more, which one
are you just going to move to?): When someone's opposition to your opinion is taken as proof of
their incorrectness.[21][15]
11. Two wrongs make a right: A Hatfield: "A McCoy killed our kin! That ain't right! Lets get em!"
(kills a McCoy). A McCoy: "A Hatfield killed our kin! That ain't right! Let's get em!" (Kills a
Hatfield) (Repeat)[19][21][15]
6. Emotional appeal: Evaluating an argument based on feelings rather than logic.[19][21][15] These
appeals are usually syllogistic, see the Emotional appeal section above.
Weak analogy
Weak analogy: Using an analogy that is too irrelevant for it to be used to prove or disprove an
argument.[19][21][15][24]
1. Faulty Comparison: Comparing two things as if they were related when they are not in order to convey the
idea that one is better than the other is. Example: X motorcycle gets 5 times better gas mileage than the best
selling Y automobile.[21][15]
2. Incomplete Comparison: A comparison that fails to state what it is being compared to. Example: Our
garbage bags are 40% stronger![21]
3. Extended analogy (Reductio ad Hitlerum): Saying something is bad because Hitler (allegedly) did it.
Sometimes called "Hitler ate sugar."[19][21]
4. Appeal to the Moon (argumentum ad lunam): Arguing if we can put a man on the moon, then surely we can
cure trisomy 13.[21]
5. Appeal to Extremes: Misrepresenting a reasonable argument by using extreme examples to try and prove the
argument to be fallacious.[21]
Fallacies of clarity/ambiguity/vagueness
Fallacies of clarity/ambiguity/vagueness (equivocations): Fallacies that lead to logical confusion because of a lack
of logical or linguistic precision. Often (subconsciously/unconsciously) substituting the meaning of a given word in
one context for another context that is inappropriate in order to make your argument. Intentional (also known as
ambiguous middle term) and extensional fallacies depend on using words or phrases that are open to more than one
interpretation and treating the different meanings for the same word or object as being equivalent when the
differences matter although each type depends on it in a different way.[19][21][15][24]
1. Argument of the Beard (also known as the fallacy of the heap and the continuum fallacy): When one argues
that there is no difference between two extremes of a spectrum because one is not sure when a man goes
from being clean shaven to having a beard.[19][21][15]

1. Science was wrong before: And therefore it can never be right.
2. Wronger than wrong: The fallacy of assuming that different degrees of "wrong" are the same.
3. Not as bad as (also known as relative privation): A moral fallacy that says because B is worse than A,
A should be seen as something good. Example: Sure you may have lost your arm, but at least it wasn't
both of your legs.[21]
4. Nirvana fallacy: Claiming that a realistic solution is useless because it is not as good as an idealized
perfect solution.[21][15]
2. Slippery slope: A leads to B which leads to C which leads to D which leads E which leads to zebras having
relations with elephants.[19][21][15][24]
3. Fallacy of definition: Fallacies that convey confusion about the exact meaning of a word or phrase. The most
obvious of these is the circular definition, which fails to establish any new information about its referend.[21]
1. Phantom distinction (also known as distinction without a difference): When someone spends time
arguing for the superiority of one term over another (rather than the intended debate), yet there is no
effective difference.[21]
2. Definist fallacy: When one makes up definitions with no real meaning and/or with loaded language in
order to make one's position easier to defend.[21][15]
3. Failure to elucidate (obscurum per obscurius): Purposefully making a definition more difficult than it
needs to be.[21][15]
1. Proof by Intimidation (argumentum verbosum): Purposefully making one's argument
incomprehensible in order to intimidate those who would object to the premises if they could
understand what was being said.[21]
2. Deepity: "Love is more than just chemicals. It is also the quantum fluctuations of the sublime."
4. Suppressed correlative: Attempting to redefine two mutually exclusive options so that one
encompasses the other. Example: Person 1: That haunted house was pretty good. Were you scared or
not? Person 2: Well, if you define scared as not having complete understanding of the future, then I am
always scared.[21]
4. Fallacy of accent: When the meaning of a text is changed by what word or words are stressed, and stress is
unclear. For example, "She is a born-again virgin?" is a different form of disbelief than "She is a born-again
virgin?" A fallacy occurs when something is stressed in way X in statement 1 and way Y in statement 2.
Extreme forms of this fallacy such as much quoting out of context (also known as contextomy) involve
omitting what would be the unstressed word(s) outright to distort the meaning of a text.[19][21][15]
5. Mistaking the map for the territory: When a term is treated as representing its semantics
1. Reification (also known as hypostatisation): When an abstraction is treated as if it was something
concrete.[21][15]
2. Anthropomorphism: the attribution of human traits to animals, a deity(s), or inanimate objects
(pathetic fallacy).[21][15]
6. Appeal to equality: Using the ambiguous and emotionally-charged word of 'equality' to argue that people,
things, or concepts (places, ideas or data) should be treated equally when what exactly that means is far from
apparent.[21]
7. Use-mention error: Confusing a descriptive word of a thing with the thing itself. Example: Anslem's
ontological argument.[21]
8. Deepity: A statement which equivocates between one vacuous meaning it has, which is true, and another,
which, though sounding profound, is false if it is at all meaningful
9. Fallacy of amphiboly: When a sentence, because of its grammar, structure, or punctuation, can be interpreted
in multiple ways.[19][15][24]
1. Scope fallacy: When the scope of a logical operator (e.g., "not" [or "some", "every" or "all" in the case
of the "fallacy of every and all"]) is vague and allows for misinterpretation and incorrect
conclusions.[19][15][21]
2. Type-token fallacy: A fallacy that confuses types of things with tokens (or numbers of things)
Example: Person 1: We sell dozens of signs (type), anything from stop signs to deer crossing signs.
Person 2: How do you stay in business if you only sell dozens of signs? (token)[21]
Conditional
See the main article on this topic: Conditional fallacy
For the purpose of this list, a conditional "fallacy" is an argument that may or may not be fallacious depending on
how the argument is constructed. The fallacious forms of the argument can be placed in the informal category
section (and many such fallacies are already listed there).
1. Appeal to authority: When an appeal to authority is done correctly, then it can be called an appeal to a
qualified authority and is not a fallacy. When it is done incorrectly, it can be called an appeal to false
authority. Determining what is or is not a qualified authority is the subject of epistemology and is beyond the
scope of this fallacy list. While determining an authority's qualifications is often viewed from a scientific
vantage point, it is not limited to that field of study. The "He said she said" problem is also a question of
whether an authority is qualified or not.[15]
2. Is/ought problem (also known as Hume's law): The is/ought problem stipulates that "what is" is
fundamentally distinct from "what ought". Consider the issue of black rhinos. Descriptions about what is
happening to black rhinos (what is) cannot determine whether rhinos ought to be environmentally protected
or allowed to go extinct (what ought). The ought is a human value that is associated with the "what is" but it
is not a "what is" itself as it is contingent on subjective experience which varies from person to person
(though there are some oughts that are more universal than others). Most of the problems pertaining to the
is/ought problem have been placed in the conditional category as they are contingent on the values a person
or society stipulates to be true, though some of the fallacies associated with is/ought problem have been
placed in the informal category due to relatedness to other fallacies. For example, the "rights to ought
fallacy" was placed under the "appeal to the law fallacy" due to their close association. The following are
fallacies associated with the is/ought problem that are often seen as being examples of fallacious
reasoning.[15]
1. Moralistic fallacy: Concluding "what ought" determines "what is". Example: Homosexuality ought not
to occur and therefore it is not something that is natural.[21]
2. Naturalistic fallacy: Concluding "what is" determines "what ought". Example: Pedophilia is natural
and therefore it ought to be allowed.[21][15]
3. McNamara fallacy: Making a decision based only upon things that can be quantified and ignoring
things that have a qualitative component. Example — Quantitative argument made: Denying education
to people that are here illegally will save taxpayers X amount of dollars. Qualitative argument ignored:
Seven-year-old is on the street instead of school because his parents are at work and he or she has no
adult supervision.[21]
4. Economic fallacies: Economics can be thought of as collective ought. We ought to promote laissez-
faire capitalism or we ought to promote socialism, for example. Given that economics is entangled
with what people believe ought to occur, economic fallacies can be characterized as a subcategory of
the is/ought problem.
1. Hyperbolic discounting: When one chooses to ignore the future in order to focus on present
rewards. Example: Present: Fracking boosts the local economy! Future: Florida is under the
sea.[15]
2. Sunk cost: I have spent X amount of money searching for this sunken treasure and it's not
anywhere where I thought it would be. Well I better spend some more money or else all the
money I spent would have been wasted. Example: Oak Island money pit.[21]
3. Broken window fallacy: A fallacy that asserts that the destruction of property in things like
natural disasters actually boosts the economy. It fails to factor in what the money would
otherwise be used for if it wasn't being used for reconstruction.[21]

4. Just in case fallacy: Basing one's judgement on the worst-case scenario without adequately
factoring in the cost-to-benefit ratio that would cause one to come to a different conclusion. For
example, one could conclude that one should spend money on flood insurance for a home in the
middle of the Mojave desert due to the very unlikely scenario that changing weather patterns
could cause ones home to be caught in an unprecedented deluge of water.[21]
5. Game theory fallacies: These fallacies are conditional. When game theory is done properly as it
was by John Nash, then it is not a fallacy. When it is done improperly, then it is ad hoc.[32]
Argumentative
For the purposes of this list, argumentative fallacies are ones that occur in communication, both the verbal and
written forms of it. These fallacies often incorporate many of the informal fallacies listed above when they are
presenting information.
1. Having Your Cake (If-by-whiskey): Using words with strong connotations to hide the fact that one is
supporting both sides of an issue and therefore not stating a position.[21]
2. Slanting: presenting a false representation for a particular argument by misrepresenting, falsifying,
misconstruing, and/or suppressing evidence.[15]
1. Lying with statistics: Using flawed statistics or a biased presentation of a statistical outcome to convey
the idea that one's position has more support for it than it does.[21]
2. Argument by gibberish: "Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive
developmental disorder in children" (the title for Andrew Wakefield's paper in the Lancet). Alphabet
soup results from boiling this fallacy down to acronyms.[21]
3. Smear tactic: attacking an opponent's character or position in an untruthful way.[15]
4. Spin doctoring: Seeking to deceive people by presenting deceptive information that creates a distorted
view of reality tailored to one's agenda.[21]
5. Shoehorning: Current event X happens. Someone with an agenda uses X to show how their agenda is
correct even though there is no rational connection between the two events. Example: A devastating
earthquake hits Haiti. A religious commentator says Haiti is paying for its pact with the devil.[21]
3. Style over substance fallacy: Using language or rhetoric (ethos or pathos) to enhance the appeal of an
argument, but not its validity, or arguing the method of presentation affects the truth of a claim.[21]
1. Escape hatch: When some rhetorical technique is used to evade the burden of proof.
2. Handwave: The act of glossing over a difficult component in an argument, by ignoring or distracting
from it.
3. Argument by fast talking: When one talks like an auctioneer to convey the idea that one is really
intelligent and therefore must be right.[21]
4. Gish Gallop: The debate tactic of drowning your opponent in a flood of individually-weak arguments
in order to prevent rebuttal of the whole argument collection without great effort.
5. Argument by personal charm: Using one's charm or sex appeal to win over an audience rather than
reasoned arguments.[21]
6. Argument by emotive language: Using loaded language in an argument instead of rational arguments
based on statements of fact in order to persuade the listener to one's position.[21]
7. Hypnotic bait and switch: When you begin with a bunch of uncontroversial statements that the listener
will agree with then switch to a controversial statement to get the listener to agree with that statement
as well. It is a common sales technique. Motte and bailey combines this with equivocation between the
uncontroversial but not very useful statements and the more useful, but much more controversial one
in order to enable yourself to pretend that the listener doesn't really disagree with you.[21]
4. Argument by pigheadedness: Stubbornly refusing to accept rational counter-arguments to one's position
without providing any reasons as to why the counter arguments are wrong.[21]
5. Quibbling and logic chopping: Focusing on a minor point and falsely believing that this minor point
undermines the larger issue. Sometimes being incredibly precise about what one is saying is needed such as
in scientific papers, but in everyday life it is oftentimes useful to talk in more general terms than to get
caught up in the details.[21][15]
6. Argumentum ad nauseam (argument by repetition): If you say something often enough to make people
vomit, you win. The reverse side of this is Argumentum e[x] nausea: If people have told you something often
enough to make you vomit, you win by saying anything that is not that.[21]
1. Argument from silence (argumentum e[x] silentio): The lack of response to my point(s) makes my
point(s) correct!/The lack of response to my counterpoint(s) to your point(s) makes your point(s)
incorrect![21]
2. Argument by assertion: If you say something enough times, it eventually becomes true and therefore
you win the argument.
7. Avoiding the issue and avoiding the question: These are often ambiguous because the lead-in to either
doesn't particularly directly tell the respondent whether they are to be addressing a specific question or an
entire issue. Example:
Person 1: There are reports of you having an affair with your intern. (Ambiguous: Is this
supposed to be the one affair Person 2 is reportedly having with one particular intern or one of
multiple interns with whom Person 2 is concurrently having affairs?)
Person 2: Let me tell you about my new tax plan.[21][15]
Fallacy collections
There are lots of fallacy collections on the Web. Some of them promote a particular agenda, but most fallacies
listed in them are real and present in arguments everyday. Unfortunately, many are deprecated.
Here is a list of websites, ordered roughly by usefulness:
6. International Encyclopedia of Philosophy(link

1. Wikipedia (http://www.iep.utm.edu/fallacy/))
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies)
2. Visualization: Rhetological Fallacies 7. Secular Web(link
(http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizati (http://infidels.org/library/modern/mathew/logic.html))
ons/rhetological-fallacies/), 8. Nizkor Project(link
InformationIsBeautiful.net (http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/))
3. Master List of Logical Fallacies
(https://web.archive.org/web/20160403035310/htt 9. Skeptic's Dictionary(link
(http://skepdic.com/tilogic.html))
p://utminers.utep.edu/omwilliamson/engl1311/fall
acies.htm) University of Texas at El Paso 10. About.com: Agnosticism/Atheism(link
4. Fallacy Files(link (http://www.fallacyfiles.org/)) (http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/skepticism/blfaq_fa
1. Taxonomy of Logical Fallacies(link ll_index.htm))
(http://www.fallacyfiles.org/taxonomy.html))
11. Arthur Schopenhauer(link (http://coolhaus.de/art-of-
2. Glossary(link controversy/))
(http://www.fallacyfiles.org/glossary.html))
12. Stephen's Guide to the Logical Fallacies(link
3. What is a logical fallacy?(link (http://onegoodmove.org/fallacy/))
(http://www.fallacyfiles.org/introtof.html))
13. Dr. Michael LaBossiere(link
5. Your Logical Fallacy Is(link (http://aphilosopher.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/42-
(https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/)) fallacies.pdf))
14. Free Dictionary(link 20. Daniel Kies(link (http://papyr.com/hbp/logic6.htm))

(http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/fallacy)) 21. L. Van Warren(link
15. Bruce Thompson(link (http://www.lcc.gatech.edu/~jeisenberg/techcomm/Fallacies
(https://www2.palomar.edu/users/bthompson/Introduction% .htm))
20to%20Fallacies.html)) 22. Agent Orange(link (http://www.orange-
16. Don Lindsay(link (http://www.don-lindsay- papers.org/orange-propaganda.html))
archive.org/skeptic/arguments.html)) 23. Humanist Discussion Group(link
17. Art of Debate(link (http://lists.village.virginia.edu/lists_archive/Humanist/v12/
(http://www.csun.edu/~dgw61315/fallacies.html)) 0357.html))
18. George Boeree(link

(http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/fallacies.html))
19. Philosophy in Action(link

(http://www.philosophyinaction.com/academic/fallacies.ht
ml))
Deprecated ones, listed ad hoc:
9. P5(link
1. Sinclair Community College(link (http://web.archive.org/web/20010217011536/http://www.w
(http://web.archive.org/web/20040306214202/http://www.si tv-zone.com/moe/moestipsonessaywriting/page5.html))
nclair.edu/centers/wc/LogicalFallacy/index.cfm))
10. Mathenomicon(link
2. Global Tester(link (http://web.archive.org/web/20050509045144/http://www.c
(http://web.archive.org/web/20030316185546/http://www.g enius.net/refer/display.php?ArticleID=logicalfallacy_ref))
lobaltester.com/sp3/fallacy.html))
11. Vanessa Hall(link
3. Anti-Mormon Illogic(link (http://web.archive.org/web/20050508053218/http://www.p
(http://web.archive.org/web/19991009045721/http://www.a mlvoice.com/pml/images/Letters%202003/August/2003081
ros.net/~wenglund/Logic101a.htm)) 8%20V%20Hall.htm))
4. Objectivism(link 12. J. P. Craig(link
(http://web.archive.org/web/20040704194537/http://rous.re (http://web.archive.org/web/19991004185745/http://www.u
dbarn.org/objectivism/Writing/DavidKing/GuideToObjectiv iowa.edu/~c100298/fallacies.html))
ism/FALLACYS.HTM))
13. Informal Fallacies(link
5. Evolution_V_Creation forums(link (http://web.archive.org/web/19970131170203/http://www.k
(http://web.archive.org/web/20080203115825/http://groups. cmetro.cc.mo.us/longview/socsci/philosophy/logic/fallacy.h
msn.com/EvolutionvCreation/fallacies.msnw? tm))
action=get_threads))
14. Autonomist(link
6. Peter A. Angeles(link (http://web.archive.org/web/20030505135153/http://usabig.
(http://web.archive.org/web/19990224033213/http://zebu.u com/autonomist/fallacies.html))
oregon.edu/~js/glossary/fallacies.html))
15. Gordon, Hanks, & Zhu(link
7. Sine Wave(link (http://web.archive.org/web/20031231213006/http://www.t
(http://web.archive.org/web/20040215033204/http://users.a xstate.edu/philosophy/fallacies/fall_def.htm))
ndara.com/~brsears/reafault.htm))
16. Freemasonry(link
8. Carleton University(link (http://web.archive.org/web/20011203142523/http://freema
(http://web.archive.org/web/20041025160531/http://www.fr sonry.bcy.ca/Writings/liberal/logic.html))
eethought.ca/debate/resources_fallacies.php))
17. Taking Sides(link
(http://web.archive.org/web/20001029000955/http://dushki
n.com/usingts/guide/prop.mhtml)) 19. Chisnell.com(link

18. Jeff Richardson(link (http://web.archive.org/web/20030924195513/http://www.c
(http://web.archive.org/web/20021007174144/http://www.c hisnell.com/ClassFiles/Argumentation/S&T4-Logic.rtf))
ox-internet.com/triddorus/argument.htm))
In a nutshell
Stop Misusing Logical Fallacies (Professor Dave Explains [show]
(https://www.youtube.com/c/ProfessorDaveExplains))
Logical Fallacies (GCFLearnFree.org (https://www.youtube.com/c/GcflearnfreeOrgplus)) [show]
See also
Русскоязычным вариантом данной статьи является статья Логическая ошибка
Occam's razor For those of you in the mood,

RationalWiki has a fun article about
The Fine Art of Baloney Detection Justification generator.
Rhetoric
List of cognitive biases
External links
5 Ways Common Sense Lies to You Every Day (http://www.cracked.com/article_17142_5-ways-common-
sense-lies-to-you-everyday.html?
wa_user1=3&wa_user2=Weird+World&wa_user3=article&wa_user4=recommended)
The Art of Being Right: 38 Ways to Win An Argument
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_Being_Right), Arthur Schopenhauer demonstrates how to use
logical fallacies to beat your rhetorical opponent.
Top 25 Creationist Fallacies (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH0vQiudp6I) — A well-made 25 minute
video.
How to misuse fallacies (http://verbalsparring.kinja.com/fallacy-bullies-1700324468)
/r/fallacy (https://www.reddit.com/r/fallacy/) on Reddit
Informal Fallacies part 1 (http://www.math.niu.edu/~richard/Math101/if1.pdf) - Math 101, Spring 2007
handout, Department of Mathematical Sciences, Northern Illinois University
Informal Fallacies part 2 (http://www.math.niu.edu/~richard/Math101/if2.pdf) - Math 101, Spring 2007
handout, Department of Mathematical Sciences, Northern Illinois University
Notes
1. This was placed in the formal category due to the fact that statistics are based in mathematical logical proofs.
2. Using some form of statistical inference is the only mathematically valid way to evaluate evidence and determine the
likelihood of guilt and innocence, but using Bayesian statistics is against USA's laws.[26]
3. According to a federally-funded study made available online by the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, 2-8%
of reported rapes in Los Angeles, California were false allegations.[28]
References
(https://philosophynow.org/issues/51/A_ (2005) Philosophy Now 51:7-10.
1. A Logical Vacation Logical_Vacation) by Julia Nefsky
2. What is a logical fallacy? 16. Cross-Gender Supervision in Prison and (December 2012) Preprints of the Max
(http://www.fallacyfiles.org/introtof.html the Constitutional Right of Prisoners to Planck Institute for Research on
) Fallacy Files. Remain Free from Rape Collective Goods
3. Probabilistic Fallacy (http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewc 27. Prosecutor and Defense Fallacies
(http://www.fallacyfiles.org/probfall.htm ontent.cgi? (http://www.forensicbasics.org/?
l) Fallacy Files. article=1076&context=wmjowl) by Flyn page_id=571#.WvDYt4gbO02)
4. Logical Fallacies L. Flesher (2007) William & Mary Forensics: Examining the Evidence.
(https://web.archive.org/web/201903182 Journal of Women and the Law, Volume 28. Policing and Prosecuting Sexual Assault
13148/http://www.theskepticsguide.org/r 13, Issue 3, Article 8. in Los Angeles City and County: A
esources/logical-fallacies) The Skeptics 17. An Ethical Dilemma In Corrections Collaborative Study in Partnership with
Guide to the Universe (archived from (https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/212621. the Los Angeles Police Department, the
March 18, 2019). pdf) by Albert De Amicis (August 21, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s
5. Logical Fallacies 2005) National Criminal Justice Department, and the Los Angeles
(http://www.logicalfallacies.info/) Reference Service. County District Attorney’s Office
6. Fallacies 18. Barring Male Guards for Female Inmates (https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/gran
(http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/ Might Violate Title VII, Ninth Circuit ts/237582.pdf) by Cassia Spohn &
) by Michael C. Labossiere (1995) The Rules Katharine Tellis (2012) National
Nizkor Project (archived from January 3, (https://web.archive.org/web/201607182 Criminal Justice Service. page 49.
2015). 25130/https://www.bna.com/barring- 29. 4 Common Data Fallacies That You
7. Wealthy Americans can win any fight! male-guards-n17179891923/) by Kevin Need To Know
(https://www.reddit.com/r/AdviceAnimal P. McGowan (July 8, 2014) Bloomberg (https://www.kdnuggets.com/2017/12/4-
s/comments/4n6auf/wealthy_americans_ BNA (archived from July 18, 2016). common-data-fallacies.html) (2017)
can_win_any_fight/d41iwz7) (c. 2016) 19. Fallacy Files by Gary N. Curtis, accessed KDNuggets.
Redditt. 2018 30. Modal (Scope) Fallacy
8. FAQ: Logical fallacies and how to beat (http://www.fallacyfiles.org/propfall.htm (https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/log
them (https://medium.com/debating- l) icalfallacies/Modal-Scope-Fallacy)
london/logical-fallacies-and-how-to- 20. Index Logically Fallacious.
beat-them-f8c281c25954) by Tony (https://web.archive.org/web/200512301 31. Reverse Survivorship Bias
Koutsoumbos (Oct 23, 2015) Medium. 01415/http://datanation.com/fallacies/ind (https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/r
9. Logic Chopping ex.htm) (13 August 1996) Stephen’s everse-survivorship-bias.asp)
(https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/log Guide to the Logical Fallacies (archived Investopedia.
icalfallacies/Logic-Chopping) Logically from December 30, 2005). 32. False equivalence
Fallacious. 21. Logically Fallacious (https://yandoo.wordpress.com/2015/08/
10. Vicious Circles and Infinity — A Panoply (https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/too 14/false-equivalence/) by Tim Harding
of Paradoxes by Patrick Hughes (1975) ls/lp/Bo/LogicalFallacies) by Bo Bennett (August 14, 2015 · 7:14 am) The Logical
Penguin Books. ISBN 0385099177. 22. The inverse fallacy: An account of Place.
11. The Ways of Paradox, and Other Essays deviations from Bayes's theorem and the 33. The problem with prescription drug
by W.V. Quine (1966) Random House. additivity principle prices: What one city did to fight high
12. See the Wikipedia article on School of (https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10. drug prices reveals a drug supply chain
Names. See the Wikipedia article on 3758/BF03195278.pdf) by Gaëlle in which just about every link can
Warring States period. "Miscellaneous Villejoubert & David R. Mandel (2002) benefit when prices go up
paradoxes" Memory & Cognition 30(2):171-178. (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-
(http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/school- 23. [1] problem-with-prescription-drug-prices/)
names/paradoxes.html) Stanford (https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/log by Lesley Stahl (May 6, 2018) 60
Encyclopedia of Philosophy icalfallacies/Argument-from-Age) Minutes, CBS.
13. Studies in Chinese Philosophy and 24. Fallacies 34. Rights To Ought Fallacy
Philosophical Literature by Angus (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/fallacie (https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/log
Charles Graham (1990) State University s/) by Hans Hansen (First published Fri icalfallacies/Rights-To-Ought-Fallacy)
of New York Press. ISBN 0791404498. May 29, 2015; substantive revision Sat Logically Fallacious.
p. 334. Jun 29, 2019) Stanford Encyclopedia of 35. Causal Reasoning iSTAR Assessment:
14. Chung-ying Cheng (1973) "On Zen Philosophy Inquiry for Scientific Thinking and
(Ch’an) Language and Zen Paradoxes 25. Lecture 4, Philosophy 404/English Reasoning, filed in Dimensions of
(http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/P 501/EDTE 404 & 504 Scientific Reasoning on Apr.11, 2011
hilosophical/OnZenLanguage.htm)" (http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~mor (http://www.istarassessment.org/srdims/c
Journal of Chinese Philosophy, V. 1 ourke/404-phil/Summer- ausal-reasoning-2/)
(1973) pp. 77-102 99/Lecture%20Notes/4.htm) by Michael 36. Hitler Ate Sugar
15. Fallacies O'Rourke (June 17 & 21, 1999) (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php
(https://www.iep.utm.edu/fallacy/) by University of Idaho. /Main/HitlerAteSugar) TV Tropes.
Bradley Dowden, Internet Encyclopedia 26. Neglect the Base Rate: Its the law!
of Philosophy (https://www.coll.mpg.de/pdf_dat/2012_
23online.pdf) by Christoph Engel
v - t - e (https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Logfal&action=edit) Articles about logical [show]
fallacies
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“ We reason from our bedrock beliefs, not to them. Infanticide and

Logic and rhetoric

Must be used in argument

Validity versus truth

P1: All humans are cows.

P2: All cows are plants.

C: All humans are plants.

The relationship of paradoxes to logical fallacies

"The following sentence is true."

W. V. Quine distinguished between three classes of paradoxes:[11]

also informal fallacies.

7. Appeal to fear (argumentum ad metum, argumentum in terrorem): We're surrounded by

a way to derive truth. To prove to you why I think this way…"[21]

Fallacies of quantificational logic (also known as fallacies of predicate logic)

1. Illicit contraposition: No S are P. Therefore, no non-P are non-S.[19][21]

Bad reasons fallacy

Fallacy fallacy (argumentum ad logicam):

1. Forward: Argument A for the conclusion B is fallacious. Therefore, B is false.

Fallacy of modal logic

Masked man fallacy

See the main article on this topic: Jumping to conclusions

See the main article on this topic: No True Scotsman

See the main article on this topic: Category mistake

Confusing what is true of a part with what is true of the whole.

Argument from ignorance

Appeal to false authority

1. Lying: Intentionally saying something that isn't true.[15]

red herrings or balance fallacies.[19][21][15][24]

from being clean shaven to having a beard.[19][21][15]

otherwise be used for if it wasn't being used for reconstruction.[21]

Person 2: Let me tell you about my new tax plan.[21][15]

Here is a list of websites, ordered roughly by usefulness:

6. International Encyclopedia of Philosophy(link

14. Free Dictionary(link 20. Daniel Kies(link (http://papyr.com/hbp/logic6.htm))

18. George Boeree(link

19. Philosophy in Action(link

Deprecated ones, listed ad hoc:

n.com/usingts/guide/prop.mhtml)) 19. Chisnell.com(link

Occam's razor For those of you in the mood,

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