Examples of Fallacies

Confusing Causes and Consequences (Post Hoc)

Cigarette advertising on television was banned 30 years ago.  Since then we have seen the level
of smoking fall.  Obviously the ban has worked.

Since the death penalty was reintroduced in Texas, murders have dwindled.

The human race has never received a well-authenticated communication from beings elsewhere
in the universe.  This is because the only intelligent life in the universe is on our own planet.

Irrelevant Appeals

Chelmsford is not worth visiting.  Charles Dickens despised Chelmsford, describing it as “the
dullest and most stupid spot on the face of the Earth.” (authority)

“If we don't introduce ID cards, the terrorists have won.” (fear)

“I hope you like my proposal. It took me six years to write and I don't know what I'd do if you
rejected it.” (pity)

“Hundreds of millions of people have been Christians, devoutly following it and even dying for
it. How could that be possible if Christianity weren't true?” (popularity)
 

I did not murder my mother and father with an axe. Please don't find me guilty; I'm suffering
enough through being an orphan. (pity)

I'm practicing safe sex. My accountant said it's important, and he was honoured as the San Jose
CPA of the year. (authority)

Gosh, officer, I know I made an illegal left turn, but please don't give me a ticket. If you do,
they'll suspend my license, I'll lose my insurance, I won't be able to work, and my kids will go
hungry. (pity)

Confusing Necessary and Sufficient Conditions

My teacher said that I had to read the textbook if I wanted to pass the exam.  I have read the
textbook, so I will definitely pass the exam.

You need to get three A Levels to get a place at university.

Most people could be musical geniuses if they practised hard enough.  Most great composers had
at least a decade of painstaking training before they wrote any masterpieces.  Mozart, for
example, was drilled incessantly by his father in techniques of composition before he composed
his first work at the age of 12.

Ad Hominem

 
My doctor told me to lose some weight but why should I listen to a doctor who is himself
overweight?

We should not believe the promises made by the managing director.  She has been convicted for
drunk driving twice in the last three years.

Tu Quoque

The police have no right to fine me for speeding.  They break the speed limit all the time.

You Americans have no right to criticise our bombing of Chechnya after all the damage done in
Serbia by NATO bombings.

Circular Argument

We know that God exists because the Bible tells us so. And we know that the Bible is true
because it is the word of God.

The murder verdict must be correct.  It was decided in a court of law.

Bad Analogy

 
Children should not be expected to tidy their rooms.  You would not expect a pet rabbit to clean
out its own cage.

Ideas, like wine, mature over time.  Therefore, you should leave completing your coursework
until the very last minute to ensure that your work will be of the best possible standard.

Equivocation

The sign said "fine for parking here", and since it was fine, I parked there.

Women and men are physically and emotionally different.  The sexes are not “equal” and
therefore the law should not pretend that we are!

Straw Man

Senator Jones says that we should not fund the attack submarine program. I disagree entirely. I
can't understand why he wants to leave us defenceless like that.

Those who argue that the rain forests should be protected from further development are the sort
of people who don't want to see progress. Progress has brought us all sorts of benefits, such as
medical care and rapid transportation. People's lives would be much poorer if our predecessors
had stood in the way of progress. We should not therefore listen to those who oppose the proper
development of the rain forests.

 
Generalisation

Young people today have more formal education than their grandparents had.  Wilma is young,
so she must have had more formal education than her grandparents had.

Everyone has a right to his own property, therefore, even though Jones has been declared insane
he should keep his machine gun.

Jones is a madman with a gun.  Therefore, all gun owners are dangerous lunatics.

False Dilemma

We should take the defence budget and use it to feed starving children.

Either scientists can explain the strange objects seen in the sky over Gulf Breeze, Florida, or
these objects are piloted by visitors from outer space. Scientists cannot explain these objects, so
they must be visitors from outer space.

Slippery Slope

If you let that student wear a nose stud, all the students will come in outrageous fashions. 
They’ll begin to think they can do whatever they like and nobody will do any work.

 
We should not legalise cannabis.  If we did, there would be many people who would progress to
taking harder drugs.  Soon enough, we would have a whole nation of crack addicts on welfare.

Affirming the Consequent

If the anti-terror laws are effective, there will be no terror attacks.  There have been no terror
attacks since we have passed the laws, so the laws have been effective.

If he had wanted to stab someone, he must have had a sharp knife.  There was a sharp knife in
his house, so he must be the murderer.

“If you were cheating on me you would be out of the house a lot.  You are out of the house a lot,
so you must be cheating on me.”

Denying the Antecedent

If the God of the Bible appeared to me, personally, that would certainly prove that Christianity
was true. But God has never appeared to me, so the Bible must be a work of fiction.

If he forgets his passport, he won’t be able to get on the plane.  He’s remembered his passport, so
he will be able to get on the plane.

No True Scotsman
 

“No true Scotsman puts sugar in his porridge.”  “My uncle Hamish puts sugar in his porridge.” 
“Ah but no true Scotsman puts sugar in his porridge.”

Islam is a peaceful religion.  Muslims who plant bombs are not real Muslims.

False Compromise

Animal rights activists say that animals have rights. That's an extreme view, but it is equally
extreme to say they have no rights at all. I think we should reject both extremes.

Reduction to Hitler

We shouldn’t introduce ID cards.  Hitler relied on ID cards and he used them to organise the
Holocaust.

Naturalistic Fallacy

Our ancestors gathered nuts, berries and roots, and scavenged meat, so that's what Nature
intended for us to do.

It is a good idea for children to be bored at school.  Most work is boring and so we need to
prepare them for adult life.
 

Posthumous Ally

The gunman recently executed in Florida for murdering an abortionist was quoted as saying that
if Jesus Christ were present in the modern United States, he'd do the same thing (i.e. murder
doctors who provide abortions).

Poisoning the Wells

"My opponent is a dentist, so of course he will oppose the fluoridating of water, since he will
lose business."

Men are incapable of getting truly emotionally involved in the issue of abortion.  It is impossible
for them to understand the situation as women do.

Gambler’s Fallacy

“I can’t quit now, I’m on a wining streak.”

“Our luck must change soon.”

 
Unobtainable Perfection

These anti-drunk driving ad campaigns are not going to work. People are still going to drink and
drive no matter what.

Undistributed Middle

My cat has four legs.  My dog has four legs.  Therefore, my dog is a cat.

Patients with the dysexecutive syndrome…make mistakes in assembling rational sequences of

thought. For example, one patient with the dysexecutive syndrome concluded that there are
money-trees because “money is green [in the United States] and so are trees, so money must
grow on trees.”

Loaded Language/Loaded Question

Have you stopped beating your wife yet?

Where did you hide all the money you stole?

Did you enjoy embarrassing me in front of my friends?

 
False Converse

All sheep are woolly creatures.  Therefore, all woolly creatures are sheep.

Fallacy of Composition

The bicycle is made entirely of low mass components, and is therefore very lightweight.

Fallacy of Accident

It is not sensible to be kind to animals because one day you may end up marooned in a boat with
a man eating tiger and you wouldn’t want to be kind to animals then.

Irrelevant Appeal to Ignorance

Of course the Loch Ness Monster is real.  Nobody has ever been able to prove that it doesn’t
exist.

Irrelevant Appeal to Force

 
There is ample proof of the truth of the Bible. All those who refuse to accept that truth will burn
in Hell.

Irrelevant Appeal to History

Sure I believe in God. People have believed in God for thousands of years so it seems clear that
God must exist. After all, why else would the belief last so long?

Red Herring

Why would a Wookiee, an eight-foot tall Wookiee, want to live on Endor, with a bunch of two-
foot tall Ewoks? That does NOT MAKE SENSE! But more important, you have to ask yourself:
What does this have to do with this case? Nothing. Ladies and gentlemen, it has nothing to do
with this case! It does NOT MAKE SENSE! Look at me. I'm a lawyer defending a major record
company, and I'm talkin' about Chewbacca! Does that make sense? Ladies and gentlemen, I am
not making any sense! None of this makes sense! And so you have to remember, when you're in
that jury room deliberatin' and conjugatin' the Emancipation Proclamation, [approaches and
softens] does it make sense? No! Ladies and gentlemen of this supposed jury, it does NOT
MAKE SENSE! If Chewbacca lives on Endor, you must acquit! The defense rests