Logical Fallacies

Prasarn Lao-aruen
 What is the Fallacy?
• A fallacy is an error in reasoning. This differs
from a factual error, which is simply being
wrong about the facts. To be more specific, a
fallacy is an "argument" in which the premises
given for the conclusion do not provide the
needed degree of support.
 Fallacies
• A deductive fallacy is a deductive argument that
is invalid (it is such that it could have all true
premises and still have a false conclusion).
• An inductive fallacy is less formal than a
deductive fallacy. They are simply "arguments"
which appear to be inductive arguments, but the
premises do not provided enough support for the
conclusion. In such cases, even if the premises
were true, the conclusion would not be more
likely to be true.
 Ad Hominem
(Against person)
• An Ad Hominem is a general category
of fallacies in which a claim or argument is
rejected on the basis of some irrelevant fact
about the author of or the
person presenting the claim or argument.
• Bill: "I believe that abortion is morally
wrong."

• Dave: "Of course you would say that, you're a

priest."

• Bill: "What about the arguments I gave to

support my position?"

• Dave: "Those don't count. Like I said, you're a

priest, so you have to say that abortion is
wrong. Further, you are just a assistant to the
Pope, so I can't believe what you say."
 Appeal to Authority

• This fallacy is committed when the person in

question is not a legitimate authority on the
subject.
• More formally, if person A is not qualified to
make reliable claims in subject S, then
the argument will be fallacious.
 Appeal to Common Belief
When the claim that most or many people in
general or of a particular group accept a belief
as true is presented as evidence for the claim.

• A lot of people believe X.

• Therefore, X must be true.
 A lot of pregnant
women are smokers,
so I don’t think that
I am doing something
wrong !
Committing adultery is common in contemporary
society nowadays. It is fashionable !
 Straw Man Fallacy
• The Straw Man fallacy is committed when a
person simply ignores a person's actual
position and substitutes a distorted,
exaggerated or misrepresented version of that
position.
 Why, we just went through those
closets last year. Do we have to
clean them out everyday?

We should clean out the closets.

They are getting a bit messy
 Ad Baculum
(Appeal to Fear)

Fallacy that occurs when threat of

force is made, either implicitly or
explicitly.
 You must believe
that God exists.
After all, if you do
not accept the
existence of God,
then you will face
the horrors of hell.
You know, Professor Smith, I really need to
get an A in this class. I'd like to stop by
during your office hours later to discuss my
grade. I'll be in your building anyways,
visiting my father. He's your dean, by the
way. I'll see you later
 Questionable Analogy
• An analogy is a comparison between two things.
We use analogies to explain or describe things
because analogies try to give us a clear, clean
image to tie into. Sometimes analogies help us to
come up with new and interesting ideas.
• The fallacy of questionable analogy is the use of
an analogy where the cases are relevantly
different. When reasoning by analogy, the fallacy
occurs when the analogy is irrelevant or very
weak.
The gun and
hammer are both
weapons which
can be used to kill
a man. You can
bring the hammer
to public place
legally, but why
not the gun ??
 To deny
there is a
God is like
standing on
a building
and denying
there is a
building.
 Ad Misericordiam
• Also known as Appeal to Pity or misery, the
fallacy committed when pity or a related
emotion such as sympathy or compassion is
appealed to for the sake of getting a
conclusion accepted.
I think that using a fake
copy of Windows in
Thailand is acceptable.
Because most of Thai users
are poor, they do not have
enough money to buy the
genuine copy of Windows.
 I should
receive an 'A'
in this class.
After all, if I
don't get an
'A' I won't get
the fellowship
that I want.
 Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc
(False Cause)
• It has been traditionally interpreted as "After
this, therefore because of this." This fallacy is
committed when it is concluded that one event
causes another simply because the proposed
cause occurred before the proposed effect.
• More formally, the fallacy involves concluding
that A causes or caused B because A occurs
before B and there is not sufficient evidence to
actually warrant such a claim.