Fallacy

Understanding Fallacies

Feelosofi –  Fallacy is a term used in logic and rhetoric to refer to types of errors or illegitimate conclusions in the process of thought or argument. In the context of critical thinking, fallacies are often traps that trick someone in making decisions or thinking about a problem.

Errors of thinking, or fallacies, usually occur when someone uses an argument that should not be accepted logically. This can happen because of inaccurate information, wrong assumptions, or even because of the intention to deceive or manipulate others. An example of a fallacy that is often encountered is the “ad hominem argument,” where someone attacks the character of the other person without discussing the actual argument.

While some types of fallacies are easier to recognize than others, it is important to understand them in order to make a strong argument and avoid getting caught in thinking errors. Understanding fallacies also helps us to be more critical in receiving information and think more clearly in dealing with the arguments we encounter every day. Thus, knowing the meaning and types of fallacies is an important step in improving critical thinking and effective communication skills.

Types Of Types Of Fallacy

A

• Accident fallacy
• To Faith
• To This Rescue
• Ad Hominem (Abusive)
• To the Man (Circumstantial)
• Ad Hominem (Guilt by association)
• To the Man (You Too)
• Affirmative Conclusion from a Negative Premise
• Affirming a Disjunct
• Affirming the Consequent
• Alleged Certainty
• Alternative Advance
• Appeal to Accomplishment
• Appeal to Anger
• Appeal to Authority
• Appeal to Celebrity
• Appeal to Common Belief
• Appeal to Common Folk
• Appeal to Coincidence
• Appeal to Consequences
• Appeal to Definition
• Appeal to Desperation
• Appeal to Emotion
• Appeal to Extremes
• Appeal to Faith
• Appeal to Fear
• Appeal to Flattery
• Appeal to Force
• Appeal to Heaven
• Appeal to the Moon
• Appeal to Nature
• Appeal to Novelty
• Appeal to Pity
• Appeal to Popularity
• Appeal to Possibility
• Appeal to Ridicule
• Appeal to Tradition
• Ambiguity Fallacy
• Anonymous Authority
• Argument by Emotive Language
• Argument by Fast Talking
• Argument by Gibberish
• Argument by Personal Charm
• Argument by Repetition
• Argument from Age
• Argument from Fallacy
• Argument from Hearsay
• Argument from Ignorance
• Argument from Silence
• Argument of the Beard
• Argument to Moderation
• Avoiding the Issue
• Argument to the Purse
• Abductive Fallacy
• Accent Fallacy
• Amazing Familiarity
• Ambiguity Effect
• Ambiguous Assertion
• Appeal to Closure
• Appeal to Complexity
• Appeal to Convenience
• Appeal to Luck
• Appeal to Envy
• Appeal to Equality
• Appeal to Intuition
• Appeal to Privacy
• Appeal to Stupidity
• Appeal to Utility
• Argument by Dismissal
• Argument by Lazyness
• Argument by Pigheadedness
• Argument by Rhetorical Question
• Argument by Selective Reading
• Argument by Uniformed Opinion
• Argument from Design
• Argument from Inertia
• Argument from Omniscience
• Argument to the Future
• Argument to Arrest
• Argument for example

B

• Base Rate Fallacy
• Begging the Question
• Biased Sample Fallacy
• Blind Authority Fallacy
• Broken Window Fallacy
• Barking Cat
• Big Lie Technique
• Blood is Thicker than Water
• Bribery
• Burden of Proof Fallacy

C

• Causal Reductionism
• Cherry Picking
• Circular Reasoning
• Commutation of Conditionals
• Complex Question Fallacy
• Conflicting Conditions
• Confusing an Explanation with an Excuse
• Conjuction Fallacy
• Conspiracy Theory
• Chronological Snobbery
• Confesses Under Torture
• Contextomy

D

• Definist Fallacy
• Denying the Antecedent
• Denying a Conjunct
• Denying the Correlative
• Disjunction Fallacy
• Distinction Without a Difference
• Damning with Faint Praise
• Double Bind
• Double Standard

E

• Equivocation
• Etymological Fallacy
• Exclusive Premises
• Existensial Fallacy
• Extended Analogy
• Emphasis Fallacy
• Essentializing Fallacy
• Exaggeration
• Exception That Proves The Rule

F

• Failure to Eludicate
• Fake Precision
• Fallacy of Composition
• Fallacy of Division
• Fallacy of Four Terms
• Fallacy of Necessity
• Fallacy of Undistributed Middle
• False Attribution
• False Conversion
• False dilemma
• False Effect
• Far-Fetced Hypothesis
• Faulty Comparison
• Failure to State
• Fallacy of Multiplication
• Fallacy of Opposition
• Fallacy of Quoting Out of Context
• Fallacy of Crucial Experiment
• Fantasy Projection
• Faulty Sign
• Finish the Job Fallacy

G

• Gambler’s Fallacy
• Genetic Fallacy
• God Wildcard Fallacy
• Galileo Wannabe
• Golden Hammer Fallacy

H

• Hasty Generalization
• Having Your Cake
• Hedging
• Historian’s Fallacy
• Homunculus Fallacy
• Hypnotic Bait and Switch
• Hypothesis Contrary to Fact
• Hifalutin’ Denunciations

I

• if-By-Whiskey
• Illicit Contraposition
• Illicit Major
• Illicit Minor
• Illicit Substitution of Identicals
• Inconsistency
• Inflation of Conflict
• I Wish I Had a Magic Wand
• In a Certain Respect and Simply
• Intentional Fallacy
• Invicible Ignorance Fallacy

J

• Jumping into Conclusions
• Just Because Fallacy
• Just In Case Fallacy

K

• Knight and Knaves

L

• Least Plausible Hypothesis
• Limited Depth
• Limited Scope
• Logic Chopping
• Ludic Fallacy
• Lying with Statistics
• Lack of Proportion
• Latino Fallacy
• Lies (Misrepresentation)
• Lip Service
• Lump of Labor Fallacy

M

• Magical Thinking
• Meaningless Question
• Misleading Vividness
• Missing Data Fallacy
• Modal (Scope) Fallacy
• Moralistic Fallacy
• Moving the Goal Posts
• Multiple Comparison Fallacy
• Mind Projection Fallacy
• Monopoly the Question

N

• Naturalistic Fallacy
• Negative Conclusion from Affirmative Premises
• Negating Antecedent and Consequent
• Nirvana Fallacy
• No True Scotsman
• It does not follow
• Notable Effort
• Norm of Reciprocity
• Not Invented Here

O

• Overhelming Exception
• Outdated Information

P

• Package-Deal Fallacy
• Poisoning the Well
• Political Correctness Fallacy
• Post-Designation
• Prejudical Language
• Proof by Intimidation
• Proving Non-Existence
• Packing the House
• Paralogism
• Paralysis of Analysis
• Pigeonholing
• Pious Fraud
• Pragmatic Fallacy
• Preacher’s We
• Probabilistic Fallacy
• Psychologist’s Fallacy

Q

• Quantifier-Shift Fallacy
• Quantum Physics Fallacy
• Questionable Cause

R

• Rationalization
• Red Herring
• Reductio ad absurdum
• Reduction to Hitler
• Regression Fallacy
• Reification
• Relative Privation
• Retrogressive Causation
• Retrospective Determinism
• Redefinition
• Reductionism

S

• Scapegoating
• Selective Attention
• Self-Sealing Argument
• Shoehorning
• Slippery Slope
• Special Pleading
• Spiritual Fallacy
• Spotlight Fallacy
• Statement of Conversion
• Stereotyping
• Stolen Concept Fallacy
• Strawman Fallacy
• Style Over Substance
• Subjectivist Fallacy
• Subverted Support
• Sunk-Cost Fallacy
• Suppresed Corelative
• Sanctioning the Devil
• Scope Fallacy
• Self-Deception
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
• Self-Righteousness
• Sherlock Holmes Fallacy
• Sly Suggestions
• Snow Job
• Sour Grapes
• Spin Doctoring

T

• Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy
• Tokenism
• Two Wrongs Make a Right
• Taboo
• Tautology
• There Is No Alternative
• Too Broad
• Too Narrow

U

• Unfalsifiability
• Unwarranted Contrast
• Use-Mention Error
• Undoability

W

• Weasel Wording
• Word Magic
• Weak Analogy
• Willed Ignorance
• Wishful Thinking