What are the different types of fallacies?

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1170918

2026-05-12 12:45

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1) Hasty Generalization - a speaker jumps to a general conclusion on the basis of insufficient evidence.

X is true of A,B, and C. Therefore, X is true of everything.

"Last year alone 4 members of the Baptist church were convicted of money laundering. We can conclude then, that all the members of the Baptist church are guilty of money laundering."

2) False Cause - assumes that because one event follows another, the 1st even is the cause of the 2nd.

"I'm sure the stock market will rise next month. It usually goes up when I go on vacation."

3) Invalid Analogy (comparing Apples to Oranges) - An analogy in which 2 cases being compared aren't essentially alike.

"Of course Pedro can prepare great Italian food, his Mexican cooking is fabulous!"

4) Red Herring - A fallacy that introduces an irrelevant issue to divert attention from the real issue under discussion.

"Why should we worry about animal testing when 100s of people are injured in motorcycle accidents each year?"

5) Ad Hominem (translates "against the man") - attacks the person rather than dealing with the real issue.

"Of course you support euthanasia, your sisters are dead."

6) Either-Or (seeing things in B&W) - forces listeners to choose between 2 alternatives when more than 2 alternatives exist.

"The government must either raise taxes or reduce the services for the poor."

7) Bandwagon - Assumes that because something is popular, it is good, right, and desirable

"The Senator must be correct, after all, polls show 60% of the people support him."

8) Slippery Slope - assumes that taking the first step will lead to subsequent steps that can't be prevented

"We don't dare provide more financial aid. We'll be supporting the whole country if we do."

There's more, but this is all that my professor is making my study at this moment :) plus my hand is tired. Anything I've learned should be credited to J. Robinette.

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