Accident / Sweeping Generalization
- Apply a general statement too broadly
(not universal statements, you treat it as
universal) conclusion specific
Amphiboly / Amphibology
- Syntactical ambiguity due to
grammatical construction
Complex Question / Loaded Question
- Two questions, One Answer
Didnt your computer blow up because of
your own inexperience?
Have you stopped cheating during exams?
Composition
- Quality Applied to a unit (whole) when
it should be taken individually (parts)
parts -> whole
Consequent / affirming the consequent
- Affirm the consequent then affirm the
antecedent
If it is raining , then the ground is wet
But the ground is wet
Therefore, it is raining
Division
- Taking separately what should be taken
together as a unit. Whole -> Parts
The 2nd grade at my elementary school buys
the most popsicles at lunch. Your brother is
in 2nd grade at my school, so he must like to
eat a lot of popsicles.
Equivocation
- A term is used in two or more different
senses within a single argument.
 False Cause Since the opposite of immobile is mobile,
- Confusion of causal with non-causal then the opposite of inflammable is
relationships flammable.

Gamblers Fallacy
- Assuming that short-term deviations
from probability will be corrected in the
short term.

I have flipped heads five times in a row. As a

result, the next flip will probably be tails.

Explanation: The odds for each and every

flip are calculated independently from other
flips. The chance for each flip is 50/50, no
matter how many times heads came up
before.

Hasty Generalization
False Dilemma / Black and White / Either OR - Drawing a general rule from a single case
Fallacy (conclusion -> general) specific ->
- Options are reduced to two alternatives general
only. My father smoked four packs of cigarettes a
day since age fourteen and lived until age
sixty-nine. Therefore, smoking really cant
be that bad for you.

Four out of five dentists recommend Happy

Glossy Smiley toothpaste brand. Therefore,
it must be great.

Red Herring / Changing the Subject

- Fallacy of distraction , diversion using a
different topic.

Figures of Speech
- False analogy, wrongly inferring
similarity of meaning from similarity of
word structure.

Since the opposite of illiterate is literate,

then the opposite of liquid is illiquid.
 Argumentum Ad Antiquitatem
- Appeal to tradition, its better because its
old.
Marriage has traditionally been between a
man and a woman; therefore, gay marriage
should not be allowed.
Argumentum Ad Baculum
- Appeal to the stick / appeal to the force,
blackmail, violence
Argumentum Ad Hominem
- Attacking the person / against the man
Argumentum Ad Ignorantiam
- Appeal to ignorance , failure to prove
something
Although we have proven that the moon is
not made of spare ribs, we have not proven
that its core cannot be filled with them;
therefore, the moons core is filled with
spare ribs.
To this very day (at the time of this writing),
science has been unable to create life from
non-life; therefore, life must be a result of
divine intervention.
Argumentum Ad Misericordiam
- Appeal to Pity / emotions
Argumentum Ad Novitatem
- Appeal to novelty Younger is better
 Argumentum Ad Populum
- Appeal to popularity / bandwagon
Argumentum Ad Verecundiam
- Misplaced authority
My 5th-grade teacher once told me that girls
would go crazy for boys if they learn how to
dance. Therefore, if you want to make the
ladies go crazy for you, learn to dance.
The Pope told me that priests could turn
bread and wine into Jesus body and blood.
The Pope is not a liar. Therefore, priests
really can do this.
Petitio Principle / Begging the Question
- Circular reasoning
We should ban marijuana because it is an
illegal substance.
(The conclusion, which is to ban marijuana,
is simply a restatement of the assertion that
marijuana is an illegal substance. Something
that is illegal is already presumed to be
banned.)
Capital punishment is justifiable for the
crimes of murder and kidnapping because it
is quite legitimate and appropriate that
someone be put to death for such heinous
crime.
(To say it is legitimate and appropriate
means it is justifiable. Also, to put someone
to death is the very definition of capital
punishment.)
Slippery Slope / Camels Nose
- Asserting that some event must
inevitably follow from another without
any argument for the inevitably of the
event in question.
Suppression of Facts / Suppressed evidence
- Selecting only the facts that favor an
opinion and suppressing or ignoring all
that are against it.
My political candidate gives 10% of his
income to the needy, goes to church every
Sunday, and volunteers one day a week at a
homeless shelter. Therefore, he is honest
and morally straight.
Explanation: What information was left out
of the example is that this same candidate
gives 10% of his income to needy prostitutes
in exchange for services, goes to the bar
every Sunday after church (and sometimes
before), and only works at the homeless
shelter to get clients for his drug dealing
business.