LOGICAL FALLACIES

LOGICAL FALLACIES
 LOGICAL FALLACIES
• Errors in reasoning that invalidate the argument.
 LOGICAL FALLACIES
• Errors in reasoning that invalidate the argument.

• Knowing how to spot and identify fallacies is a priceless skill. It can save you
time, money, and personal dignity.
 LOGICAL FALLACIES

• False Dilemma
• Appeal to Ignorance
• Slippery Slope
• Complex Questions
• Appeal to Force
• Appeal to Pity
 FALSE DILEMMA/
FALSE DICHOTOMY
 FALSE DILEMMA/
FALSE DICHOTOMY
Occurs when an arguer presents his/her argument as one of only two
options despite the presence of multiple possibilities.
 FALSE DILEMMA
Sample

1. “Either we go to war or we appear weak.”

 FALSE DILEMMA
Sample

1. “Either we go to war or we appear weak.”

2. “Either you love me or you hate me.”

 FALSE DILEMMA
Also known as
• “Black & White Fallacy”
• “Either-Or Fallacy”
• “Bifurcation Fallacy.” 
 FALSE DILEMMA

“Dilemma-based arguments are only fallacious when, in fact, there are more
than the stated options.”
APPEAL TO IGNORANCE
 (ARGUMENTUM
AD IGNORANTIAM)
 APPEAL TO IGNORANCE
 (ARGUMENTUM
AD IGNORANTIAM)
Occurs when something is instantly concluded to be true
just because it is not proven to be false, and vise versa
 APPEAL TO IGNORANCE
• This fallacy is often used to bolster multiple contradictory conclusions at
once.
 APPEAL TO IGNORANCE
Sample

1.  “We have no evidence that the Illuminati ever existed. They must have
been so clever they destroyed all the evidence.”
 APPEAL TO IGNORANCE
Sample

1.  “We have no evidence that the Illuminati ever existed. They must have
been so clever they destroyed all the evidence.”

2. “I know nothing about Tank Johnson except that he has a criminal record
as long as your leg, but I’ll bet he’s really just misunderstood.”
 APPEAL TO IGNORANCE

“Ignorance isn’t proof of anything except that one doesn’t know something.”

SLIPPERY SLOPE
 SLIPPERY SLOPE
Occurs when a series of increasingly superficial and
unacceptable consequences are drawn
 SLIPPERY SLOPE
• This fallacy is not just a long series of causes. Some causal chains are
perfectly reasonable. There could be a complicated series of causes which
are all related and we have good reason for expecting the first cause to
generate the last outcome. 
 SLIPPERY SLOPE
Sample

1. “Your coach’s policy is that no one can be a starter on game day if they
miss practice. So, if you miss basketball practice today, you won’t be a
starter in Friday’s game. Then you won’t be the first freshman to start on the
Varsity basketball team at our school.”
 SLIPPERY SLOPE
Sample

1. “Your coach’s policy is that no one can be a starter on game day if they
miss practice. So, if you miss basketball practice today, you won’t be a
starter in Friday’s game. Then you won’t be the first freshman to start on the
Varsity basketball team at our school.”
2. “If America doesn’t send weapons to the Syrian rebels, they won’t be able
to defend themselves against their warring dictator. They’ll lose their civil
war, and that dictator will oppress them, and the Soviets will consequently
carve out a sphere of influence that spreads across the entire Middle East.”
 SLIPPERY SLOPE

“The slippery slope fallacy, however, suggests that unlikely or ridiculous

outcomes are likely when there’s just not enough evidence to think so.”
COMPLEX QUESTIONS
 COMPLEX QUESTIONS
Occurs when two or more points are rolls into one and the
reader is expected to either accept or reject both at the same
time, when one point maybe satisfactory while the other is not
 COMPLEX QUESTIONS
• The complex question fallacy is committed when a question is asked
(a) that rests on a questionable assumption, and
(b) to which all answers appear to endorse that assumption.
 COMPLEX QUESTIONS
Sample

1. “Have you stopped beating your wife?”

 COMPLEX QUESTIONS
Sample

1. “Have you stopped beating your wife?”

2. “Are you going to admit that you’re wrong?

 COMPLEX QUESTIONS
 

“Any possible conclusion drawn from the premises would necessarily affirm
another proposition that has not been shown to be true.”
APPEAL TO FORCE
 APPEAL TO FORCE
Occurs when a threat, instead of reasoning, is used to argue.
 APPEAL TO FORCE
• It is based on the threat of harm and is not relevant to the argument itself. In
short, the threat does not prove or disprove the truth of the statement.
 APPEAL TO FORCE
Sample
1. Melvin: Boss, why do I have to work weekends when nobody else in the
company does?
Boss: Am I sensing insubordination?  I can find another employee very
quickly, thanks to Craigslist, you know.
 APPEAL TO FORCE
Sample
1. Melvin: Boss, why do I have to work weekends when nobody else in the
company does?
Boss: Am I sensing insubordination?  I can find another employee very
quickly, thanks to Craigslist, you know.

2. Jordan: Dad, why do I have to spend my summer at Jesus camp?

Dad: Because if you don’t, you will spend your entire summer in your room
with nothing but your Bible!
 APPEAL TO FORCE

“When force, coercion, or even a threat of force is used in place of a reason

in an attempt to justify a conclusion.”
 APPEAL TO FORCE

“When force, coercion, or even a threat of force is used in place of a reason

in an attempt to justify a conclusion.”

Logical form
“If you don’t accept X as true, I will hurt you.”
APPEAL TO PITY
APPEAL TO PITY
 (ARGUMENTUM AD
MISERICORDIAM)
 APPEAL TO PITY
 (ARGUMENTUM AD
MISERICORDIAM)
Occurs when the element of pity of pity
is used instead of logical reasoning
 APPEAL TO PITY
• Argumentum ad misericordiam is Latin for “argument to compassion”
 APPEAL TO PITY
• Argumentum ad misericordiam is Latin for “argument to compassion”
• Like the “ad hominem” fallacy
 APPEAL TO PITY
• Argumentum ad misericordiam is Latin for “argument to compassion”
• Like the “ad hominem” fallacy
• Personal attacks, and emotional appeals, aren’t strictly relevant to whether
something is true or false.
 APPEAL TO PITY
Sample

1. “The government needs to hear our cry because we are scared. We are
scared that this candidate will not respect us or protect us. We are scared
about our future. There’s no hope for people like us with these candidates
in office.”
 APPEAL TO PITY
Sample

1. “The government needs to hear our cry because we are scared. We are
scared that this candidate will not respect us or protect us. We are scared
about our future. There’s no hope for people like us with these candidates
in office.”

2. “These candidates stated that they would close down the education
department and that has many teachers worried about their jobs in 2017.”
 APPEAL TO PITY

“Truth and falsity aren’t emotional categories, they are factual categories.”

SALAMUCH FOR
LISTENING