Logical Fallacies (Updated)

Logical Fallacies
• Logical fallacy is the reasoning that is evaluated as logically incorrect

and that undermines the logical validity of the argument and permits
its recognition as unsound.
• Logical fallacy can occur as accidental or can be deliberately used as
an instrument of manipulation.
Logical Fallacies
Appeal to authority Begging the question

Bandwagon
(argumentum ad [circular reasoning] False dilemma
(Ad populum)
verecundiam) (petitio principii)
Appeal to Emotion Hasty generalization

Personal Attack
(Emotional Faulty Analogy (Faulty
(Ad Hominem)
Manipulation) generalization)
Non-sequitur Red Herring

(“It does not follow”) (Called Distraction)
Appeal to authority
(argumentum ad verecundiam)
• Insisting that a claim is true simply because a valid authority
or expert on the issue said it was true, without any other
supporting evidence offered.
Examples:
Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist and perhaps the
foremost expert in the field, says that evolution is true. Therefore,
it's true.
How do I know the adult film industry is the third largest industry
in the United States? Derek Shlongmiester, the adult film star of
over 50 years, said it was. That's how I know.
Einstein said ‘God does not play dice with the universe,’ therefore
God must exist.
Bandwagon
(Ad populum)
• The bandwagon fallacy is also sometimes called the appeal to
common belief or appeal to the masses because it’s all about getting
people to do or think something because “everyone else is doing it”
or “everything else thinks this.”
Examples:
Everyone is going to get the new smart phone when it comes out this
weekend. Why aren’t you?
I saw a lot of netizens doing the ”Ice Bucket Challenge,” so I did it too.
I actually think BTS is the best boy band in the world because most of the
people on social media think so.
Begging the question [circular reasoning]
(petitio principii)
• This argument begs the question because the premise and conclusion
are the very same proposition, albeit expressed in different words. It
is a disguised instance of repetition which gives no reason for its
apparent conclusion.
• Examples:
Thoughts are not part of the physical world, since thoughts are in their nature
non-physical.
Happiness is the highest good for a human being, since all other values are
inferior to it.
Of course smoking causes cancer. The smoke from cigarettes is a carcinogen.
False dilemma
(false dichotomy, fallacy of bifurcation, black-or-white fallacy)
• Sometimes called the “either-or” fallacy, a false dilemma is a logical

fallacy that presents only two options or sides when there are many
options or sides. Essentially, a false dilemma presents a “black and
white” kind of thinking when there are actually many shades of gray.
Examples:
Communists fight against fascists. Therefore, if you dislike communism, you
are a fascist.
Death is nothing to fear. It is either annihilation or migration.
Be my friend or be my enemy.
Appeal to Emotion
(Emotional Manipulation)
• Appeal to emotion taps into and exploit our feelings, such as
indignation, enthusiasm, compassion, fear, ambition, desire for
belonging. Appeals to emotion are often used in calls to action—donate,
buy, vote, join, do me this favor…
Examples
• Grocery store commercial that shows a happy family sitting around the table at
Thanksgiving.
• A political ad that shows the candidate shaking hands with the community as he
leaves church on Sunday morning.
• A principal who talks with his faculty about doing the right things to support
students just before he asks for a volunteer to lead the after-school science club.
Faulty Analogy
• This fallacy consists in assuming that because two things are alike in
one or more respects, they are necessarily alike in some other
respect.
• Examples:
People who have to have a cup of coffee every morning before they can
function have no less a problem than alcoholics who have to have their
alcohol each day to sustain them.
People who buy stocks are no different from people who bet on horse racing.
They both risk their money with little chance of making a big profit.
If a child gets a new toy he or she will want to play with it;
So, if a nation gets new weapons, it will want to use them.
Personal Attack
(Ad Hominem)
• This fallacy occurs when, instead of addressing someone's argument

or position, you irrelevantly attack the person or some aspect of the
person who is making the argument. The fallacious attack can also be
direct to membership in a group or institution.
Examples:
Don’t listen to her. She’s a flat-earther.
We cannot approve of this recycling idea. It was thought of by a bunch of
hippie communist weirdos.
We shouldn't have to read this book by Freud. Everyone knows he used
cocaine.
Hasty generalization (Faulty
generalization)
• It is basically making a claim based on evidence that it just too small.
Essentially, you can’t make a claim and say that something is true if
you have only an example or two as evidence.
• Drawing a conclusion based on a small sample size, rather than looking
at statistics that are much more in line with the typical or average
situation.
Examples:
Some teenagers in our community recently vandalized the park downtown.
Teenagers are so irresponsible and destructive.
Four out of five dentists recommend Happy Glossy Smiley toothpaste brand.
Therefore, it must be great.
Non-sequitur
(“It does not follow”)
• When the conclusion does not follow from the premises. In more informal
reasoning, it can be when what is presented as evidence or reason is
irrelevant or adds very little support to the conclusion.
• Examples
• People generally like to walk on the beach. Beaches have sand. Therefore,
having sand floors in homes would be a great idea!
• Buddy Burger has the greatest food in town. Buddy Burger was voted #1 by
the local paper. Therefore, Phil, the owner of Buddy Burger, should run for
president of the United States.
• I know for a fact that Miguel sends money to someone every week. He must
support a big family back in Mexico
Red Herring
(Called Distraction)
• The red herring fallacy occurs when a writer makes a point that serves
only to distract the audience from a logical progression of the argument.
• This fallacy consists in diverting attention from the real issue by focusing
instead on an issue having only a surface relevance to the first.
Examples:
Son: "Wow, Dad, it's really hard to make a living on my salary." Father: "Consider
yourself lucky, son. Why, when I was your age, I only made $40 a week."
Andy: "Hey, what's with all this junk food you bought? You're always railing at me
about eating healthy." Aunt Bea: "Don't fuss -- it was on sale."
 Wal-Mart may cause local business to go under, but in fiscal year 2004, the Wal-
Mart Foundation gave over $170 million to charities, most of which were locally-
based.
Exercise:
Directions: Identify the logical being used in the following statements:
1. Peach forces Beck to drink or else she has to leave the party.
2. I once talked to a Filipino and she sounded uneducated. I bet all Filipinos are like that.
3. Sarah Geronimo supports the senatorial campaign of Sonny Angara.
4. Education is like cake; a small amount tastes sweet, but eat too much and your teeth will rot out.
Likewise, more than two years of education is bad for a student.
5. You must obey the law because it is illegal to disobey the law.
6. Try Keto Diet because everybody is doing it.
7. Ms. Cruz did not get promoted because she is too insensitive.
8. She does not want to break up with her boyfriend so she told him that she is terminally-ill.
9. Penguins are black and white, and so are old TV sets. Therefore, penguins are old TV sets.
10. I should not pay a fine for reckless driving. There are many other people on the street who are
dangerous criminals and rapists, and the police should be chasing them, not harassing a decent tax-
paying citizen like me.

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Logical Fallacies

• Logical fallacy is the reasoning that is evaluated as logically incorrect

Appeal to authority Begging the question

Appeal to Emotion Hasty generalization

Non-sequitur Red Herring

• Sometimes called the “either-or” fallacy, a false dilemma is a logical

• This fallacy occurs when, instead of addressing someone's argument

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