Types of Common Fallacies
Emotional Fallacies – (pathos) unfairly appeal to the audience’s emotions
Fallacy
Scare Tactics/Appeal to fear
Bandwagon/Appeal to
Popularity
Either/Or Choices
Loaded words
Definition
Attempt to frighten people into agreeing with
the arguer by threatening them or predicting
unrealistically dire consequences
Encourages an audience to agree with the
writer/speaker because everyone else is
doing so, or because famous people do so
Example
If you support Hillary Clinton, helpless
women will die alone in their homes
waiting for a 911 response.
Using film, music, or TV celebrities to
enhance a candidate’s appeal to the
voting audience
Reduces complicated issues to only two
possible courses of action
A word or phrase is "loaded" when it has a
secondary, emotional meaning in addition to
its primary meaning. These words can
degrade, manipulate, push an agenda
If you don’t do this, you’re not my friend.
savage, fat cow, disgusting pig, illegal
alien, terrorist, tyranny, anarchy, etc.
Ethical Fallacies – (ethos) unfairly advance the writer’s/speaker’s authority or character by tearing down
the opposition
Fallacy
Name-calling/ Ad
Hominem/Poisoning the Well
Red herring
Definition
Arguments attack a person’s character rather
than the person’s reasoning skills; pointing
the finger of blame, accusing their opponents
of moral failings or lack of patriotism
Something that takes a listener’s attention
away from the real issue or point; used to
distract attention from the real issue
Example
Crooked Hillary/ Donald Trump’s history
with women/ Mentioning old history in
new advertisements
In a debate, a candidate might be asked
how he/she intends to guarantee health
coverage. Responding with a reference to
building the wall would be a red herring.
Logical Fallacies – (logos) depend upon faulty reasoning
Fallacy
Overgeneralization
Definition
Lumping all the members of an opposing
group into a single negative stereotype
Begging the Question/Circular
Reasoning
Faulty Analogy/False
Causality
Occurs when the speaker/writer restates the
claim in a different way
An inaccurate, inappropriate, or misleading
comparison between two things
Hasty generalization
A conclusion drawn from too little evidence or
from biased evidence
Non sequitur
A conclusion that does not follow logically
from the “proof” offered to support it
Example
Everyone who voted for Donald Trump is
an uneducated hick. OR Everyone who
voted for Hillary Clinton is a bleedingheart liberal.
His lies are evident from the untruthful
nature of his statement.
In the year after the release of Mortal
Kombat, school violence tripled. This is
not a coincidence.
Allowing a transgender female to use the
women’s restroom will result in sexual
assault.
The candidate is very popular. He must
be the best qualified for office.
Types of Common Fallacies
Emotional Fallacies – (pathos) unfairly appeal to the audience’s emotions
Fallacy
Scare Tactics/Appeal to fear
Bandwagon/Appeal to
Popularity
Either/Or Choices
Loaded words
Definition
Attempt to frighten people into agreeing with
the arguer by threatening them or predicting
unrealistically dire consequences
Encourages an audience to agree with the
writer/speaker because everyone else is
doing so, or because famous people do so
Example
If you support Hillary Clinton, helpless
women will die alone in their homes
waiting for a 911 response.
Using film, music, or TV celebrities to
enhance a candidate’s appeal to the
voting audience
Reduces complicated issues to only two
possible courses of action
A word or phrase is "loaded" when it has a
secondary, emotional meaning in addition to
its primary meaning. These words can
degrade, manipulate, push an agenda
If you don’t do this, you’re not my friend.
savage, fat cow, disgusting pig, illegal
alien, terrorist, tyranny, anarchy, etc.
Ethical Fallacies – (ethos) unfairly advance the writer’s/speaker’s authority or character by tearing down
the opposition
Fallacy
Name-calling/ Ad
Hominem/Poisoning the Well
Red herring
Definition
Arguments attack a person’s character rather
than the person’s reasoning skills; pointing
the finger of blame, accusing their opponents
of moral failings or lack of patriotism
Something that takes a listener’s attention
away from the real issue or point; used to
distract attention from the real issue
Example
Crooked Hillary/ Donald Trump’s history
with women/ Mentioning old history in
new advertisements
In a debate, a candidate might be asked
how he/she intends to guarantee health
coverage. Responding with a reference to
building the wall would be a red herring.
Logical Fallacies – (logos) depend upon faulty reasoning
Fallacy
Overgeneralization
Definition
Lumping all the members of an opposing
group into a single negative stereotype
Begging the Question/Circular
Reasoning
Faulty Analogy/False
Causality
Occurs when the speaker/writer restates the
claim in a different way
An inaccurate, inappropriate, or misleading
comparison between two things
Hasty generalization
A conclusion drawn from too little evidence or
from biased evidence
Non sequitur
A conclusion that does not follow logically
from the “proof” offered to support it
Example
Everyone who voted for Donald Trump is
an uneducated hick. OR Everyone who
voted for Hillary Clinton is a bleedingheart liberal who hates America.
His lies are evident from the untruthful
nature of his statement.
In the year after the release of Mortal
Kombat, school violence tripled. This is
not a coincidence.
Allowing a transgender female to use the
women’s restroom will result in sexual
assault.
The candidate is very popular. He must
be the best qualified for office.