Every Argument is not a Good Argument

Understanding Fallacies

Argument to the People

Appealing to Stirring Symbols

Appealing to the fundamental beliefs, biases, and prejudices of an audience to sway opinion

Appeal to Ignorance
A lack of evidence is not evidence.
Persuading audience to accept a claim as true that hasnt been proven false
Persuading audience to accept a claim as false because it hasnt been proven true

Bandwagon
Arguments are not valid just because they are popular.

Appeal to Pity
Appeals to audiences sympathetic feelings to support a claim that should be decided objectively

Red Herring

Raising an irrelevant point to divert audience attention from the original issue

Appeal to False Authority

Using famous people, but not necessarily experts to testify on an issue

Ad Hominem
Poisoning the Well Godwins Law or the reductio ad Hitlerum Attacking the opponent, rather than the opponents argument

Straw Man
If you have a small business, you didnt build that on your own.

Oversimplifying an opponents argument to make it easier to refute or ridicule

Obama said, we cant build anything on our own.

Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc

After this, therefore because of this Mistaking a sequential relationship for a causal relationship

I did my math homework and got sick the next morning; therefore, math makes me sick.

Circular Reasoning
Begging the question

Providing a reason that simply restates the claim in different words

You must be guilty. Only a criminal would deny it.

False Dilemma
Oversimplifying a complex issue so that only two choices appear possible

Its my way or the highway.

Slippery Slope
Asserting that one action will inevitably lead to other undesirable actions
If New York bans 20 oz. soda sales, all junk food will be next. Eventually, all sugar will be banned or taxed so high we cant afford it.

False Analogy
Comparing two things that are not really similar

Vegetables are healthy because they come from the earth. Poison ivy also comes from the earth, so its really harmless.

Loaded Label
Using terms with positive or negative connotations within a definition to sway an audience
Pharmaceuticals can help the mentally unstable. vs. Drugs are for psychopaths.