GUIDELINES FOR IDENTIFYING FALLACIES

Ethical Fallacies
Writers who employ ethical fallacies attempt to destroy the credibility of those who disagree
with them. Examples of ethical fallacies include the following:
An ad hominem attack is an unfair attack on a persons character or actions, one that
dierts attention from the issue at hand. An example of an ad hominem attack would
be the statement that !Any American who opposes the war in "ra# is unpatriotic.$ A
persons position on a war does not necessarily reflect his or her patriotism.
Guilt by association is an effort to damage a persons credibility by associating him or
her with an unpopular or discredited actiity or person. A student who argues that
hip%hop music is bad because some hip%hop musicians such as &obby &rown hae
been inoled in criminal actiities is committing the fallacy of guilt by association.
'ome(but not all(hip%hop musicians hae engaged in criminal actiities, but their
personal behaior is separate from the music that they create.
Emotional Fallacies
Emotional appeals can play a alid and important role in argumentation, but when these
appeals are oerblown or unfair, they distract readers from attending to the point that is
being argued. Examples of emotional fallacies include the following:
A bandwagon appeal argues that readers should support a person, actiity, or
moement because it is popular. )his appeal is particularly common in adertising,
where promoters often argue that !* is the best%selling product of its kind.$
A slippery slope fallacy occurs when writers exaggerate the future conse#uences of
an eent or action, usually with an intent to frighten readers into agreeing with their
argument. "f those who oppose censorship of pornography argue that !+nce we start
banning one form of literature, censorship will spread, and the next thing you know,
well be burning books,$ they are committing the slippery slope fallacy.
-ogical Fallacies
-ogical fallacies are arguments in which the claims, warrants, or eidence are inalid,
insufficient, or disconnected. Examples of logical fallacies include the following:
Begging the question inoles stating a claim that depends on circular reasoning for
.ustification. Arguing that !Abortion is murder because it inoles the intentional
murder of an unborn human being$ is tantamount to saying that !Abortion is murder
because it is murder.$ )his fallacy often detracts attention from the real issues at
hand, for the #uestion of whether a fetus should be considered a human being is
complex.
A hasty generalization is drawn from insufficient eidence. "f someone says, !-ast
week " attended a poetry reading supported by the /ational Endowment for the Arts,
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and many of the speakers used profanity. 0aybe the people who want to stop
goernment funding for the /EA are right,$ this is a hasty generali1ation. +ne
performance doesnt constitute a large enough sample for such a generali1ation.
A non sequitur is an argument that attempts to connect two or more logically
unrelated ideas. "f someone states that !" hate it when people smoke in restaurants2
there ought to be a law against cigarettes,$ this would represent a non se#uitur, for
eliminating smoking in restaurants and the negatie effects of secondhand smoke
does not re#uire the elimination of legal tobacco sales.