Argumentative Fallacies
| Question (memorize) | Answer (memorize) |
|---|---|
| Overgeneralization | Broad Statement made on the basis of too little evidence, which overlooks important differences. |
| Oversimplification | Claim may be accepted as true, but would probably be unacceptable due to its lack of complexity. |
| Self Evident Claims | Do not (re)claim something that is so obvious that it contributes nothing to the argument |
| Begging the Question | Claim is restated and passed off as evidence. Also known as circular reasoning. |
| Faulty ‘either/or’ Reasoning | Also known as a “false dilemma,” this fallacy arises from assuming that there are only two ways of looking at an issue. |
| Faulty Cause-Effect Reasoning | Assumption that things that occur closely in time have a causal relationship. Correlation is not always causation. |
| False Analogy | Logical analogy that is extended beyond reason, which claims relationships that do not logically exist or that shows a false, logically untenable relationship. |
| Bandwagon Appeal | Common emotional ploy that plays on the natural urge to belong to a group. |
| Red Herring | Anything that draws attention from the main issue under discussion. Common in political campaigning and advertising. |
| The Cliché | A phrase that has been so overused as to become commonplace and trite. The cliché is generally looked at as a crutch for a writer’s lack of originality and imagination. |
| Two Wrongs Make a Right | A fallacy in which a person “justifies” an action against an opponent by asserting that the opposition would do the same thing to him or her. |
| Ad Hominem | An attempt to divert attention away from the important aspects of an issue by engaging in personal attacks on the opposition. |
| Polarization | A blatant, unmediated attack on an opponent; an extremist viewpoint. Represents a complete breakdown in logos and ethos. |
| Fallacies of Emotion | Manipulation of emotions as a means of assertion; works through association. |
| Rhetorical Questioning | A question that requires no answer because the answer is self-evident; posing a question and immediately following it with the answer; posing a question simply for the sake of the question itself. |
| Alienation | Mode of discourse in which the reader is noticeably excluded from what is being said; using vocabulary, allusions, or levels of familiarity that are inappropriate for the multiple audience. |
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