A fallacy is a logical mistake that an arguer can make which may go unnoticed. Fallacies are often committed intentionally, but fallacies are often committed by mistake. Fallacious arguments can be very convincing, so it is important to recognize different fallacies so that you can avoid the pitfalls of believing erroneous arguments.

Fallacies

Ad Hominem

Someone has committed an ad hominem fallacy when they ignore the debate at hand and simply attack the character of their opponent. Consider this exchange:

Paul says, “gun control is unconstitutional and thus this law should not be passed” to which Tim responded, “of course you would say that we all know who you voted for!”

Strawman

Someone has committed a strawman fallacy when they respond to an inaccurate or weakened version of their opponent’s argument. Consider this exchange:

Tim says, “I support free speech and the rights of authors to research, write, and publish whatever they want; however, the government has a responsibility to avoid assigning materials that would be overly upsetting to very young students in the schools they fund; which includes some texts on early African American history,” to which Paul responds, “Tim’s historical revisionism is apparent; it is a historical fact that the American public in large possessed a white supremacist ideology for much of our history.”

Slippery slope

Someone has committed a slippery slope fallacy when they argue that a proposition inductively infers a series of propositions which eventually infer a conclusion when that series of inferences as a whole does not give strong support for the conclusion. Consider this example:

Paul says, “if this gun control law is passed and we do not riot, then it will set a societal precedent that patriots will allow governments to walk all over them. When this precedent is set, then psychopaths who merely want control will realize that if they get into office, then they will be able to get the control which they desire. Once these psychopaths run and get into office, they will then pass laws which completely disregard our other civil rights.”

False dilemma

Someone has committed a false dilemma fallacy when they inaccurately assume that there are fewer options than there actually are. Consider this example:

“We shouldn’t go to the party tonight because if we do then we’ll have to stay for the entire thing, and I am just too tired to stay up until 4:00AM.”

Red herring

Someone has committed a red herring fallacy when they bring up a point which is irrelevant to the argument at hand and pass it off as a response. Consider this exchange:

Interviewer, “Mr. Candidate, can you give a specific explanation as to how you will deescalate conflict in South America?” Mr. Candidate, “Look, what we cannot forget is that Mr. Current President is the reason that there is conflict in South America!”

Comprehension Questions

Instructions: As a group, go through the following examples. Some of them will be fallacious and some of them won’t be. Select which arguments you believe to be fallacious and which fallacies are committed. If no fallacy has been committed, then select the argument as non-fallacious.