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Fallacy↕ | Latin Name↕ | Category↕ | Example↕ | Why It's Wrong↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Straw Man | Ignoratio Elenchi | Informal | 'You want gun control? So you want to ban all guns and leave people defenseless!' | Misrepresents the opponent's argument to make it easier to attack |
Ad Hominem | Argumentum ad Hominem | Informal | 'You can't trust his climate research — he drives an SUV' | Attacks the person instead of their argument — character doesn't determine truth |
Appeal to Authority | Argumentum ad Verecundiam | Informal | 'This celebrity endorses this diet, so it must work' | Being an authority in one field doesn't make you right about everything |
Slippery Slope | — | Informal | 'If we allow same-sex marriage, next people will marry animals' | Assumes one step inevitably leads to extreme consequences without evidence |
False Dilemma | Bifurcation | Informal | 'You're either with us or against us' | Presents only two options when more exist — reality is rarely binary |
Red Herring | Ignoratio Elenchi | Informal | 'Why worry about climate change when there are children starving?' | Introduces an irrelevant topic to divert attention from the real argument |
Circular Reasoning | Petitio Principii | Formal | 'The Bible is true because God wrote it, and God exists because the Bible says so' | The conclusion is assumed in the premise — proves nothing |
Bandwagon | Argumentum ad Populum | Informal | 'Everyone is investing in crypto, so it must be a good investment' | Popularity doesn't equal truth — millions of people can be wrong simultaneously |
Appeal to Nature | — | Informal | 'It's natural, so it must be good for you' | Arsenic is natural. Smallpox is natural. Natural ≠ good. |
Tu Quoque | Tu Quoque | Informal | 'You smoke but tell me to quit? Hypocrite!' | Someone being a hypocrite doesn't make their advice wrong |
Gambler's Fallacy | — | Probabilistic | 'Red has come up 5 times in a row, black is due!' | Past random events don't influence future random events — the roulette wheel has no memory |
No True Scotsman | — | Informal | 'No real programmer uses tabs' / 'Well, they're not a real programmer then' | Redefines the group to exclude counterexamples instead of updating the claim |
Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc | Post Hoc | Informal | 'I wore my lucky socks and we won, so the socks caused the win' | Correlation ≠ causation — sequence doesn't prove cause |
Burden of Proof Shift | Onus Probandi | Informal | 'Prove that aliens DON'T exist!' | The person making the claim must provide evidence, not the skeptic |
Sunk Cost Fallacy | — | Cognitive Bias | 'I've watched 6 seasons, I have to finish even though it's terrible' | Past investment shouldn't dictate future decisions — only future value matters |
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