PAPER NO. 71
INFORMAL FALLACIES
- APPEAL TO FEAR: Use of threat to persuade to action. It succeeds where one fears losing a secondary good over a primary good. Used against Socrates, unsuccessfully.
- APPEAL TO PITY: Abuse of the listener’s disposition to compassion. It succeeds where the good of the recipient is not kept clearly in mind. It is often used to avoid responsibility where hardship is necessary.
- STRAW MAN: Arguing against a misrepresentation of a position rather than the real thing. Honesty and care are necessary to avoid the use of straw man.
- APPEAL TO AUTHORITY: Appealing to someone as an authority where he or she is not an authority. This is often used where there is insufficient respect for the authority of reason.
- AD HOMINEM: Speaking against the person rather than against what the person said. Personal attack often used when we don’t have a counter-argument.
- AD POPULUM: Relying on the tendency of people to believe or go along with what is commonly accepted or done. It succeeds against those who find safety in numbers, or custom, or the establishment.
- BEGGING THE QUESTION: Assuming to be true what one claims to be proving to be true. Used often where a person is not aware of his or her assumptions.
- RED HERRING: Sidetracking the argument by bringing in what is irrelevant. Often based on associative thinking and taking things out of the original context.
- APPEAL TO IGNORANCE: Assuming a belief to be true if it has not been disproven. It sometimes involves an appeal to the unknown through the use of indefinable terms.
- POST HOC: After this therefore because of this. Faulty causal reasoning based on insufficient observation or analysis.
- HASTY GENERALIZATION: Making a general statement based on insufficient observation. Often involved in stereotyping.
- COMPLEX QUESTION: A question that assumes more than the listener is ready to assent to. Also known as the loaded question.
This paper was originally developed for an Introduction to Philosophy course.
