Fallacies

Following are example of common fallacy that you may have been exposed to during your life:

1) Ad Hominem - Ad hominem fallacy comes from emotions rather than any logical appeal. You are attacking an individual's character rather than refuting the argument.

Example: Rand Paul to Chris Christie in 2015: “I don’t trust President Obama with our records. I know you gave him a big hug, and if you want to give him a big hug again, go right ahead.”

2) The False Dilemma - The False Dilemma is a fallacy based on an "either-or" type of argument. Only two options or two choices are presented when in fact there are more.

Example: Drink water every day and be healthy, or continue to drink sodas and be unhealthy. Those are the only options.

3) The Appeal to Ignorance - The appeal to ignorance is a fallacy based on the assumption that a statement must be true if it can not be proven false-or false if it can not be proven true.

Example: No one can prove that God exists; therefor God doesn't exist.

4) The Slippery Slope - When a relatively insignificant first event is suggested to lead to a more significant event, which in turn leads to a more significant event, and so on, until some ultimate, significant event is reached, where the connection of each event is not only unwarranted but with each step it becomes more and more improbable. This is also know as the Domino Theory.

Example: We cannot unlock our child from the closet because if we do, she will want to roam the house. If we let her roam the house, she will want to roam the neighborhood. If she roams the neighborhood, she will get picked up by a stranger in a van, who will sell her in a sex slavery ring in some other country. Therefore, we should keep her locked up in the closet.

5) The Bandwagon - The bandwagon fallacy is also sometimes called the appeal to common belief or appeal to the masses because it’s all about getting people to do or think something because “everyone else is doing it” or “everything else thinks this.” The issue is that not everyone is doing this or that and if so that doesn't mean it is right.

Example: Everyone is going to get the new iPhone X when it comes out this weekend. Why aren’t you?

For more examples of fallacy you can go to the following website:

http://www.softschools.com/examples/fallacies/