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Logical Fallacies

On the other hand, fallacies are errors in reasoning that undermine the logic of an argument. Fallacies can be either illegitimate arguments or irrelevant points, and they are often identified because they lack evidence that supports their claim.

Statement A is made; a conditional Statement B is given.

graph LR
    A -- ? --> B
    classDef default fill:#fbdfaf,stroke:#fbdfaf,stroke-width:2px;

Then a hypothesis is given and it is either logically speaking, true or false. Logical fallacies are often a kind of a ‘twisting’ of information to seemingly prove an illogical conclusion.

Some common logical fallacies are …

  • Ad Hominem — Attacking a person, not their idea.
    • Example: "Well, yes almonds take a lot of water to grow, but I can't believe what you say because I remember that you once didn't pay for parking."
  • Hasty Generalizations — Assuming that A is always true or always false.
    • Example: "Because I don't like broccoli, then all vegetables must taste bad."
  • Ad Populum — A is true because a lot of people say it is.
    • Example: "I have heard a lot of people say that eating vegan is healthier."
  • Circular argument (also: Begging the claim) — If A is true, because B is true; B is true because A is true.
    • Example: "Everyone loves anchovies because they are so popular. You see, anchovies are popular because everyone loves them."
  • Red Herring — Drawing the reader/listener away from the obvious by making an outrageous statement.
    • Example: "Well, Genghis Kahn was a vegetarian, are you saying he was a good person for not eating meat?!"
  • Straw man — Proving A to be incorrect, despite the fact that A was not the topic of debate at all; the reader/listener is drawn away from the actual debate.
    • Example: "Can't we all agree that restaurant servings are too big, so everyone should be eating vegetarian?"
  • Either/Or — A must be true if B is false.
    • Example: "Since almond milk isn't environmentally friendly, then we should all drink cow's milk; there are no other options."
  • Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc — If A occurred after B then B caused A
    • Example: "The drought happened after I started drinking almond milk, so my consumption caused the drought."
  • Equivocation — Using ambiguous language or playing on words to mislead.
    • Example: "If it is my right to eat steak, than I am right to eat it."
  • Bandwagon — A is true because others agree with it.
    • Example: "Everyone else in the room thinks oat milk is gross."