## Common Logical Fallacies - **Ad Hominem** - Attacking the person making the argument instead of the argument itself. - Example: "You can't trust his opinion on climate change because he’s not a scientist." - **Straw Man** - Misrepresenting someone's argument to make it easier to attack. - Example: "She wants to improve school lunches, so she must want to ban all fast food." - **Red Herring** - Introducing irrelevant information to distract from the actual argument. - Example: "Why worry about the environment when there are so many homeless people?" - **False Dilemma (False Dichotomy)** - Presenting only two options when more exist. - Example: "You’re either with us or against us." - **Slippery Slope** - Arguing that one small step will inevitably lead to extreme consequences without evidence. - Example: "If we allow this, soon everyone will break the law." - **Hasty Generalization** - Making a broad conclusion based on insufficient or unrepresentative evidence. - Example: "I met two rude people from that city; everyone there must be rude." - **Appeal to Authority** - Claiming a statement is true because an authority figure said so, without further evidence. - Example: "This diet must work because a famous actor endorses it." - **Bandwagon Fallacy** - Assuming something is true or right because many people believe it. - Example: "Everyone is buying this product, so it must be good." - **Appeal to Ignorance** - Arguing a claim is true because it has not been proven false, or vice versa. - Example: "No one has proven aliens don’t exist, so they must be real." - **Circular Reasoning** - Using the conclusion as part of the premise. - Example: "I am trustworthy because I always tell the truth." - **Sunk Cost Fallacy** - Continuing a behavior or endeavor because of previously invested resources. - Example: "I’ve already spent so much time on this project, I can’t quit now." - **Appeal to Pity** - Using sympathy or emotions instead of logical arguments. - Example: "You should give me the job because I’ve had a tough year." - **False Cause (Post Hoc)** - Assuming a causal relationship from mere correlation. - Example: "Since the rooster crows before sunrise, the crowing causes the sun to rise." - **Appeal to Hypocrisy (Tu Quoque)** - Deflecting criticism by accusing the other of hypocrisy. - Example: "How can you criticize my smoking when you smoke too?" - **No True Scotsman** - Making an arbitrary exclusion to protect a universal claim. - Example: "No true scientist doubts climate change." ## References - [15 Logical Fallacies to Know, With Definitions and Examples — Grammarly](https://www.grammarly.com/blog/rhetorical-devices/logical-fallacies/) - [List of fallacies — Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies) - [Logical Fallacies | Definition, Types, List & Examples — Scribbr](https://www.scribbr.com/fallacies/logical-fallacy/) - [Logical Fallacies — Purdue OWL](https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/logic_in_argumentative_writing/fallacies.html) - [Master List of Logical Fallacies — Reddit r/skeptic](https://www.reddit.com/r/skeptic/comments/1mvx5c/master_list_of_logical_fallacies/) - [24 Most Common Logical Fallacies — Bruno Pešec](https://www.pesec.no/24-most-common-logical-fallacies/) - [List of Fallacies — Philosophy@HKU](https://philosophy.hku.hk/think/fallacy/list.php) - [Master List of Logical Fallacies — UTEP](https://utminers.utep.edu/omwilliamson/engl1311/fallacies.htm) - [Thou Shalt Not Commit Logical Fallacies](https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com)