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fallacies
1. Ad Hominem (Personal Attack)
Instead of addressing the argument, you attack the person.
Example: "You’re bad at math, so your opinion on budgeting is worthless."
2. Straw Man
You twist what someone said to make it easier to argue against.
Example:
Person A: "We should have some rules on gun ownership."
Person B: "So you want to take away everyone’s guns and leave people
defenseless?"
3. Appeal to Authority
You assume something is true just because an expert or famous person says so.
Example: "This skincare brand must be good because a celebrity uses it."
4. False Dilemma (Either-Or Fallacy)
You act like there are only two extreme choices when there are more.
Example: "You either support me completely, or you’re against me."
5. Slippery Slope
You say one small thing will lead to a huge, extreme result with no proof.
Example: "If we let students use calculators in class, soon they won’t know
basic math at all!"
6. Circular Reasoning
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Your argument just repeats itself instead of proving anything.
Example: "This restaurant is the best in town because they make the best
food."
7. Hasty Generalization
You make a big claim based on little evidence.
Example: "I met two rude people from New York. Everyone there must be
rude!"
8. Red Herring
You bring up something unrelated to distract from the main topic.
Example:
Parent: "You need to do your homework."
Kid: "But what about all the chores I did earlier?"
9. False Cause
You assume that because one thing happened before another, the first thing
caused it.
Example: "Ever since we got a new boss, sales have dropped. It must be his
fault."
10. Appeal to Emotion
Instead of facts, you use feelings to convince people.
Example: "If you don’t buy this toy for your child, they’ll be heartbroken!"
11. Bandwagon (Everyone’s Doing It)
You say something is right just because it’s popular.
Example: "Everyone is investing in Bitcoin, so you should too!"
12. No True Scotsman
You change the definition of a group to exclude people you don’t like.
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Example: "A real fan of this team would never criticize their players."
13. Equivocation (Playing with Words)
You use a word in two different ways to mislead people.
Example: "I have the right to free speech, so I can say anything I want without
consequences."
14. False Equivalence
You treat two very different things as if they’re the same.
Example: "Forgetting to text back is just as bad as completely ignoring
someone."
15. Appeal to Ignorance
You claim something is true just because it hasn’t been proven false.
Example: "Ghosts must be real because no one has proved they aren’t."
16. Middle Ground Fallacy
You assume the truth is always in the middle of two opposing views.
Example:
Person A: "Vaccines work."
Person B: "Vaccines don’t work."
Person C: "Maybe they work only half the time."
17. Composition Fallacy
You assume that because one part of something is true, the whole thing must be.
Example: "This basketball team has five amazing players, so they must win
every game."
18. Division Fallacy
You assume that because the whole thing is true, every part of it must be true.
Example: "This company is rich, so all of its employees must be rich too."
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19. Appeal to Nature
You say something is good just because it’s ‘natural.’
Example: "Herbal medicine is better than regular medicine because it’s
natural."
20. Tu Quoque (Hypocrisy Fallacy)
You avoid an argument by pointing out that the other person is guilty of the same
thing.
Example:
Person A: "You should stop smoking."
Person B: "Well, you used to smoke, so why should I listen to you?"
Fallacy Definition Example 1 Example 2
Assuming that what "This car is
"This cake is delicious,
is true of the whole expensive, so all its
Division Fallacy so each ingredient must
must also be true of parts must be
be delicious."
its parts. expensive."
Assuming that what "Each brick in this
"Each player on the team
Composition is true of the parts wall is light, so the
is talented, so the team
Fallacy must also be true of whole wall must be
must be talented."
the whole. light."
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