Logical fallacies flash cards

The cards, front and back

1. 1
   Front

   Ad hominem

   Back

   Attacking the person making an argument instead of the argument itself.

   Example: You can't trust her view on the budget; she failed maths at school.

2. 2
   Front

   Straw man

   Back

   Misrepresenting someone's argument as weaker or more extreme so it is easier to attack.

   Example: 'You want fewer cars in town? So you want to ban driving altogether.'

3. 3
   Front

   False dilemma

   Back

   Presenting only two options when more exist. Also called a false dichotomy or either-or fallacy.

   Example: Either we cancel the trip or everyone gets sick.

4. 4
   Front

   Slippery slope

   Back

   Claiming a small first step will inevitably lead to extreme outcomes, without showing why.

   Example: If we allow phones at lunch, soon nobody will ever study again.

5. 5
   Front

   Appeal to authority

   Back

   Treating a claim as true just because an authority says so, especially when that person is not an expert in the field.

6. 6
   Front

   Bandwagon (appeal to popularity)

   Back

   Arguing something is true or good because many people believe or do it.

   Example: Everyone is buying it, so it must be the best phone.

7. 7
   Front

   Hasty generalisation

   Back

   Drawing a broad conclusion from too few or unrepresentative examples.

   Example: Two buses were late this week, so the bus service is always late.

8. 8
   Front

   Circular reasoning

   Back

   An argument whose conclusion is already assumed in its premise. Also called begging the question.

   Example: This book is reliable because it says it is reliable.

9. 9
   Front

   Red herring

   Back

   Introducing an irrelevant topic to distract from the real issue.

10. 10
    Front

    Tu quoque

    Back

    Rejecting criticism by pointing out that the critic does the same thing, instead of answering it.

    Example: Why should I stop eating junk food? You eat it too.

11. 11
    Front

    Post hoc ergo propter hoc

    Back

    Assuming that because one event followed another, the first caused the second.

    Example: I wore my lucky socks and we won, so the socks made us win.

12. 12
    Front

    Correlation vs causation

    Back

    Assuming that two things that happen together must cause each other. A third factor may cause both, or the link may be chance.

13. 13
    Front

    Appeal to emotion

    Back

    Trying to win an argument by stirring up feelings such as fear, pity or anger instead of giving reasons.

14. 14
    Front

    Appeal to nature

    Back

    Arguing that something is good because it is natural, or bad because it is unnatural.

15. 15
    Front

    Appeal to ignorance

    Back

    Claiming something is true because it has not been proven false, or false because it has not been proven true.

16. 16
    Front

    Equivocation

    Back

    Using a word with two meanings and switching between them in the same argument to mislead.

17. 17
    Front

    Loaded question

    Back

    A question that contains an unjustified assumption, so any direct answer seems to accept it.

    Example: Have you stopped wasting money on games?

18. 18
    Front

    Burden of proof

    Back

    The person making a claim is responsible for supporting it. Shifting that burden onto others to disprove it is a fallacy.

19. 19
    Front

    No true Scotsman

    Back

    Changing the definition of a group to dismiss a counter-example.

    Example: No real athlete eats sweets. She does? Then she is not a real athlete.

20. 20
    Front

    Sunk cost fallacy

    Back

    Continuing with something because of what has already been invested, even when stopping is the better choice.