The Latin term argumentum ad baculum means "argument to the stick.

" This fallacyoccurs whenever a person makes an

implicit or explicit threat of physical or psychological violence against others if they refuse to accept the conclusions
offered. It can also occur whenever it's claimed that accepting a conclusion or idea will lead to disaster, ruin, or harm

Some threat of violence is made or implied. Therefore, conclusion should be accepted.

You should believe God exists because, if you don't, when you die you will be judged and God will send you to
Hell for all of eternity. You don't want to be tortured in Hell, do you? If not, it is a safer bet to believe in God
than to not believe.

The ad hominem fallacy is a class of fallacies which is not only common but also commonly misunderstood. Many people
assume that any personal attack is an ad hominem argument, but that isn't true. Some attacks aren't ad
hominem fallacies, and some ad hominem fallacies aren't clear insults.

Stating that ones age precludes him from being able to make an intelligent or meaningful argument, such as,
You are clearly just too young to understand.
A politician degrading another politician during a political campaign when asked about a specific policy, e.g.
Well, I think we need to look at the other candidates failures regarding this topic.

Argumentum ad populum ("argument to the people") is a logical fallacy that occurs when something is considered to
be true or good solely because it is popular. Undoubtedly many popular notions are true, but their truth is not a function
of their popularity, except in circumstances where other factors ensure that popularity correlates with truth. The fallacy
is the opposite of an appeal to the minority.

The most successful business people in the country read the Wall Street Journal shouldn't you read it, too?
This book has been on the New York Times' bestseller list for 64 straight weeks.

Using historical preferences of the people (tradition), either in general or as specific as the historical preferences of a
single individual, as evidence that the historical preference is correct. Traditions are often passed from generation to
generation with no other explanation besides, this is the way it has always been donewhich is not a reason, it is an
absence of a reason.

Dave: For five generations, the men in our family went to Stanford and became doctors, while the women got
married and raised children. Therefore, it is my duty to become a doctor.

Kaitlin: Do you want to become a doctor?

Dave: It doesnt matter -- it is our family tradition. Who am I to break it?

Marriage has traditionally been between a man and a woman; therefore, gay marriage should not be allowed.

Using an authority as evidence in your argument when the authority is not really an authority on the facts relevant to
the argument. As the audience, allowing an irrelevant authority to add credibility to the claim being made.

My 5th-grade teacher once told me that girls would go crazy for boys if they learn how to dance. Therefore, if
you want to make the ladies go crazy for you, learn to dance.
The Pope told me that priests could turn bread and wine into Jesus body and blood. The Pope is not a
liar. Therefore, priests really can do this.

Ad misericordiam is an argumentbased on a strong appeal to the emotions. Also known as argumentum ad

misericordiam or appeal to pity or misery.When an appeal to sympathy or pity is highly exaggerated or irrelevant to the
issue at hand, ad misericordiam is regarded as a logical fallacy.
 I really deserve an A on this paper, professor. Not only did I study during my grandmothers funeral, but I also
passed up the heart transplant surgery, even though that was the first matching donor in 3 years.
Ginger: Your dog just ran into our house and ransacked our kitchen!

Mary: He would never do that, look at how adorable he is with those puppy eyes!

A type of reasoning in which the proposition is supported by the premises, which is supported by the proposition,
creating a circle in reasoning where no useful information is being shared. This fallacy is often quite humorous.

Pvt. Joe Bowers: What are these electrolytes? Do you even know?

Secretary of State: They're... what they use to make Brawndo!

Pvt. Joe Bowers: But why do they use them to make Brawndo?

Secretary of Defense: [raises hand after a pause] Because Brawndo's got electrolytes.

The Bible is the Word of God because God tells us it is... in the Bible.

A hasty generalization is a fallacy in which a conclusion is not logically justified by sufficient or unbiased evidence. Also
called insufficient sample, converse accident, faultygeneralization, biased generalization, jumping to a conclusion,
secundum quid, and neglect of qualifications.

My father smoked four packs of cigarettes a day since age fourteen and lived until age sixty-nine. Therefore,
smoking really cant be that bad for you.
Four out of five dentists recommend Happy Glossy Smiley toothpaste brand. Therefore, it must be great.

Attempting to redirect the argument to another issue to which the person doing the redirecting can better respond.
While it is similar to the avoiding the issue fallacy, the red herring is a deliberate diversion of attention with the intention
of trying to abandon the original argument.

. When your mom gets your phone bill and you have gone over the limit, you begin talking to her about how
hard your math class is and how well you did on a test today.
When you are late getting home-past curfew-you distract your parents by talking to them about the weather-
how cold it is, or how rainy it is.

Claiming the argument is flawed by pointing out that the one making the argument is not acting consistently with the
claims of the argument.

Helga: You should not be eating that... it has been scientifically proven that eating fat burgers are no good for
your health.

Hugh: You eat fat burgers all the time so that cant be true.

Jimmy Swaggart argued strongly against sexual immorality, yet he has had several affairs with prostitutes;
therefore, sexual immorality is acceptable.

When the conclusion does not follow from the premises. In more informal reasoning, it can be when what is presented
as evidence or reason is irrelevant or adds very little support to the conclusion.

People generally like to walk on the beach. Beaches have sand. Therefore, having sand floors in homes would be
a great idea!
 Buddy Burger has the greatest food in town. Buddy Burger was voted #1 by the local paper. Therefore, Phil, the
owner of Buddy Burger, should run for president of the United States.

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. Many events are usually present in this
fallacy, but only two are actually required -- usually connected by the next thing you know...

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.
If you accept that the story of Adam and Eve was figurative, then you will do the same for most of the Old
Testament stories of similar literary styles. Once you are there, the New Testament and the story of Jesus does
not make sense, which will lead you to believe that the resurrection of Jesus was a spiritual one. Once you
accept that, you wont be a Christian anymore; you will be a dirty atheist, then you will have no morals and start
having sex with animals of a barnyard nature. So you better take the story of Adam and Eve literally, before the
phrase, that chicken looks delicious, takes on a whole new meaning.

Offering a poorly supported claim about what might have happened in the past or future, if (the hypothetical part)
circumstances or conditions were different. The fallacy also entails treating future hypothetical situations as if they are
fact.

If you took that course on CD player repair right out of high school, you would be doing well and gainfully
employed right now.
John, if you would have taken a shower more often, you would still be dating Tina.

The appeal to ignorance is a fallacy based on the assumption that a statement must be true if it cannot be proved
falseor false if it cannot be proved true. Also known as argumentum ad ignorantiam and the argument from
ignorance.

No one has ever proven that UFOs exist. Therefore, they don't exist.
There is simply no proof that God exists. Therefore, God doesn't exist.