Fallacies in Reasoning

when good arguments go bad

formal logic versus informal logic

Formal logic or deductive

reasoning should not be

confused with informal logic or
inductive reasoning.
In formal logic, if the premises are
true the conclusion necessarily
follows.
In informal logic, there is always
an inferential leap that is made.
Most everyday arguments rely on
inductive reasoning or informal
logic.

Formal versus Informal Logic

Deductive Reasoning

All cats have nine lives

Felix is a cat
Therefore, Felix has nine
lives
All Zorabs are Nimtotes
No Nimtotes are Wing
Lings
Therefore No Zorabs are
Wing Lings.

Inductive Reasoning

If it looks like a duck,

walks like a duck, and
quacks like a duck, its
probably a duck.

Loretta got teary-eyed

when she got her exam
back, so I guess she got
a bad grade.

fallaciousness versus invalidity

Fallaciousness is a matter of

degree.
An argument may be
somewhat fallacious,
probably fallacious,
slightly fallacious,
highly fallacious, and so
on.
Just because an
argument is fallacious to
some degree doesnt
exclude the argument
from consideration.

In formal logic, the

conclusion of an argument is
either valid or invalid.
A deductive argument
cannot be sort of valid or
mostly valid.

post hoc or faulty cause

This ad implies that buying

Quaker Oats cereal bars will

transform kids from being
couch potatoes into active,
outdoorsy types.

post hoc fallacy

These employees are

confusing coincidence
with causation if they
think a particular office
chair is making them
pregnant
The women who worked
in the chair were
probably in their prime
child-bearing years.

post hoc or faulty cause

On June 15, 2006 Dick Cheney

claimed our success in Iraq is why

terrorists havent struck the U.S.
again.
the war in Iraq is ``in part
responsible for the fact that we
haven't been hit again in nearly five
years. That's no accident. Dick
Cheney, June 2006
But Cheney has no actual proof that
any attacks have been thwarted.
Perhaps the terrorists are just biding
their time?

post hoc or faulty cause

The slogan Its gotta be the

dog chow wrongly attributes

this dogs super-canine
strength to a pet food.
This isnt a serious fallacy,
because the ad is intended
to be humorous.

appeal to authority
Anna Nicole Smith was the

celebrity spokesperson for Trim

Spa.
But she was hardly an expert on
fitness or nutrition.
Did the fact that she was a paid
endorser affect her opinion of the
product?
Did she have any extra help such
as a personal trainer?
Could the other drugs she was
taking have produced her weight
loss?

appeal to authority
This got milk? ad is the worst

kind of appeal to authority

because
A) it targets little kids who are
uninformed consumers
B) it relies on fictitious cartoon
characters who cant benefit
from drinking milk

ad hominem
Speaking at the Conservative Political

Action Conference, Anne Coulter

declared, I was going to have a few
comments onpresidential candidate
John Edwards, but it turns out you have
to go into rehab if you use the word
faggot.
Anne Coulter called Senator Ted
Kennedy an adulterous drunk.
She joked that President Clinton had
crack pipes on the White House
Christmas tree.

ad hominem fallacy
www.godhatesfags.com
This hate site is operated by

the Reverend Fred Waldron

Phelps, who is the pastor of the
New Baptist Church.
He and his followers believe
tolerance of homosexuality has
prompted god to kill U.S. troops
in Iraq.
Members of his church picket
public events, including military
funerals.
All mainstream religious
organizations, including the
Baptist church, have
condemned Phelps actions.

faulty analogy
Doctors Versus Guns?
Number of physicians in the U.S.

= 700,000
Accidental medical deaths each
year = 120,000
Accidental deaths per physician
per year = 0.171
Number of gun owners in the U.S.
= 80,000,000
Number of accidental gun deaths
each year (all age groups) = 1,500
Accidental gun deaths per gun
owner = .00001875
The ratio 0.171 to 0.00001875 =
9120
So doctors are about 9000 times
more dangerous than gun owners!

there is no proof that physicians,

specifically, caused the accidental
medical deaths. Accidental deaths
in hospitals could be caused by
nurses, orderlies, therapists, or
other allied health personnel.
comparing accidental medical
deaths to accidental gun deaths
underestimates the number of
people killed by guns. Many gun
deaths are murders.
one involves a self-imposed risk, the
other does not. Before being
treated by a physician, patients give
their written consent.
To be fair, the comparison should
take into account how many lives
doctors save, not just how many
they kill
people killed by guns werent sick to
begin with. When people go see a
doctor they are usually ill. Some of
those patients are terminally ill.

faulty analogy
Stealing a car, a handbag, or

a DVD are property crimes

Downloading a movie is a
copyright infringement or a
violation of intellectual
property laws.

faulty analogy
Perhaps a Twix bar does

taste sinfully good.

However, god never
commanded anyone not to
eat a Twix bar.

hasty generalization
Testimonials are always

suspect because they involve

small, atypical samples.
Just because Slim Fast
worked for this woman
doesnt mean it will work for
everyone.
A controlled clinical trial is
much better proof that a diet
product works.

hasty generalization
Perhaps Americans are

really dumb.
On the other hand this isnt a
random, representative
sample of Americans
The video clip was likely
edited to include only the
dumbest responses.

false dilemma
Dilberts pointy-haired boss assumes there are

only two kinds of diets, and both are bad.

appeal to ignorance
The thought screen helmet was invented by

Michael Menkin in 1998

The thought screen helmet blocks
telepathic communication between aliens
and humans. As of June, 2000, aliens
have not taken any abductees while they
were wearing thought screen helmets
using Velostat shielding.
Just because this guy hasnt been abducted,
doesnt prove the thought helmet screen
works.
Moreover, the fact that someone claims aliens
are reading our thoughts doesnt prove there
are aliens or that they are, in fact, scanning
our brains.

"Since trying Michael

Menkin's Helmet, I
have not been
bothered by alien mind
control. Now my
thoughts are my own. I
have achieved
meaningful work and
am contributing to
society. My life is better
than ever before.
Thank you Michael for
the work you are doing
to save all humanity."
- Jon Locke, alleged
alien abductee

tautology
Tautology, or circular

reasoning, relies on
premises which lack
external proof or support.
Like a house of cards the
premises all depend upon
each other.
If there is no test capable of

disproving an argument, if
the argument is false, then
the argument is
tautological.

non-sequitur
This ad offers an irrelevant

reason for choosing Buckleys

cough syrup.
The taste of a cough remedy
has nothing to do with how well
it works.

non-sequitur
How can I be racist? I drive a

Prius! says Julia Louise Dreyfuss

character in the TV show The New
Adventures of Old Christine
Julia-Louis Dreyfus recommends
an African-American family be
admitted at her sons school. As it
turns out, however, the family is
homophobic.

non-sequitur
If you are against the war in

Iraq, then you are against

the troops.

inconsistency
Shouldnt an ad for educational

software be spelled correctly?

The ad should say They wont
even know theyre learning.

inconsistency
Bush on global warming in 2006: "I

have said consistently that global

warming is a serious problem. There's a
debate over whether it's manmade or
naturally caused. June 26, 2006
Bush on global warming in 2002: We
need an energy bill that encourages
consumption George W. Bush,
September 23, 2002
In 2001:, George W. Bush pulled the USA
out of the Kyoto accords as one of the
first acts of his presidency.

inconsistency
Its clear this election theyre

having is not going to count

for anything.
Hillary Rodham Clinton,
October 2007
If you are a voter from
Florida or Michigan, you
know that we should count
your vote.
Hillary Rodham Clinton,
March 2008

inconsistency
Donald Rumsfeld caught in a

lie
He claims it is folklore that
he called Iraq an immediate
threat, until a journalist
confronts him with a
transcript of what he actually
said.

http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2537851

inconsistency
It seems contradictory to

warn people about gambling

addiction on a Lotto ticket.

inconsistency
What is a motorist supposed

to do?

appeal to extremes
This fear appeal appeals

to extremes by implying
that if you smoke
marijuana youll hit and kill
a child.
But how many traffic
fatalities per year are
actually attributable to
marijuana use (as
opposed to alcohol)?

appeal to extremes
When Lindsay Lohan was

told by Delta airlines that

she would have to ride in
coach, because all the first
class seats were taken, she
through a tantrum and
claimed she would die if
she had to sit in coach.

equivocation
Dilberts pointy-haired

boss relies on
equivocation by
employing two different
meanings of the word
exercise.

equivocation
I did not have sexual relations

with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.

I never told anybody to lie, not a
single time; never. These
allegations are false.

begging the question

This letter to the editor

begs the question by

assuming everyone
believes in a god of some
sort.
What about atheists?

faulty sign
Advertisers of luxury goods want

you to think that owning their

products will is a mark of class or
sophistication. Not so.
Just because you wear the same
brand of watch that James Bond
wears, does not mean you are
cool, suave, and sophisticated.
(also an appeal to authority)

slippery slope
once marriage is no longer

confined to a man and a woman, it

is impossible to exclude virtually
any relationship between two or
more partners of either sex--even
non-human partners. Timothy J.
Daly, The Slippery Slope of Same
Sex Marriage, Family Research
Council

But society can take one step

(legalizing same sex marriage)

without taking any other steps
(legalizing polygamy, bestiality, or
incest)
As an example, setting the legal
age for marriage, without parental
consent, at age at 18 hasnt
spawned a movement for legal
marriage at age 15.
As another example, being
allowed to marry a 1st cousin
didnt produce a clamor to marry
brothers and sisters.

slippery slope
This NRA ad claims that

banning handguns would leave

to a ban on all guns
But other categories of
weapons, like machine guns
and automatic weapons, have
already been outlawed, and it
hasnt led to a blanket ban on all
firearms.

red herring
Dick Cheney claimed Saddam

Hussein had ties to Al Qaeda as a

diversionary tactic to justify military
intervention in Iraq
Associated Press, June 15, 2004:
Vice President Dick Cheney said
Monday that Saddam Hussein had
long-established ties with al-Qaida,
an assertion that has been
repeatedly challenged by some
policy experts and lawmakers.