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The Logical Fallacy Guide
Episode 63
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Today at a Glance:
Logical fallacies are errors in reasoning that undermine the quality of an argument.
Combatting them relies first and foremost on establishing a level of awareness—both academically and practically.
The Logical Fallacy Guide covers 20 common logical fallacies: Ad Hominem, Texas Sharpshooter, Sunk Cost Fallacy, Bandwagon Fallacy, Straw Man, Appeal to Authority, Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc, Personal Incredulity, False Dilemma, Burden of Proof, Red Herring, No True Scotsman, Hasty Generalization, Non-Sequitur, Tu Quoque, Slippery Slope, Begging the Question, Loaded Question, Equivocation, and Fallacy Fallacy.
The Logical Fallacy Guide
If you’ve been reading this newsletter, you know that I like to say that humans are fascinating creatures.
We possess the capacity to accomplish some complex feat of technology and engineering, and subsequently fall victim to the most obviously flawed base logic.
Logical fallacies—errors in reasoning that undermine the quality of an argument—are classic examples of this fact.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines fallacy as a false or misleading idea. A logical fallacy, therefore, can simply be thought of as logic based on a false or misleading idea.
Unfortunately, unless you went to law school—or took a robust philosophy course load in college—you’ve likely been minimally exposed to them in a formal context.
Accordingly, we frequently fall victim to logical fallacies—our own emotional, psychological, and intellectual blindspots create the cracks and we fall right into them.
There is no such thing as a perfect logician, but we can all strive to cover our blindspots and craft better arguments. Similar to the study of cognitive biases—which I’ve written about recently here and here—the first step in avoiding logical fallacies is developing an awareness of them.
In that vein, today’s piece will cover 20 common logical fallacies to learn, identify, and avoid.
Without further ado, let’s dive in…
Ad Hominem
Latin phrase for "to the person”—an ad hominem attack is an attack of the individual rather than the argument.
Instead of addressing the argument—its structure, logic, and merits—the offender attempts to refute the opposition on the basis of personal characteristics.
It may be overt—openly attacking the person’s character or personality—or covert—subtly doing the same—but it always focuses on the person, not the argument.
Often referred to as “mud-slinging” i
Published on 3 years, 6 months ago