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| An expression used to play down or diminish the importance of a claim |
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| A word or phrase used to produce a negative effect on a reader's or listener's attitude about something or to tone down the positive associations the thing may have |
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| An agreeable or inoffensive expression that is substituted for an expression that may offend the hearer or suggest something unpleasant |
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| An extravagant overstatement |
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| An insinuation about someone or something that is of a disparaging or derogatory nature |
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| A questions that rests on one or more unwarranted or unjustified assumptions |
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| An expression used to suggest that there is evidence or authority for a claim without actually saying there is |
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| An analogy or comparison used to express or influence attitudes or affect behavior |
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| A definition used to convey or evoke a positive or negative attitude about the defined term and what it denotes |
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| An explanation intended to influence attitudes or affect behavior |
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| Making fun of or ridiculing a position in order to persuade others not to accept it |
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| An oversimplified generalization about the members of a class |
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| An expression used to protect a claim from criticism by weakening it |
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| Arguing that a claim is true simply because many, most, or all people believe it |
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| Argument From Common Practice |
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Definition
| Attempting to justify or defend an action or a practice on the grounds that it is common to do so (most people do it too) |
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| Arguing that a claim in true on the grounds that it is traditional to believe that it is true |
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| Trying to scare someone into accepting or rejecting a claim |
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| Using threats to persuade others to accept some claim or do something |
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| Trying to get others to do or believe something by appealing to their pride of membership in one's group |
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| Trying to get others to do or believe something by appealing to fear of being excluded from the group |
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| Lying to ourselves about our real reasons for believing or doing something... false pretenses |
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| Trying to persuade others by making him/her feel guilty for not accepting/doing it |
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| Thinking that wrongful behavior by someone else excuses wrongful behavior by you |
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| The view that two different cultures can be correct in their differing opinions on the same issue |
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| The view/assumption that what is true (or right) for one person is not necessarily true (or right) for another |
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| Attempting to rebut a person's claim, position, or argument on the basis of considerations that apply to the person rather than his/her claim or argument. Attacking the person rather than the position |
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| Personal Attack Ad Hominem |
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Definition
| A pattern of fallacious reasoning in which one refuses to accept another's claim because there is something about the person one doesn't like or approve of |
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| Circumstantial Ad Hominem |
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Definition
| Attempting to discredit a person's claim by referring to the person's circumstances or situation |
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| A pattern of fallacious reasoning in which one refuses to accept another's claim because s/he acts inconsistently with her/his self or s/he has rejected the claim in the past |
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| Attempting to discredit in advance what a person might claim by relating unfavorable information about him/her |
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| Rejecting a claim on the basis of its origin or history |
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| "X is true because either X or Y is true, and Y is definitely not true" when X and Y could both be false |
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| Concluding that a policy or proposal is bad simply because it doesn't accomplish its goals perfectly |
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| Insisting that a line must be drawn at some precise point when in fact it is not necessary that such a line is drawn |
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| A type of fallacious reasoning in which someone ignores an opponent's actual position and in its place presents a distorted, exaggerated, or misrepresented version of that position |
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| A type of fallacious reasoning in which it is assumed that some event must inevitably follow from some other, but in which no argument is made for the inevitability |
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| An argument whose conclusion merely restates a claim made in the premises or is clearly assumed by the premises. Circular Reasoning. |
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| Misplacing the Burden of Proof |
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| A type of fallacious reasoning in which the burden of proving a claim is placed on the wrong side |
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| The view that an absence of evidence against a claim counts as evidence for that claim |
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| Thinking that a claim is true for no better reason than you want it to be true, or rejecting it because you don't want it to be true |
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| An irrelevancy brought in to "support" a claim or to distract one from the real issue |
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| Trying to persuade others by provoking anger in them, usually by inflammatory words, followed by a 'conclusion' of sorts |
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| Trying to persuade others by arousing pity in them rather than offering legitimate argument |
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| Trying to persuade others by arousing feelings of envy in them rather than offering legitimate argument |
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| Placing the blame for something bad on a person or group of people who are not responsible for it, but who provide an easy target for animosity |
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| A pattern of fallacious reasoning in which flattery is disguised as a reason for accepting a claim |
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