Oversimplification | | Oversimplifying a complex issue to make it appear that only two alternatives are possible |
Hasty Conclusions | | Making a judgment about an entire group based on behavior, mostly undesirable, of a few from that group |
Overgeneralization (stereotyping) | | Stating a general principle and then applying it in a specific case as though it were a universal rule |
False Analogies | | Arguing on the basis of a comparison of unrelated things |
Slippery Slope | | Seeking to discredit a person's argument by attacking their personal character, origin, associations, etc. |
Sweeping Generalization | | Claiming that something is true simply because it cannot be disproved, or that something is untrue because it cannot be proved. |
Ad Hominem ("To the Man") | | Arguing against an action on the unsupported assertion that it will inevitably lead to a much worse condition |
Appeal to Authority | | Concluding about the way things ought to be simply on the basis of how things are or are assumed to be |
Appeal to Ignorance | | Concluding that an effect has only one cause when it is really the result of multiple causes |
Bandwagon | | Making a judgment on the basis of one or even a few samples |
Is/Ought or Naturalistic | | Appealing to the opinion of a person who agrees with yours because they are generally respected by the audience, but have no real authority on the topic at hand |
Selective Perception | | Raising an irrelevant issue to divert attention from the primary issue. This argument appeals to a person's fears or sense of pity. |
False Dilemma | | Justifying a course of action because everyone is doing it |
Red Herring | | Misrepresenting a posistion to make it seem weaker than it really is or to demonize the position to make it sound worse than it is and then to act as if the argument has been won when the real issue hasn't even been addressed |
Straw Man | | Looking only for things that support our current ideas, and ignoring evidence that does not |