Accent Fallacy Summary
Latin Name: accentus (also known as: emphasis fallacy, fallacy of accent, fallacy of prosody, …
Accident Fallacy Summary
Latin Name: a dicto simpliciter ad dictum secundum quid (also known as: destroying the exception, di…
Ad Fidentia Summary
Latin Summary: argumentum ad fidentia (also known as: against self-confidence) Description: Attackin…
Ad Hoc Rescue Summary
Latin Name: ad hoc (also known as: making stuff up, MSU fallacy) Description: Very often we desperat…
Ad Hominem (Abusive) Summary
Latin Name: argumentum ad hominem (also known as: personal abuse, personal attacks, abusive fa…
Ad Hominem (Circumstantial) Summary
Latin Name: argumentum ad hominem (also known as: appeal to bias, appeal to motive, appeal to person…
Ad Hominem (Guilt by Association) Summary
Latin Name: argumentum ad hominem (also known as: association fallacy, bad company fallacy, co…
Ad Hominem (Tu quoque) Summary
Latin Name: argumentum ad hominem tu quoque (also known as: appeal to hypocrisy, “you too” fal…
Affirmative Conclusion from a Negative Premise Summary
(also known as: illicit negative, drawing an affirmative conclusion from negative premises, fallacy …
Affirming the Consequent Summary
(also known as: converse error, fallacy of the consequent, asserting the consequent, affirmation of …
Alleged Certainty Summary
(also known as: assuming the conclusion) Description: Asserting a conclusion without evidence or pre…
Alphabet Soup Summary
Description: The deliberate and excessive use of acronyms and abbreviations to appear more knowledge…
Alternative Advance Summary
(also known as: lose-lose situation) Description: When one is presented with just two choices, both …
Amazing Familiarity Summary
(also known as: argument from omniscience, “how the hell can you possibly know that?R…
Ambiguity Fallacy Summary
(also known as: ambiguous assertion, amphiboly, amphibology, semantical ambiguity, vagueness) Descri…
Anonymous Authority Summary
(also known as: appeal to anonymous authority) Description: When an unspecified source is used as ev…
Anthropomorphism Summary
(also known as: personification) Description: The attributing of human characteristics and purposes …
Appeal to Accomplishment Summary
(also known as: appeal to success) Description: When the argument being made is sheltered from criti…
Appeal to Anger Summary
Latin Name: argumentum ad iram (also known as: appeal to hatred, loathing, appeal to outrage, etc.) …
Appeal to Authority Summary
Latin Name: argumentum ad verecundiam (also known as: argument from authority, ipse dixit) Descripti…
Appeal to Celebrity Summary
Description: Accepting a claim of a celebrity based on his or her celebrity status, not on the stren…
Appeal to Closure Summary
(also known as: appeal to justice [form of]) Description: Accepting evidence on the basis of w…
Appeal to Coincidence Summary
(also known as: appeal to luck, appeal to bad luck, appeal to good luck) Description: Concluding tha…
Appeal to Common Belief Summary
Latin Name: argumentum ad populum (also known as: appeal to accepted belief, appeal to democracy, ap…
Appeal to Common Folk Summary
(also known as: appeal to the common man) Description: In place of evidence, attempting to establish…
Appeal to Common Sense Summary
Description: Asserting that your conclusion or facts are just “common sense” when, in fact, they are…
Appeal to Consequences Summary
Latin Name: argumentum ad consequentiam (also known as: appeal to consequences of a belief, argument…
Appeal to Definition Summary
(also known as: appeal to the dictionary, victory by definition) Description: Using a dictionary’s l…
Appeal to Desperation Summary
Description: Arguing that your conclusion, solution, or proposition is right based on the fact that …
Appeal to Emotion Summary
(also known as: appeal to pathos, argument by vehemence, playing on emotions, emotional appeal, for …
Appeal to Equality Summary
(also known as: appeal to egalitarianism, appeal to equity) Description: An assertion is deeme…
Appeal to Extremes Summary
Description: Erroneously attempting to make a reasonable argument into an absurd one, by taking the …
Appeal to Faith Summary
Description: This is an abandonment of reason in an argument and a call to faith, usually when reaso…
Appeal to False Authority Summary
(also known as: appeal to doubtful authority, appeal to dubious authority, appeal to improper author…
Appeal to Fear Summary
Latin Name: argumentum in terrorem (also known as: argumentum ad metum, argument from adverse conseq…
Appeal to Flattery Summary
(also known as: apple polishing, wheel greasing, brown nosing, appeal to pride / argumentum ad super…
Appeal to Force Summary
Latin Name: argumentum ad baculum (also known as: argument to the cudgel, appeal to the stick) Descr…
Appeal to Heaven Summary
Latin Name: deus vult (also known as: gott mit uns, manifest destiny, special covenant) Description:…
Appeal to Intuition Summary
(also known as: appeal to the gut) Description: Evaluating an argument based on “intuiti…
Appeal to Loyalty Summary
(also known as: appeal to patriotism [form of]) Description: When one is either implicitly or explic…
Appeal to Nature Summary
Latin Name: Argumentum ad Naturam Description: When used as a fallacy, the belief or suggestion that…
Appeal to Normality Summary
Description: Using social norms to determine what is good or bad. It is the idea that normalit…
Appeal to Novelty Summary
Latin Name: argumentum ad novitatem (also known as: appeal to the new, ad novitam [sometimes spelled…
Appeal to Pity Summary
Latin Name: ad misericordiam (also known as: appeal to sympathy, appeal to victimhood [form of]) Des…
Appeal to Popularity Summary
Latin Name: argumentum ad numeram (also see: appeal to common belief) Description: Using the popular…
Appeal to Possibility Summary
Description: When a conclusion is assumed not because it is probably true or it has not been demonst…
Appeal to Ridicule Summary
Latin Name: reductio ad ridiculum (also known as: appeal to mockery, the horse laugh) Description: P…
Appeal to Self-evident Truth Summary
Description: Making the claim that something is “self-evident” when it is not self-evide…
Appeal to Spite Summary
Latin Name: argumentum ad odium Description: Substituting spite (petty ill will or hatred with the d…
Appeal to Stupidity Summary
Description: Attempting to get the audience to devalue reason and intellectual discourse, or devalui…
Appeal to the Law Summary
Description: When following the law is assumed to be the morally correct thing to do, without justif…
Appeal to the Moon Summary
(also known as: argumentum ad lunam) Description: Using the argument, “If we can put a man on the mo…
Appeal to Tradition Summary
Latin Name: argumentum ad antiquitatem (also known as: appeal to common practice, appeal to antiquit…
Appeal to Trust Summary
(also known as: appeal to distrust [opposite], appeal to trustworthiness) Description: The bel…
Argument by Emotive Language Summary
(also known as: loaded words, loaded language, euphemisms) Description: Substituting facts and evide…
Argument by Fast Talking Summary
Description: When fast talking is seen as intelligence and/or confidence in the truth of one’s argum…
Argument by Gibberish Summary
(also known as: bafflement, argument by [prestigious] jargon) Description: When incomprehensible jar…
Argument by Personal Charm Summary
(also known as: sex appeal, flamboyance, eloquence) Description: When an argument is made stronger b…
Argument by Pigheadedness Summary
(also known as: argument by stubbornness, invincible ignorance fallacy) Description: This is a refus…
Argument by Repetition Summary
Latin Name: argumentum ad nauseam (also known as: argument from nagging, proof by assertion) Descrip…
Argument by Selective Reading Summary
Description: When a series of arguments or claims is made and the opponent acts as if the weakest ar…
Argument from Age Summary
(also known as: wisdom of the ancients) Description: The misconception that previous generations had…
Argument from Fallacy Summary
Latin Name: argumentum ad logicam (also known as: disproof by fallacy, argument to logic, fallacy fa…
Argument from False Authority Summary
Description: When a person making a claim is presented as an expert who should be trusted when his o…
Argument from Hearsay Summary
(also known as: the telephone game, Chinese whispers, anecdotal evidence, anecdotal fallacy/Volvo fa…
Argument from Ignorance Summary
Latin Name: ad ignorantiam (also known as: appeal to ignorance, appeal to mystery [form of], black s…
Argument from Incredulity Summary
(also known as: argument from personal astonishment, argument from personal incredulity, perso…
Argument from Silence Summary
Latin Name: argumentum e silentio Description: Drawing a conclusion based on the silence of the oppo…
Argument of the Beard Summary
(also known as: fallacy of the beard, heap fallacy, heap paradox fallacy, bald man fallacy, continuu…
Argument to Moderation Summary
Latin Name: argumentum ad temperantiam (also known as: appeal to moderation, middle ground, false co…
Argument to the Purse Summary
Latin Name: argumentum ad crumenam (also known as: appeal to poverty or argumentum ad lazarum, appea…
Avoiding the Issue Summary
(also known as: avoiding the question [form of], missing the point, straying off the subject, digres…
Base Rate Fallacy Summary
(also known as: neglecting base rates, base rate neglect, prosecutor’s fallacy [form of]) Desc…
Begging the Question Summary
Latin Name: petitio principii (also known as: assuming the initial point, assuming the answer, chick…
Biased Sample Fallacy Summary
(also known as: biased statistics, loaded sample, prejudiced statistics, prejudiced sample, loaded s…
Blind Authority Fallacy Summary
(also known as: blind obedience, the “team player” appeal, Nuremberg defense, divine aut…
Broken Window Fallacy Summary
(also known as: glazier’s fallacy) Description: The illusion that destruction and money spent …
Bulverism Summary
Description: This is a combination of circular reasoning and the genetic fallacy. It is the assumpti…
Causal Reductionism
(also known as: complex cause, fallacy of the single cause, causal oversimplification, reduction fal…
Cherry Picking Summary
(also known as: ignoring inconvenient data, suppressed evidence, fallacy of incomplete evidence, arg…
Circular Definition Summary
Description: A circular definition is defining a term by using the term in the definition. Iro…
Circular Reasoning Summary
Latin Name: circulus in demonstrando (also known as: paradoxical thinking, circular argument, circul…
Commutation of Conditionals Summary
(also known as: the fallacy of the consequent, converting a conditional) Description: Switching the …
Complex Question Fallacy Summary
Latin Name: plurium interrogationum (also known as: many questions fallacy, fallacy of presuppositio…
Conflicting Conditions Summary
Latin Name: contradictio in adjecto (also known as: a self-contradiction, self-refuting idea) Descri…
Confusing an Explanation with an Excuse Summary
Description: Treating an explanation of a fact as if it were a justification of the fact, a valid re…
Confusing Currently Unexplained with Unexplainable Summary
Description: Making the assumption that what cannot currently be explained is, therefore, unexplaina…
Conjunction Fallacy Summary
(also known as: conjunction effect) Description: Similar to the disjunction fallacy , the conjunctio…
Conspiracy Theory Summary
(also known as: canceling hypothesis, canceling hypotheses, cover-ups) Description: Explaining that …
Contextomy Summary
(also known as: fallacy of quoting out of context, quoting out of context) Description: Removing a p…
Deceptive Sharing Summary
Description: Sharing an article, post, or meme on social media with the intent to influence public p…
Definist Fallacy Summary
(also known as: persuasive definition fallacy, redefinition) Description: Defining a term in such a …
Denying the Antecedent Summary
(also known as: inverse error, inverse fallacy) Description: It is a fallacy in formal logic where i…
Denying the Correlative Summary
(also known as: denying the correlative conjunction) Description: Introducing alternatives when, in …
Disjunction Fallacy Summary
Description: Similar to the conjunction fallacy, the disjunction fallacy occurs when one estimates a…
Distinction Without a Difference Summary
Description: The assertion that a position is different from another position based on the language …
Double Standard Summary
Description: Judging two situations by different standards when, in fact, you should be using the sa…
Ecological Fallacy Summary
(also known as: ecological inference fallacy) Description: The interpretation of statistical data wh…
Equivocation Summary
(also known as: doublespeak) Description: Using an ambiguous term in more than one sense, thus makin…
Etymological Fallacy Summary
Description: The assumption that the present-day meaning of a word should be/is similar to the histo…