Quite often, the internet can be seen as a source of
confusion, disinformation, and distraction, although this need not be the case.
It can also be a powerful tool of knowledge and learning. In both cases, an understanding
of logical fallacies can be useful for navigating the wild waves of the
interwebs and in daily life as well. See Irving Copi’s 1961 Introduction to
Logic for a brief explanation of what are considered eighteen essential informal
fallacies. Most of these fallacies are derived from two sources: Aristotle’s Sophistical
Refutations and John Locke’s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
(1690). As some of these are closely related to others, I’ve narrowed the list down
for practical purposes.
1- Ad
Hominem Fallacy
This is when someone attacks the person instead of
attacking his or her argument and is sometimes called name calling or the personal
attack fallacy. The latin Ad hominem
means “against the man.”
Example:
Don't
listen to Dave's argument on abortion. He's not the brightest bulb in the
chandelier.
Bill: I think that we should increase the federal
spending on education. Ted: you’re a fascist, so clearly we shouldn’t listen to
what you have to say about education.
2- Bandwagon Fallacy
This
fallacy describes believing something is true or acceptable only because it is
popular and is also sometimes called the appeal to common belief or appeal to the masses. The latin term
is argumentum ad populum, meaning “appeal
to the people.”
Example:
Come on. Everyone else's parents let them stay
out past midnight.
Allen's conspiracy theory blog has 20,000 followers, therefore it must be coherent.
3- False
Dilemma Fallacy
This fallacy presents only two options or sides when
there are many options or sides. It basically presents a “black and
white” kind of thinking when there are actually many shades of gray. Sometimes
called the “either-or” fallacy.
Example:
If
you want our country to be safe, we must increase military spending.
Getting
the economy up and running is preferable to preventing a new wave of COVID-19
deaths.
4- Hasty Generalization
Fallacy
It is basically making a claim based on evidence that
it just too small. Essentially, you can’t make a claim and say that something
is true if you have only an example or two as evidence. Also known as
hasty induction or overextension, a hasty generalization is a form of jumping
to a conclusion. It is an informal fallacy that can lead to misinformation and stereotypes.
Example:
Christine
has a terrible experience with a boyfriend. She decides that all boys are mean.
Someone
who had a rare allergic reaction to a medicine may advise others not to use
that medication. In truth, the medicine might only be dangerous to that one
person.
5- False
analogy Fallacy
Like the name
suggests, is a logical fallacy in which someone argues on the basis of a
faulty or weak analogy. It’s a common type of error as people frequently use
misleading and inaccurate analogies to support their ideas and views. It’s also
known by a number of different names, including “weak analogy”, “false
metaphor” and “faulty comparison”.
Example:
“Cars cause
many more deaths than firearms do, so if we are going to ban firearms, we
should also ban cars.”
6- Straw Man
Fallacy
A straw man fallacy occurs when someone takes another
person’s argument or point, distorts it or exaggerates it in some kind of
extreme way, and then attacks the extreme distortion, as if that is really the
claim the first person is making.
Example:
Wife: I'd rather have a dog than a cat. Husband: Why
do you hate cats?
Alex: I think that a bigger portion of our company’s budget
should go to customer support, because we’re currently struggling in that area.
Bob: if we spend all of our
money on customer support like you’re suggesting, we’ll go bankrupt in a year.
7- Red
herring fallacy
Argument
that distracts from the original topic. Some may refer to this type of argument
as a "smoke screen." The phrase “red
herring” refers to a kippered herring used to distract hunting dogs to test
their reliability. Also known
as: beside the point, misdirection, changing the subject, clouding the issue.
In latin, Ignoratio elenchi, which means ignorance of refutation.
Example:
President
A in a discussion about the debt ceiling: I am not going to have a monthly conversation
about whether or not we pay our bills because that in and of itself does severe
damage. Even the threat of default hurts our economy. It's hurting our economy
as we speak. We shouldn't be having that debate.
8- Slippery Slope Fallacy
A slippery slope fallacy occurs when someone makes a
claim about a series of events that would lead to one major event, usually a
bad event. In this fallacy, a person makes a claim that one event leads to
another event and so on until we come to some awful conclusion
Example:
If we enact any kind of gun control laws, the next
thing you know, we won’t be allowed to have any guns at all. When that happens,
we won’t be able to defend ourselves against terrorist attacks, and when that
happens terrorists will take over our country. Therefore, gun control laws will
cause us to lose our country to terrorists.
Bibliography:
Fallacies
– Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
https://iep.utm.edu/fallacy/
Types
of Logical Fallacies: Recognizing Faulty Reasoning
https://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-logical-fallacy.html
Logical
Fallacies – Excelsior Online Writing Lab
https://owl.excelsior.edu/argument-and-critical-thinking/logical-fallacies/
Falikowski,
Anthony. Mastering Human Relations. Scarborough.
Prentice-Hall, 1996.
