Logical fallacies
Logical fallacies, explained
A fallacy is a move that has the shape of an argument without the substance of one. Each entry names the move, shows it happening, and gives you the question that takes it apart. Worth reading the fallacy fallacy before you start naming these at people: spotting one means the argument failed, not that the conclusion is false.
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straw man omgstop.org/straw-man
You beat an argument nobody made. Impressive, irrelevant.
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ad hominem omgstop.org/ad-hominem
You attacked the person. The argument is still standing there, untouched.
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false dilemma omgstop.org/false-dilemma
Two options were offered. There were never only two.
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slippery slope omgstop.org/slippery-slope
You skipped from a small step to catastrophe and called it a consequence.
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appeal to authority omgstop.org/appeal-to-authority
Someone important said it. That still is not evidence.
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appeal to nature omgstop.org/appeal-to-nature
It’s natural, therefore it’s good. Hemlock is natural.
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appeal to tradition omgstop.org/appeal-to-tradition
We’ve always done it this way. That is a description, not a reason.
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bandwagon omgstop.org/bandwagon
Lots of people believe it. Lots of people have been wrong before.
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appeal to ignorance omgstop.org/appeal-to-ignorance
Nobody has disproved it. That is not the same as it being true.
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begging the question omgstop.org/begging-the-question
Your conclusion is hiding in your premise. Also: this phrase does not mean what you think.
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post hoc omgstop.org/post-hoc
It happened afterwards. That does not mean it happened because of.
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correlation is not causation omgstop.org/correlation-causation
Two things move together. That is where your evidence stops.
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hasty generalization omgstop.org/hasty-generalization
You met three of them. There are eight billion people.
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anecdotal evidence omgstop.org/anecdotal
Your uncle is not a study.
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cherry picking omgstop.org/cherry-picking
You found the data that agreed with you and stopped looking.
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no true Scotsman omgstop.org/no-true-scotsman
You redefined the category to get rid of the counterexample.
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tu quoque omgstop.org/tu-quoque
You do it too. My argument is still standing.
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red herring omgstop.org/red-herring
That’s a different subject, raised on purpose.
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moving the goalposts omgstop.org/moving-the-goalposts
You met the standard. They raised it.
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loaded question omgstop.org/loaded-question
There is an assumption smuggled into that question.
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gambler’s fallacy omgstop.org/gamblers-fallacy
The coin does not remember. It is not due.
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sunk cost omgstop.org/sunk-cost
You already spent it. It’s gone either way.
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composition and division omgstop.org/composition-division
True of the parts is not automatically true of the whole. Or the reverse.
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equivocation omgstop.org/equivocation
You used one word to mean two things and hoped nobody noticed.
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Texas sharpshooter omgstop.org/texas-sharpshooter
You drew the target around the bullet holes.
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personal incredulity omgstop.org/personal-incredulity
You can’t imagine how it works. The universe is not obliged to fit in your head.
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the fallacy fallacy omgstop.org/fallacy-fallacy
Their argument was bad. Their conclusion might still be right.
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survivorship bias omgstop.org/survivorship-bias
You are only looking at the ones that made it.
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relative privation omgstop.org/relative-privation
Someone has it worse. That is true of literally everyone.
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genetic fallacy omgstop.org/genetic-fallacy
You judged the claim by where it came from.
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poisoning the well omgstop.org/poisoning-the-well
You discredited them before they opened their mouth.
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middle ground omgstop.org/middle-ground
The truth is not automatically halfway between two positions.
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motte and bailey omgstop.org/motte-and-bailey
You defended the modest claim and then went back to the bold one.