Logically Fallacious Resources
Critical thinking skills for clearer arguments
Critical thinking is a practical habit: slow down, identify the claim, inspect the support, and notice when emotion, ambiguity, or distraction is doing the work evidence should do.
Start with the argument
Before judging whether an argument is good, separate the conclusion from the reasons offered for it. Many disagreements stay confused because the actual claim is never made clear.
Practice with fallacies
Fallacies give names to common reasoning mistakes. The skill is not merely naming them, but explaining what went wrong and what better evidence would be needed.
Use the right next step
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Related fallacies
See all fallaciesArgument from Fallacy
Concluding that the truth value of an argument is false based on the fact that the argument contains a fallacy.
Begging the Question
Any form of argument where the conclusion is assumed in one of the premises. Many people use the phrase “begging the question” incorrectly when they use it to mean, “prompts one to ask the question”. That is NOT the correct usage. Begging the question is a form of circular reasoning.
False Dilemma
When only two choices are presented yet more exist, or a spectrum of possible choices exists between two extremes. False dilemmas are usually characterized by “either this or that” language, but can also be characterized by omissions of choices. Another variety is the false trilemma, which is when three choices are presented when more exist.
Hasty Generalization
Drawing a conclusion based on a small sample size, rather than looking at statistics that are much more in line with the typical or average situation.
Appeal to Emotion
This is the general category of many fallacies that use emotion in place of reason in order to attempt to win the argument. It is a type of manipulation used in place of valid logic.
Post Hoc
Claiming that because event Y followed event X, event Y must have been caused by event X, without properly establishing causality.