Ad-Hominem

Attacking the individual that makes the statement rather

than the argument

Examples:

To the court: “You cannot accept the testimony of this person, he is a convicted felon”

A makes claim X

There is something wrong about A

Therefore X is wrong

Appeal to probability

Believing that something is inevitable just because it is

probable

Examples:

“There are two many viruses on the internet. Therefore if you log in without an antivirus, you will definitely get a virus”

A is possible

Therefore…

A is inevitable

Argument from ignorance

(argumentum ad ignorantiam)

Something is true because it has not be proven false

Examples:

“You cannot prove that there are no Martians living in caves on planet Mars, therefore it is OK for me to believe there are”

There is no evidence for A

Therefore A is false

There is no evidence against A

Therefore A is true

Argument to moderation

The middle ground must be correct

Examples:

“Some say vaccines are bad for babies but the WHO says they are good, so the truth must be somewhere in the middle”

A says X

B says Y

Then Z which is in the middle of X and Y must be correct

Circular reasoning

Trying to prove a point by repeating the same argument in

different forms

Examples:

“Andreas Hoca is the best professor, because no one at Zirve University is as good as him”

A is good

Because A is nice, excellent, magnificent

Therefore A is good

Straw man

Exaggerating opponents argument in order to make it

easier to attack

Examples:

“The PM said they will not fund the submarines program. I totally disagree, I don’t see why he wants to leave the country defenseless like that”

A says X

B present X as Y

B attacks Y

Hasty Generalization

Reach conclusions on a population based on a very

limited sample

Examples:

“1 is a square number, 3, 5, 7 are prime, 9 is square, 11 is prime. Therefore all odd numbers are either squares or primes”

X% of A are B

Therefore all A are B

Cherry picking

Carefully select evidence that prove our argument and dismiss

the ones that don’t

Examples:

“You should avoid garlic cause garlic consumption decreases your blood pressure, and you will feel exhausted”

X, Y, and Z prove A

Q,R, and S disprove A

We only use X, Y, and Z

Band wagon

Popular ideas are also correct

Examples:

“You should not talk to your shell phone all the time. It will hurt your brain…everyone knows that!”

A, B, C….Z believe X is correctTherefore X is correct

Slippery slope

The idea that one thing will inevitably lead to another

Examples:

“If we allow gay marriage, next thing you will know, people will ask for polygamy”

If A happensThen be will happen

Argument from authority

Believing something is true because someone with authority

tells it

Examples:

“Saddam must have WMD, the president would never lie to us about it”

A says B is correctA has authorityB must be correct

False dilemma

Putting an argument in a “black or white” term

Examples:

“I thought you are a good student, but I saw you out having fun the night before the finals”

Either A or B are correct