Ad hominem, straw man, slippery slope, begging the question, and other fallacies with original examples.
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- What is the ad hominem fallacy?
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Attacking or dismissing the person making an argument instead of addressing the argument itself.- Dr. Chen proposes that the company adopt solar energy, but she drives a hybrid car, so her environmental position is hypocritical and wrong. What fallacy is this?
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Ad hominem (attacking the person rather than evaluating the solar energy proposal)- A politician dismisses a climate researcher's findings by saying, 'That researcher is just trying to get grants from environmental groups.' What fallacy is this?
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Ad hominem (attacking the researcher's motives instead of examining the scientific evidence)- What is the straw man fallacy?
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Misrepresenting or oversimplifying someone's position to make it easier to attack.- Person A argues for stricter regulations on social media. Person B responds: 'Person A wants to ban all social media and live in the Stone Age.' What fallacy is this?
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Straw man (Person B exaggerated Person A's actual position to an extreme)- A debate opponent says: 'My opponent claims schools should teach critical thinking, but they clearly believe teachers should ignore factual accuracy entirely.' What fallacy might this be?
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Straw man (misrepresenting the nuanced position about critical thinking)- What is the slippery slope fallacy?
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Assuming that one event or policy will inevitably lead to a chain of increasingly negative consequences without sufficient evidence.- If we allow remote work one day a week, employees will stop coming to the office at all, the company culture will collapse, and we'll go out of business. What fallacy is this?
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Slippery slope (assuming one small change will inevitably lead to catastrophic outcomes)- If the university lowers the GPA requirement for admission by 0.1 points, academic standards will plummet and graduates will be unemployable. What fallacy is this?
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Slippery slope (no evidence that a small change will cascade into total collapse)- What is begging the question (circular reasoning)?
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Assuming the conclusion as a premise; using the claim to be proven as part of the argument.- Video games are a waste of time because they don't contribute to productive activities. Productive activities are anything that isn't a waste of time. What fallacy is this?
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Begging the question (the definition of 'productive' assumes video games are not productive)- We know astrology works because astrologists have predicted many things correctly, and anything that makes accurate predictions works. What fallacy is this?
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Begging the question (the conclusion 'astrology works' is embedded in the premises)- What is the appeal to authority fallacy?
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Accepting a claim as true simply because an authority figure endorses it, without evaluating the actual evidence or reasoning.- This cryptocurrency must be a good investment because a famous actor endorses it. What fallacy is this?
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Appeal to authority (an actor's endorsement doesn't constitute evidence for investment quality)- What is the appeal to popularity (ad populum) fallacy?
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Claiming something is true or right because many people believe it or do it.
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