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Questions tagged [fallacies]

Concerns formal (syllogistic) fallacies, informal (rhetorical) fallacies, tactical misdirection, and errors in logic or reasoning more broadly put.

The term 'fallacy' may refer to:

  • Formal (syllogistic) fallacies: errors in logical validity rooted in the structure of formal arguments
  • Informal (rhetorical) fallacies: common mistakes or misunderstandings that people make when reasoning
  • Tactical misdirection: the intention misuse of logic or logical structures to present false or misleading impressions
  • Errors in logic or reasoning more broadly put

Technically speaking, the term 'fallacy' is restricted to the first (formal) usage, which differs from he others because it is a function of the underlying structure of logic, independent of the truth or falsehood of given premises. But colloquially the term has been expanded to mean poor reasoning of any sort.

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What is the fallacy “X is bad, Y is worse, therefore X is not bad” called?

I have often heard this type of argument: You are criticizing X using well-researched facts and arguments. Your interlocutor states that Y is much worse, with equally well-researched facts and arguments. Your interlocutor uses their argument…
Sardathrion - against SE abuse
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Why do they say I am committing a fallacy when I am just insulting someone?

On the internet, one is often accused of committing the so-called 'ad hominem'-fallacy, which, according to Sikipedia, is defined as a fallacious argumentative strategy whereby genuine discussion of the topic at hand is avoided by instead attacking…
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Is "I cannot imagine a mechanism for X to happen, so X can never happen" a named logical fallacy?

I have encountered this reasoning quite frequently: Somebody posits the hypothesis that an event X can happpen. A recent example I encountered was "vinegar and salt in the boiling water make eggs easier to peel afterwards", but I have seen many…
rumtscho
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What's so fallacious about the Slippery Slope Fallacy?

When you look at the world, I think it's a rather non-controversial statement that a good percentage, if not a majority, of social problems are caused by people making choices based solely on short-term outcomes--"if X then Y, and Y is desirable,…
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Is “If white privilege exists, why did Elizabeth Warren pretend to be an Indian?" a fallacy, and if so, which one?

I recently came across the meme below. I consider it a logical fallacy (the existence of one use of a socioeconomic tool other than white privilege does not preclude the existence of white privilege). Is this an example of a named logical fallacy?…
mcating
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Is the “no true Scotsman'” fallacy actually a fallacy?

I have trouble with many so-called 'fallacies', and the 'No True Scotsman' fallacy is no exception. Let me quote a famous line from Game of Thrones: Any man who must say "I am the King" is no true King. Did Lord Tywin commit the 'No True Scotsman'…
gaazkam
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What kind of fallacy is it to say if abolition of something isn't possible, we shouldn't attempt to address it at all?

I'm trying to figure out the exact fallacy (or if it even is one) that takes the form: If abolition of x isn't possible, we shouldn't attempt to address x. I see this quite often from radical second amendment supporters ("criminals are going to…
N.F.
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What is the name of the fallacy where people assume that complex ideas are automatically better?

I often hear variations of the following premise in people's discussions: Your argument is too simplistic Which means that this simplicity is undesirable for some reason not present in the argument. And this seems to indicate "complex" things are…
Red Banana
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Name of the fallacy that "you don't know" implies "the media is hiding it from you"

A very common fallacy used by propagandists has the structure: Person A presents fact X as support for a theory T that person A tries to prove, adding continuous suggestions about a conspiracy, but Person B doesn't know fact X, Person A claims the…
ABu
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Is there a name for the fallacy whereby the other party to the debate only suggests, does not articulate, what their point is?

Often, in a dispute, people only suggest their point without ever articulating it. An awful lot of people actually do that. This makes any rational debate impossible (if you second guess, they can deny having said that). Is there a name for this…
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Is there a fallacy about "appeal to 'big words'"?

Is there a fallacy about "appeal to 'big words'"? What I refer to are statements often encountered in political or economic rhetoric. An argument would go like this: Because of New Keynesianism, therefore ... Note: Not all big words are as…
mavavilj
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Is there a name for the fallacy that refuting the argument refutes the conclusion?

Is there a name for the fallacy that refuting an argument refutes the proposition? e.g. there is a belief in X.. somebody provides an argument for X.. or even a bunch of arguments for X. Somebody refutes these arguments. But they commit the…
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Is "you're part of the problem" a logical fallacy?

I've heard many people say if you X, then you're part of the problem. I'm not a logic or philosophy expert so I was wondering if this is a logical fallacy (or something along those lines)? If so, what is the name of the fallacy? A personal example…
But I'm Not A Wrapper Class
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Is "if A then B; B therefore A" a subset of the "post hoc" fallacy?

Recently, I read the following comment: If you aren't pissing someone off some of the time, you're not doing anything very useful or interesting. The context was that some people were pissed off and the implication was that therefore something…
Jon Ericson
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What is this fallacy: “Expecting something to continue just because it has never stopped”

For example: Technology will keep advancing in terms of innovation purely because it has not stopped advancing. Is there a fallacy for this?
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