Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “logical fallacy”
Appeal To Probability: (a.k.a. appeal to possibility) Another formal fallacy; the idea that simply because something is likely to happen, it therefore will happen. Although something is probabilistic-ally the case, does not mean it is a proven fact. However, one can usually act on statistical information with a relative level of …
Misleading Vividness: (a.k.a. anecdotal fallacy) As promised, the first formal fallacy: Where one uses a personal story as evidence for a claim. As described in the link, formal fallacies are non sequiturs; meaning they hold no logical bearing on the argument at hand. I think of them as simply shouting something totally irrelevant …
Unfalsifiability: (a.k.a. untestibility) An informal fallacy; when a statement is asserted that is theoretically or practically impossible to test. An unstable hypothesis is one that science and logic cannot address, and one from which no empiric information can arise. These are often fun for thought-experiments however. And, when treated appropriately, and lead …
Weak Analogy: (a.k.a. faulty analogy, argument from spurious similarity) An informal fallacy; in which one uses an analogy to make ones point, but the analogy does not suitably fit the point attempting to be made. This fallacy is sometimes used with the conscious intent to trick the other party, as …
False Dichotomy: (a.k.a. false dilemma, fallacy of false choice) An informal fallacy; where two options are presented, usually polar opposites, and it is either implied or explicitly stated that these are the only two possibilities to the given argument. When more than two options are given, the fallacy still applies, …
Let’s wrap up May with; Special Pleading: Special Pleading: (a.k.a. special circumstance) An informal fallacy; Special Pleading involves the party making the argument requesting or demanding that they are a unique exception to an otherwise (or often) exception-less rule. Or that in a particular case, their point cannot be proven, due …
May the fallacies be not-with you; Wishful Thinking: Wishful Thinking: (a.k.a. appeal to consequences) Another informal fallacy! When one finds the potential fallout of a conclusion appealing, one may find themselves simply deciding, often without words and within their own mind, to accept that given conclusion as true. This is the …
And another fallacy free week to you! What’s that you say, you want to hear about; Equivocation: Equivocation (a.k.a. Doublespeak) As yet another informal fallacy (we’ll get to others I promise), Equivocation works by using a word or words in a sense that it was not intended to be used for. This …
