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August 16, 2023 - November 25, 2024
Families are under strain because Mom persists in saying “just because.” Climate change activists keep reminding us that weather is not climate, unless it is. Food enthusiasts keep extracting sunbeams and alleged holiness out of organic kale.
This fallacy is at work whenever a person is attacked in a way that is intended to distract from the argument at hand.
ad hominem Description: a fallacy of distraction that attacks an opponent’s character when character is irrelevant to the argument Common Names: Poisoning the Well, Pit Spitting
Tu quoque is a fancy Latin name for this move, which simply means “you also!”
When encountering a fully enraged TQ, the most intrepid explorers can defeat and frustrate the bird with laughter and a jovial celebration of their own caricatures. Shamed, the TQ reverts to its fern impersonation and is easily captured.
tu quoque Description: a fallacy of distraction that attempts to discredit an opponent’s conclusion by irrelevantly appealing to supposed hypocrisy between argument and actions Common Names: Appeal to Hypocrisy, TQ
transfer Description: a fallacy of distraction that equates positive characteristics of a spokesman with their conclusion Common Names: Honor by Association, Preenering
One of the things I have sought to do, especially with a name like “the Amazing Dr. Ransom,” is to cultivate a sense of modesty and humility.
ipse dixit Description: a fallacy of distraction that appeals to an irrelevant authority as justification for a conclusion Common Names: Irrelevant Authority
bulverism Description: a fallacy of distraction that assumes an opponent’s position is wrong by focusing the argument on how the opponent personally came to believe that position Common Name: The Becausery
An idea should not be dismissed simply because of a disreputable point of origin. Many of the early rocket scientists were Nazis.
genetic fallacy Description: a fallacy of distraction that rejects or accepts an argument solely because of the moral character of another, previous arguer Common Names: Ancestral Stench
Sure, wicked people say wicked things, and you should develop a healthy skepticism. But immoral hearts do not necessarily reason with invalid arguments. As with Bulverism, motive often needs to be dealt with after argument.
special pleading Description: a fallacy of distraction that argues for an exception to an accepted principle or standard without offering a justification Common Names: Unjustified Exemption
ad baculum Description: a fallacy of distraction that inappropriately attempts to persuade by means of threats Common Names: Appeal to Fear, Whooping
ad populum Description: a fallacy of distraction that attempts to show the truth of a proposition by means of the sheer number of people who already have accepted it Common Names: Bandwagon, Lemming Parade
ad misericordiam Description: a fallacy of distraction that attempts to distract from the truth or validity of an argument by appealing to pity Common Names: Appeal to Pity, PitiPupping
argument from personal incredulity Description: a fallacy of distraction that denies a conclusion solely based on personal belief Common Names: Common Sense Fallacy, Divine Fallacy
Humans under the influence of this fallacy will quickly dismiss positions based on age, any age, young or old. If something is new, it’s too recent and trendy. If old, it is archaic, distant, and dismal.
chronological Snobbery Description: a fallacy of distraction that accepts or rejects an idea solely based on its age Common Names: Appeal to Tradition or Technology, Dinoshush
ad ignorantiam Description: a fallacy of distraction that argues for a proposition by pointing to absence of evidence to the contrary Common Names: Proof by Lack of Evidence, The Gullible Dogmatic
irrelevant goals or functions Description: a fallacy of distraction that irrelevantly critiques an idea for failing to do something it never was intended to do Common Names: Argument from Consequences
irrelevant thesis Description: a fallacy of distraction that addresses a tangentially related (and perhaps valid) point that is not the point under discussion Common Names: Ignoring the Issue, Ignoratio Elenchi
straw man Description: a fallacy of distraction that misrepresents or hyperbolizes an opponent’s position to make it much easier to defeat Common Names: Misrepresentation, Puppet Beating
red herring Description: any fallacy of distraction that ultimately leads away from the truth of the matter Common Names: Distraction by Reek
equivocation Description: a fallacy of ambiguity that sneakily changes a definition or sense of a key word during a discussion Common Names: Definitional Ambiguity
amphiboly Description: a fallacy of ambiguity in which an entire sentence or passage can be taken in two or more ways Common Names: Syntactical Ambiguity
“He who defines, wins.”
People hosting this parasitic beast love to engage in illegitimate word parsing and distinctions, always begging out of rebuttals with distinctions that make no difference at all to the meaning.
Distinction without a difference Description: a fallacy of ambiguity that uses a synonym or restatement to exempt itself from an opponent’s charge Common Names: Connotation Dodging
Composition Description: a fallacy of ambiguity that assumes something true of the parts must be true of the whole. Alternate Names: Part-to-Whole Fallacy, Mad-Addling
Division Description: a fallacy of ambiguity that assumes something true of the whole must be true of the parts. Alternate Names: Whole-to-Part Fallacy, Add-Maddling
Accent Description: a fallacy of ambiguity that sneakily changes the sense of a sentence by means of where the emphasis is placed. Alternate Names: Emphasis
Repetition Description: a fallacy of ambiguity that uses repetition to bypass a discussion of the truth or falsity of a proposition. Alternate Names: Early & Often Fallacy
Loaded Question Description: a fallacy of ambiguity that veils unproven (presupposed) assertions under seemingly innocent questions. Alternate Names: Complex Question
Selective arrangement Description: a fallacy of ambiguity that leaves out or disguises the facts that do not fit with the presupposed conclusion. Alternate Names: Shadow Shifting, Shell Gaming
Exigency Description: a fallacy of ambiguity that attempts to persuade solely or primarily on the basis of a limited time frame. Alternate Names: Advertisers’ Fallacy
No True Scotsman: Description: a fallacy of distraction that eliminates an exception to a presupposed generalization by dismissing the exception without justification. Alternate Names: Ad Hoc Rescue
Petitio Principii Description: A fallacy of form that assumes what needs to be proven. Alternate Names: Circular Reasoning, Begging the Question
Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc Description: A fallacy of form that assumes causation based on temporal precedence alone. Alternate Names: False Cause
Post Hoc in Statistics Description: A fallacy of form that assumes causation based on correlation alone. Alternate Names: Correlation vs. Causation Fallacy, Cum Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc
affirming the consequent Description: A fallacy of form that has the general structure “If P, then Q. Q. Therefore P.” Alternate Names: AffCon
Denying the Antecedent Description: A fallacy of form that has the general structure “If P, then Q. Not P. Therefore, not Q.” Alternate Names: DenAnt
Bifurcation Description: A fallacy of form that illegitimately limits choices. Alternate Names: Either-Or, False Dilemma, False Dichotomy
Fallacy of Compromise Description: A fallacy of form that assumes truth is always to be found perfectly in between two opposing positions. Alternate Names: Argument to Moderation,Middle Ground
Naturalistic Fallacy Description: A fallacy of form that makes claims about how something ought to be based on its existence or on its pleasantness. Alternate Names: Is-Ought Fallacy
The bad things will happen necessarily, in rapid succession, and they will be the end of us all—so do exactly as I say.
An example of the first version of this fallacy would be the claim that if we fail to embrace massive and tyrannical government oversight of our use of fossil fuels, then the earth will be destroyed by drought, earthquakes, a hailstorm of asteroids, NASCAR, and ignorance.
An example of the second version would be the claim that there is absolutely no evidence that a cultural embrace of same-sex “mirage” will lead to polygamy, polyamory, and the decay of the institution of marriage. The future is, after all, unknowable.
Slippery Slope Description: A fallacy of form that asserts but does not demonstrate a connection between a proposed idea and a resulting series of bad consequences. Also, the bald denial that some clearly treacherous and dangerous step will lead to any negative consequences at all. Alternate Names: Thin Edge of the Wedge, Slipfishing
