Ad-Hominem

1. Ad-Hominem Attacking the individual that makes the statement rather than the argument

2. 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

3. Appeal to probability Believing that something is inevitable just because it is probable

4. 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

5. Argument from ignorance(argumentum ad ignorantiam) Something is true because it has not be proven false

6. 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

7. Argument to moderation The middle ground must be correct

8. 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

9. Circular reasoning Trying to prove a point by repeating the same argument in different forms

10. 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

11. Straw man Exaggerating opponents argument in order to make it easier to attack

12. 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

13. Hasty Generalization Reach conclusions on a population based on a very limited sample

14. 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

15. Cherry picking Carefully select evidence that prove our argument and dismiss the ones that don’t

16. 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

17. Band wagon Popular ideas are also correct

18. 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 correct Therefore X is correct

19. Slippery slope The idea that one thing will inevitably lead to another

20. Examples: • “If we allow gay marriage, next thing you will know, people will ask for polygamy” • If A happens Then be will happen

21. Argument from authority Believing something is true because someone with authority tells it

22. Examples: • “Saddam must have WMD, the president would never lie to us about it” • A says B is correct A has authority B must be correct

23. False dilemma Putting an argument in a “black or white” term

24. 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