| A | B |
|---|
| Either/Or Fallacy (false dilemma) | "Mary must be an athiest, she never goes to church." |
| Equivocation | “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.” – President Bill Clinton |
| Hypothesis Contrary to Fact | The United States went to war with Iraq because there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. |
| Illicit Process (non sequitur) | "Bill lives in a large building, so his apartment must be large." |
| Faulty Analogy | "We have pure food and drug laws; why can't we have laws to keep movie-makers from giving us filth?" |
| Post hoc, ergo propter hoc (causal generalizations) | Eating 5 energy bars and drinking 2 cokes helps me get better grades. I did this and got an A on my history test. |
| Hasty Generalization | Sam is riding her bike in her home town in Maine, minding her own business. A station wagon comes up behind her and the driver starts beeping his horn and then tries to force her off the road. As he goes by, the driver yells "get on the sidewalk where you belong!" Sam sees that the car has Ohio plates and concludes that all Ohio drivers are jerks. |
| Special Pleading (card stacking) | Bill and Jill are married. Both Bill and Jill have put in a full day at the office. Their dog, Rover, has knocked over all the plants in one room and has strewn the dirt all over the carpet. When they return, Bill tells Jill that it is her job to clean up after the dog. When she protests, he says that he has put in a full day at the office and is too tired to clean up after the dog. |
| Appeal to Force | "You must believe that God exists. After all, if you do not accept the existence of God, then you will face the horrors of hell." |
| Ad Hominem(argument toward man) | "Why should we think a candidate who recently divorced will keep her campaign promises? |
| Ad Misericordium (appeal to pity) | "I did not murder my mother and father with an axe! Please don't find me guilty; I'm suffering enough through being an orphan." |
| Argument Ad Populum (argument toward the people)/Bandwagon | "I read the other day that most people really like the new gun control laws. I was sort of suspicious of them, but I guess if most people like them, then they must be okay." |
| Bandwagon | Paris Hilton carries a small dog in her purse, so you should buy a hairless Chihuahua and put it in your Louis Vuitton. |
| Begging the Question | His lies are evident from the untruthful nature of his statements. |
| Complex Question | "Do you support freedom and the right to bear arms?" |
| Dicto Simpliciter (unqualified generalizations) | "Exercise is good. Therefore everybody should exercise." |
| Labored Hypothesis | "We admit that this measure is popular. But we also urge you to note that there are so many bond issues on this ballot that the whole thing is getting ridiculous." |
| Synactic Ambiguity | Flying planes can be dangerous. |
| Transfer | In a commercial, a man with bulging muscles is seen working out on the new "Gutwrencher" exercise machine. The announcer says, " Tone up your muscles in two weeks!" |
| Tu Quoque ("You, too!") | How can you tell me not to experiment with drugs when you did the same thing as a teenager? |
