| A | B |
|---|
| fact | a thing that has actually happened or that is really true |
| judgment | an opinion about something’s value |
| prediction | a statement made about the future |
| statement of obligation | a statement that tells not how things are but how someone feels they should be |
| generalization | broad statements based upon particular facts |
| overgeneralization | harmless exaggeration used to express personal feelings |
| stereotype | an entire group--separated out by religion, ethnicity, economic status, or nationality—is wrongly identified as sharing certain characteristics or being responsible for some particular event |
| fallacy | a mistake or error in reasoning |
| single cause fallacy | whenever an event that has several causes is mistakenly described as having only one cause |
| post hoc, ergo propter hoc | when someone assumes that one event was caused by another simply because two events were close to one another in time |
| either/or fallacy | giving the impression that there are only two alternatives or groups when there are actually more |
| false analogy | assuming two things are similar when they are not |
| circular reasoning | an attempt to prove a statement by repeating it in other words |
| stacking | when someone ignores facts that contradict the position he or she wants to prove |
| equivocation | the error of taking unfair advantage of the multiple meanings of words |
| ad hominem | irrelevant personal attack that leads the discussion off track and tries to undermine the opposition |
| bandwagon | (ad populum) pressuring people to adopt some belief or to take some action simply in order to conform |
| snob appeal | influencing people to adopt through selectivity and elitism |
| transfer | the attempt to influence people through their feelings to another unrelated thing |
| red herring | giving bucket loads of facts, none of which truly bear on the conclusion of an argument (an irrelevant distracter) |
| slippery slope | proposing a chain reaction to something undesirable |
| straw man fallacy | when a speaker chooses a deliberately poor or oversimplified example in order to ridicule and refute an opponent’s viewpoint |
| hasty generalization | this occurs when there is not enough evidence to support a particular conclusion |
| appeal to false authority | This occurs when someone who has no expertise on the issue is cited as an authority. |
