“I know I missed assignments, but if you fail me, I will lose my financial aid and have to drop out.” Trying to evoke an emotional reaction that will cause the audience to behave sympathetically even if it means disregarding the issue at hand. If you elect Elizabeth Smith as president, we will be attacked by terrorists.” “Without this additional insurance, you could find yourself broke and homeless.” OR “Elizabeth Smith doesn’t understand foreign policy. Using scare tactics emphasizing threats or exaggerating possible dangers. See below for the most common fallacies that misuse appeals to pathos, or emotion. His position is that we should let down our defenses and just trust our enemies not to attack us!” “Senator Smith says we should cut back the Defense budget. Pretending to criticize an opponent’s position but actually misrepresenting his or her view as simpler and/or more extreme than it is and therefore easier to refute than the original or actual position unfairly undermines the credibility of claim, if not the source of claim. “My opponent says I am weak on crime, but I have been one of the most reliable participants in city council meetings.”

Therefore she is a member of a sorority.” OR “I hear the rain falling outside my window therefore, the sun is not shining.”Īvoiding the real issue or a tough question by introducing an unrelated topic as a distraction sometimes called a red herring. “If she is a Radford student, she is a member of a sorority. Latin for “does not follow” the conclusion cannot be inferred from the premises because there is a break in the logical connection between a claim and the premises that are meant to support it, either because a premise is untrue (or missing) or because the relationship between premises does not support the deduction stated in the claim. That is proof that vaccines are to blame.” OR “It rained just before the car died. “My child was diagnosed with autism after receiving vaccinations. Latin phrase meaning “after this, therefore because of this” confuses correlation with causation by concluding that an event preceding a second event must be the cause of that second event. “Either we pass this ordinance or there will be rioting in the streets.” OR ” If you are not with us, you are against us.” Misuse of the either/or argument presenting only two options when other choices exist “This legislation is sinful because it is the wrong thing to do.” “There’s no proof that starting classes later in the day will improve the performance of our high school students therefore, this change in schedule will not work.”Ĭircular argument because the premise is the same as the claim that you are trying to prove. “You can’t prove that extraterrestrials haven’t visited earth, so it is reasonable to believe that they have visited earth.”Ĭonfusing absence of evidence with evidence of absence assumes that if you cannot now prove something exists, then it is shown that it doesn’t exist.

Teenagers are so irresponsible and destructive.”Īrguing along the lines that if an opponent can’t prove something isn’t the case, then it is reasonable to believe that it is the case transfers the burden of proof away from the person making the claim (the proponent). Indian Americans must all be great spellers!” Example 2: “Some teenagers in our community recently vandalized the park downtown. Jumping to conclusions based upon an unrepresentative sample or insufficient evidence.Įxample 1: “10 of the last 14 National Spelling Bee Champions have been Indian American.

First are some fallacies that misuse appeals to logos or attempt to manipulate the logic of an argument: Fallacies related to logos Fallacy Read each common fallacy carefully, then try to come up with your own example of that fallacy. You can view the transcript for “Evaluating an Argument” here (opens in new window). You will find a more detailed explanation of each fallacy in the chart below with a description and example. As you watch the video, take notes about the types of fallacies. This videos walks you through techniques for evaluating an argument and looks at some common fallacies.

Red herring fallacy your fallacy is