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Logical Fallacies

Strawman, ad hominem, whataboutism, slippery slope — the named bad-reasoning patterns you'll see in every comment thread, debate, and family dinner argument.

15 entries

Level

Core

Common

All

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Logical Fallacies

Ad Hominem

Attacking the person making an argument instead of the argument itself.

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Logical Fallacies

Appeal to Authority

Treating a claim as proven because an authority figure endorses it — fallacious only when the authority is irrelevant, biased, or wrong.

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Logical Fallacies

Begging the Question

Assuming the truth of the very thing you're trying to prove — circular reasoning.

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Logical Fallacies

Cherry-Picking

Selecting only the evidence that supports your case while ignoring the evidence that doesn't.

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Logical Fallacies

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to search for, interpret, and remember information that confirms what you already believe — and ignore the rest.

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Logical Fallacies

False Dichotomy

Presenting an issue as having only two options when in fact more exist — also called false dilemma or 'black-and-white' thinking.

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Logical Fallacies

No True Scotsman

Defending a generalization against a counterexample by redefining the category to exclude the counterexample — 'no true X would do that.'

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Logical Fallacies

Non Sequitur

A statement, conclusion, or response that doesn't follow logically from what came before.

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Logical Fallacies

Red Herring

An irrelevant point introduced into an argument or story to distract from the main issue.

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Logical Fallacies

Slippery Slope

Arguing that one small step inevitably leads to a chain of worse consequences, without showing the steps actually connect.

concept

Logical Fallacies

Strawman

Misrepresenting someone's argument as a weaker, easier-to-attack version of itself, then defeating that version instead of the actual claim.

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Logical Fallacies

Sunk Cost Fallacy

Continuing with something because of money, time, or effort already spent — even when the rational move is to cut your losses.

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Logical Fallacies

Survivorship Bias

Drawing lessons from only the visible winners while ignoring the (often much larger) hidden population of losers.

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Logical Fallacies

The Dunning-Kruger Effect

The cognitive bias by which people with low ability in a field overestimate their competence, while genuine experts tend to underestimate theirs.

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Logical Fallacies

Whataboutism

Responding to a criticism by pointing at someone else's bad behavior instead of addressing the criticism itself.