This collection of logical fallacies is taken from "The Harper Collins Dictionary of Philosophy," 2nd Edition, ISBN 0-06-461026-8 (paperback) which contains "In-Depth Explanations and Examples Covering Over 3,000 entries."

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1. Black and White fallacy,

arguing

1. with the use of sharp (black and white) distinctions despite any factual or theoretical support for them, or
2. by classifying any middle point between extremes (black and white) as one of the extremes. Examples: "If he is not an atheist then he is a decent person." "He is either a conservative or a liberal." "He must not be peace loving, since he participated in picketing the American embassy.'

2. fallacy of argumentum baculinum (the Latin translates as argument according to the stick or argument by means of the rod),

arguing to support the acceptance of an argument by means of a threat, or use of force. When reasoning is replaced by force, the result is termination of logical argumentation, and other kinds of behavior are elicited, such as fear, anger, and reciprocal use of force.

3. fallacy of argumentum ad hominem (the Latin translates as argument against the man),

arguing against a person, or rejecting a person's views by attacking or abusing his or her personality, character, motives, intentions, qualifications, etc., as opposed to providing evidence why the views are incorrect. Example: "What John said should bot be believed because he was a Nazi sympathizer."

4. fallacy of argumentum ad ignorantium (the Latin translates literally as argument to ignorance, but is better translated as argument from ignorance),

1. spirits exist since no one has as yet proved that there are none:
2. spirits do not exist since no one has as yet proved their existence. Also called the appeal to ignorance: the lack of evidence (proof) for something is used to support its truth.

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5. fallacy of argumentum ad misericordium, (the Latin translates as argument to pity)

arguing by appeal to pity in order to have some point accepted. Example: "I've got to have at least a B in this course, Professor Wodehouse. If I don't, I won't have a chance of getting into medical school." Also called the appeal to pity.

6. fallacy of argumentum ad personam (the Latin translates as argument to personal interest)

arguing by appealing to the personal likes (preferences, prejudices, predispositions, etc.) of others in order to have an argument accepted.

7. fallacy of argumentum ad populum (the Latin translates as argument to the people)

also called appeal to the gallery, appeal to the majority, appeal to what is popular, appeal to popular prejudice, appeal to the multitude, and appeal to mob instinct; arguing in order to arouse an emotional, popular acceptance of an idea without presenting a logical justification of the idea. An appeal is made to such things as biases, prejudices, feelings, enthusiasms, and attitudes of the multitude in order to evoke assent rather than to rationally support the idea.

8. fallacy of argumentum ad verecundiam (the Latin translates as argument to authority or to veneration)

1. appealing to authority (including customs, tradition, institutions, etc.) in order to gain acceptance of a point at issue and/or
2. appealing to the feelings of reverence or respect we have for those in authority, or who are famous. Example: "I believe that the statement ;You cannot legislate morality; is true, because President Dwight Eisenhower said it."

9. fallacy of accent, sometimes classified as an ambiguity of accent,

arguing to conclusions from undue emphasis (accent, tone) on certain words or statements. Classified as a fallacy of ambiguity whenever this emphasis creates an ambiguity or AMPHIBOLY in the words or statements used in the argument. Example: "The queen cannot but be praised."

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10. fallacy of accident, also called by its Latin name a dicto simpliciter ad dictum secundum quid (freely translates as from a general truth to a particular case regardless of the qualifications of the latter)

1. applying a general rule or principle to a particular instance whose circumstances by accident do not allow proper applications of that generalization. Example: "It is a general truth that no one should lie. Therefore, no one should lie when a murderer at the point of a knife asks you for information you know would lead to a further murder."
2. the error in argumentation of applying a general statement to a situation to which it cannot be applied and was not necessarily intended to be applied.

11. fallacy of ambiguity

an argument that has at least one ambiguous word or statement from which a misleading or wrong conclusion is drawn.

12. fallacy of amphiboly

arguing to conclusions from statements that are amphibolous - ambiguous because of their syntax (grammatical construction). Sometimes classified as a fallacy of ambiguity.

13. fallacy of begging the question

1. arriving at a conclusion from statements that themselves are questionable and have to be proved but are assumed true. Example: "The universe has a beginning. Every thing that has a beginning has a beginner. Therefore, the universe has a beginner called God." This assumes (begs the question) that the universe does indeed have a beginning and also that all things that have a beginning have a beginner.
2. assuming the conclusion or part of the conclusion in the premises of an argument, sometimes called circular reasoning, vicious circularity or vicious circle fallacy. Example: "Everything has a cause. The universe is a thing. Therefore, the universe is a thing that has a cause." See PETITIO PRINCIPIL.
3. arguing in a circle - one statement is supported by reference to another statement, which statement itself is supported by reference to the first statement. Example: "Aristocracy is the best form of government because the best form of government is that which has strong aristocratic leadership."

14. fallacy of complex question of loaded question

1. asking questions for which either a yes or a now answer will incriminate the respondent. The desired answer is already tacitly assumed in the question, and no qualification of the simple answer is allowed. Example: "Have you discontinued the use of opiates?"
2. asking questions that are based on unstated attitudes or questionable (or unjustified) assumptions. These questions are often asked rhetorically of the respondent in such a way as to elicit an agreement with those attitudes or assumptions from others. Example: "How long are you going to put up with this brutality?"

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15. fallacy of composition arguing

1. that what is true of each part of a whole is also (necessarily) true of the whole itself, or
2. that what is true of some parts of a whole is also (necessarily) true of the whole itself. Example: "Each member (or some members) of the team is (or are) married; therefore, the team also has (must have) w wife." Inferring that a collection has certain characteristics merely on the basis that its parts have them proceeds erroneously from regarding the collection DISTRIBUTIVELY to regarding it COLLECTIVELY.

16. fallacy of consensus gentium (the Latin translates literally as unanimity of the nations, freely as widespread agreement)

arguing that an idea is true on the basis
1. that the majority of people believe it and/or
2. that it has been universally held by all men at all times. Example: "God exists because all cultures have had some concept of a God."

17. fallacy of converse accident sometimes called converse fallacy of accident (also called by its Latin name a dicto secundum quid ad dictum simpliciter, freely translated as from a particular truth as if it were generally valid)

the error of generalizing from atypical or exceptional instances. Example: "A drink of warm brandy each night helps older people relax and sleep better. People in general ought to drink warm brandy to relieve their tension and sleep better." See fallacy of accident, number 10 above.

18. Fallacy of division

arguing that what is true of a whole is
1. also (necessarily) true of its parts and/or
2. also true of some of its parts. Example: "The community of Pacific Palisades is extremely wealthy. Therefore, every person living there is (must be) extremely wealthy (or therefore Adam, who lives there, is [must be] extremely wealthy )." Inferring that the parts of a collection have certain characteristics merely on the basis that their collection has them erroneously proceeds from regarding the collection collectively to regarding it distributively.

19. fallacy of equivocation

an argument in which a word is used with one meaning (or sense) in one part of the argument and with another meaning in another part. A common example: "The end of a thing is its perfection; death is the end of life; hence, death is the perfection of life."

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20. fallacy of non causa pro causa (the Latin may be translated as there is no cause of the sort that has been given as the cause)

1. believing that something is the cause of an effect when in reality it is not. Example: "My incantations caused rain to fall."
2. arguing so that a statement appears unacceptable because it implies another statement that is false (but in reality is not).

21. fallacy of post hoc ergo propter hoc (the Latin may be translated as after this therefore the consequence [effect] of this, or after this therefore because of this) sometimes called fallacy of false cause,

concluding that one thing is the cause of another thing because it precedes it in time. This is a confusion between the concept of succession and that of causation. Example: "A black cat ran across my path. Ten minutes later I was hit by a truck. Therefore, the cat's running across my path was the cause of my being hit by a truck."

22. fallacy of hasty generalization sometimes called fallacy of hasty induction

an error of reasoning whereby a general statement is asserted (inferred) based on
1. limited information, or
2. inadequate evidence, or (c) an unrepresentative sampling.

23. fallacy of ignoratio elenchi (the Latin translates literally as ignorance of the refutation), also called irrelevant conclusion,

an argument that is irrelevant; that argues for something other than that which is to be proved and thereby in no way refutes (or supports) the points at issue. Example: A lawyer in defending his alcoholic client who has murdered three people in a drunken spree argues that alcoholism is a terrible disease, and attempts should be made to eliminate it. IGNORATIO ELENCHI is sometimes used as a general designation for all fallacies that are based on irrelevancy (such as ad baculinum, ad hominem, ad misericordiam, and populum, ad verecundiam, and consensus gentium).

24. fallacy of inconsistency

arguing from inconsistent statements, or to conclusions that are inconsistent with the premises. See fallacy of tu quoque, number 36 below.

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25. Fallacy of irrelevant purpose

arguing against something on the basis that it has not fulfilled its purpose (although in fact that was not its intended purpose).

26. fallacy of is-to-ought

arguing from premises that have only descriptive statements (is) to a conclusion that contains an ought or a should. See IS/OUGHT DICHOTOMY.

27. fallacy of limited (or false) alternatives

the error of insisting without full inquiry or evidence that the alternatives to a course of action have been exhausted and/or are mutually exclusive.

28. fallacy of many questions sometives called fallacy of the false question

asking a question for which a single and simple answer is demanded, yet the question

1. requires a series of answers and/or
2. requires answers to a host of other questions, each of which should be answered separately. Example: "Have you left school?"

29. fallacy of misleading context

arguing by misrepresenting, distorting, omitting, or quoting something out of context.

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30. fallacy of prejudice

arguing from a bias or emotional identification or involvement with an idea (argument, doctrine, institution, etc.).

31. fallacy of red herring

ignoring a criticism of an argument by shifting attention to another subject. Example: "You believe in abortion, yet you don't believe in the right-to-die-with-dignity bill before the legislature."

32. fallacy of slanting

deliberately omitting, deemphasizing, or overemphasizing certain points to the exclusion of others in order to hide evidence that is important and relevant to the conclusion of an argument and that should be taken into account in an argument.

33. fallacy of special pleading

1. accepting an idea or criticism when applied to an opponent's argument but rejecting it when applied to one's own argument, or
2. rejecting an idea or criticism when applied to an opponent's argument but accepting it when applied to one's own.

34. fallacy of straw man

presenting an opponent's position as weak or misrepresented a version as possible so that it can easily be refuted. Example: "Darwinism is in error. It claims that we are all descendants from an apelike creature, from which we evolved according to natural selection. No evidence of such a creature has been found. No adequate and consistent explanation of natural selection has been given. Therefore, evolution according to Darwinism has not taken place."

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35. fallacy of the beard arguing

1. that small or minor difference do not (or cannot) make a difference, or are not (or cannot be) significant, or
2. arguing so as to find a definite point at which something can be named. For example, insisting that a few hairs lost here and there do not indicate anything significant about my impending baldness; or trying to determine how many hairs a person must have before he can be called bald (or not bald).

36. fallacy of tu quoque (the Latin translates as you also)

1. presenting evidence that a person's actions are not consistent with that for which he is arguing. Example: "John preaches that we should be kind and loving, He doesn't practice it. I've seen him beat up his kids."
2. showing that a person's views are inconsistent with what he or she previously believed and therefore
   1. that person is not be be trusted, and/or
   2. that person's new view is to be rejected. Example: "Judge Egener was against marijuana legislation four years ago when he was running for office. Now he is for it. How can you trust a man who has changed his mind on such an important issue? His present position is inconsistent with his earlier view and therefore should not be accepted."
3. sometimes related to the fallacy of two wrongs make a right. Example: The Democrats for years used illegal wiretapping; therefore; the Republicans should not be condemned for illegal wiretapping.

37. fallacy of unqualified source

using as support in an argument a source of authority that is not qualified to provide evidence.

38. gambler's fallacy

1. arguing that since for example, a penny has come up tails ten times in a row then it will come up heads the eleventh time or
2. arguing that since, for example, an airline has not had an accidnt for the past ten years, it is then soon due for an accident. The gambler's fallacy rejects the assumption in probability theory that each event is independent of its previous happening. The chances of an event happening are always the same no matter how many times that event has taken place in the past. Given those events happening over a long enough period of time, then their frequency would average out to 1/2. See entries under PROBABILITY. The gambler's fallacy is sometimes referred to as the Monte Carlo fallacy (a generalized form of the gambler's fallacy): the error of assuming tht because something has happened less frequently than expected in the past, there is an increased chance that if will happen soon.

39. genetic fallacy

1. arguing that the origin of something is identical with that from which it originates. Example: "Consciousness originates in neural processes. Therefore, consciousness is (nothing but) neural processes." Sometimes referred to as the nothing-but fallacy, or the REDUCTIVE FALLACY.
2. appraising or explaining something be rejected because its origins are known and/or are suspicious.

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40. pragmatic fallacy

arguing that something is true because it has practical effects on people: it makes them happier, easier to deal with, more moral, loyal, stable. Example: "An immortal life exists because without such a concept men would have nothing to live for. There would be no meaning or purpose in life and everyone would be immoral."