Difference between revisions of "Common fallacies"

Revision as of 18:40, January 17, 2009

Common fallacies are arguments that have a logical fallacy inherent in them, yet are still commonly accepted by people who:

have difficulties with abstract thinking
are young students, or are adults unwilling to reconsider opinions they formed as students
exercise their free will to embrace fallacies without concern for whether they are flawed

Examples of common fallacies are:

a theory should be accepted until a better alternative is found
rates of recession, decay or growth observed today are somehow constant for extrapolation backwards in time
higher taxes must produce more revenue for the government
fewer guns must reduce the rate of crime
choice is somehow meaningful regardless of whether it is informed
human thought can answer any question
loaded questions: embodies an assumption that, if answered, indicates an implied agreement. (e.g., Have you stopped beating your wife yet?)

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 *human thought can answer any question
 *loaded questions: embodies an assumption that, if answered, indicates an implied agreement. (e.g., Have you stopped beating your wife yet?)
-*Ad Hominem: arguments that focus on irrelevant personal attributes of an opponent, hoping to divert attention from the issue being discussed or the content of an opponents argument.
-*Guilt By Association: hoping to discredit a person by associating them with generally disliked persons who also hold their views, or rejecting an idea because a generally disliked person accepts it.
-*The Hitler Card: A version of Guilt by Association where an idea is considered false because Hitler believed it, or a person is discredited because Hitler had a view in common with them.
 (please add and improve)
 http://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Common_fallacies&action=edit
 [[Category:Logical Fallacies]]