Logical Fallacy
The man who invented Western philosophy, Aristotle, considered ignoratio elenchi, which roughly translates to "irrelevant thesis," an umbrella term that covered all other logical fallacies. Indeed, most of the other fallacies on this list could be categorized as subsets of the irrelevant thesis. Formally,ignoratio elenchi refers to any rebuttal that fails to address the central argument.
This happens with almost every single question during a formal political debate. For example, at a televised debate between presidential candidates, the mediator might ask, "If you become president, what would you do about the rising unemployment numbers?" to which the candidate might reply, "I'm glad you asked, because unemployment is the greatest problem facing this nation yadda yadda yadda, and my opponent's plan to deal with the problem is completely insufficient." Notice, in this example, how the candidate dodged the question entirely. He made an argument, but it didn't answer the mediator's concerns and was thus an irrelevant thesis.
Another example of ignoratio elenchi is the "two wrongs make a right" fallacy, which was recently used to great effect by the Democrats during the final stages of the healthcare debate. When asked if he thought using the reconciliation strategy to pass the healthcare bill with a simple majority vote was the right thing to do, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid--after claiming that nobody was talking about it (a logical fallacy known as the incorrect statement)--Reid released a statement detailing how many times the Republicans have used the reconciliation strategy over the last decade. Like the example above, Reid made an argument, but it was an irrelevant one that said nothing about how right or wrong the strategy is.
This kind of thing happens in cycles, because the majority party is always changing hands. When the minority party is called childish for filibustering a judicial nominee or something, for instance, they always come back with something along the lines of "You guys did the same thing a few years back, nanny nanny boo boo!" This is, of course, a meaningless argument, even though it is usually true. Even if your opponent shot somebody and got away with it, it doesn't mean you can do the same thing.
Argumentum ad hypocriticum
An ad hominum argument is a fallacious argument that attacks a party rather than addressing that party's concerns. It's a very dismissive form of argument, but a surprisingly effective one.
In politics, it can be found on the first page--nay, the first few words--of every politician's playbook. Why debate the pros and cons of Keynesian economics when you can just call your opponent a socialist and get a cheer from the conservatives in the audience? There are lots of words that get thrown around in political ad hominum arguments, leading to the common charge of "name-calling" and "mud-slinging": racist, nazi, hippy, teabagger, anti-christ, etc. Granted, your opponent may very well be a bigotted, warmongering, idiotic sleezebag, but unfortunately, it doesn't mean he's wrong.
A pretty common ad hominum argument in politics uses the tu quoque fallacy. If a person, usually a Republican, assumes a moral position about the benefits of family, faith, sobriety, and traditional marriage but is then caught smoking crack in a truck-stop gas station with three transsexual prostitutes and a spider monkey, people are quick to make judgments about that person's political positions. Here's the thing: if Einstein were caught practicing witchcraft, it wouldn't invalidate his theory of relativity. As another example, just because Hillary Clinton makes a racist joke about Ghandi running a New York gas station, it doesn't mean that Ghandi didn't, in fact, run a gas station.
The Straw Man
The straw man never has a brain
The straw man is a very simple, albeit potent, form of illogic. This is when someone misrepresents their opponent's position, as though they were arguing a man made of straw that they just happened to create right then and there. Yeah, it's a sloppy analogy.
This is everywhere in politics. For example, right after President Bush took office in 2001, he pushed for a new testing system for schools, and then argued that everybody opposed to that system was disinterested in holding schools accountable for their failures. This simply wasn't true, as there were plenty of alternatives offered by his political opponents. President Bush, though, routinely used straw man arguments in his speeches, usually by painting his opposition with weasel words like "some say" and "there are those that think."
More recently, President Obama has done the same thing. Going back to the healthcare debate, President Obama has said on multiple occasions that those opposed to his healthcare initiative want to keep the status quo, despite the wealth of ideas that have come from his opposition to change healthcare. This is a pretty common tactic used by the majority against the minority, because it tells a narrative whereby the minority party is obstructionistic for no good reason and should be ignored.
This can also be found in the Michael Moore/Glenn Beck school of documentary journalism, where quotes are strategically recontextualized to seem far more sinister than they are and altered to appear to make points that were never intended by the original speaker. This makes debating people easy, because you can rebutt crazy arguments that you just created for your opponents out of thin air.
Slippery Slope
Okay, this one is a bit confusing, because it isn't always a logical fallacy. The slippery slope is an analogy used to describe any argument that presupposes that if one small step is taken in a particular direction, it will inevitably lead to a more extreme outcome. For example, it is common wisdom that, once you start drinking alone, you're destined to die naked in a gutter with a liver made of pure grain alcohol. It might be true, but it's not necessarily true, and is thus a logical fallacy.
However, if you can be absolutely sure of each step in a chain of events that will inevitably come true--like so many dominos--you can make a slippery slope argument that is factual. For example, if you swallow a cyanide pill, it will start a series of events that will culminate in your death. Still, this kind of slippery slope argument is incredibly rare, due to the chaotic uncertainty that defines the future.
When it comes to politics, you see this kind of argument fairly often, but it usually comes from everyday people instead of political leaders. A common one that's been going around for a few years now is about gay marriage. Those opposed to gay marriage usually argue against it with a statement that begins with "Once we legalize gay marriage..." These go from silly prophesies about the loss of morals in our now Godless society to the absolutely ridiculous notion (which I've heard more than once, frighteningly enough) that once gays can marry each other, the human race will come to an end because we won't be able to breed anymore, as if legalizing gay marriage were the same as forcing all people to only have sex with people of their own gender.
Association Fallacy
People are surprisingly up-front with this logical fallacy, especially in politics. They come right out and ask, "Yeah, but why does he hold that position?" There are plenty of people willing to imply that many politicians are involved in plans to thwart the American system or gain absolute power or enact Big Brother or whatever, because if we can question a politician's motives, we don't have to pay attention to what they are actually saying.
A corollary to this is the association fallacy, better known as guilt by association. The Republicans are big on this, as when they recently tried to make Barack Obama out to be an extremist because he is associated with Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers. If a person knows somebody with extreme views, the implication goes, then that person must be an extremist as well. This is obviously fallacious, and yet people fall for it all the time. Both sides often do it when it comes to protests, when they start talking about who funds them or "is behind" them, because it is far easier to talk about that than it is to actually confront the issue being protested.
The argumentum ad populum is a fairly specific logical fallacy that assumes that if a majority of people hold a certain belief, that belief must be true. This may seem laughable at first glance, but it's an argument that is constantly being implied by news media of all types. Whenever a reporter, anchorman, or writer starts discussing poll numbers, the common implication is that whatever most people believe must be the truth. Granted, this isn't always the case; sometimes poll numbers will be discussed in terms of who is likely to be elected.
However, we have had political leaders who treat polling statistics as gospel, leaders who change their positions on the basis of poll numbers alone. You could argue that they do this because they want to get re-elected, but then people get mad whenever a politician goes against the majority opinion of his or her constituents, as we recently saw with the healthcare initiative. Just because a majority of people believe something to be wrong, it doesn't mean that it is.
This is a representative democracy, not a true democracy, which means that we elect our leaders to make the difficult choices. The most popular course isn't always the right course, and thus going against the majority view may sometimes be the right thing to do.
Whenever a politician appeals to your fears, insecurities, or paranoia, he or she is demonstrating the logical fallacy of the argumentum ad metum. This one is a combination of a bunch of the above fallacies, as it can be an irrelevant thesis, an unfalsifiable hypothesis, an appeal to motive, and a slippery slope straw man argument, as in the example, "If we don't do X, the terrorists win."
This is a common tactic throughout politics. Republicans want you to be afraid of socialism, terrorism, and a world on the verge of World War III. Democrats want you to be afraid of a global warming apocalypse, racism run amok, and Republicans. While all of these fears can in one way or another be justified, there shouldn't be any need to appeal to them when making an argument. President Bush didn't have to invoke the image of a mushroom cloud on American soil to explain the invasion of Iraq, and President Obama didn't have to invoke the image of poor mothers dying of starvation in the streets to sell his healthcare initiative.
It's a particularly sleezy way to make a point, and it is fallacious in multiple ways. Still, it is dramatic and effective, and thus all politicians and pundits use the argumentum ad metum on a regular basis. It works because it is an "us vs. them" form of argument, and it bypasses a certain degree of critical thinking by playing to people's emotions. Whenever you allow an argument like this to work on you, you bring the country one step closer to a bloody civil war.
Do you ever get the feeling you've heard the same argument a hundred times before? Does it amaze you that most politicians will make the same points again and again, even if those points have been roundly rebuked and discredited? This doesn't faze a politician or pundit, because they live by the argumentum ad nauseam, the rhetorical school of thought whereby if something is repeated often enough, people will come to believe it.
The very existence of talking points and campaign slogans is evidence that the argumentum ad nauseam has been with us for far longer than any of us have been alive. It is perhaps more annoying today than it has ever been, because people who follow politics now have access to the Internet, where they can find nearly every side to every political argument. When these arguments develop at a snail's pace--if at all--you get the feeling that politics never really change.
TAKEN FROM: OpenSalon.com
Logical Fallacies-Samples Avoiding Logical Fallacies Logical fallacies are mistakes in reasoning. They may be intentional or unintentional, but in either case they undermine the strength of an argument. Some common fallacies are defined below. Please familiarize yourselves with them so that you can help writers to avoid them.
1) Hasty Generalization: A generalization based on too little evidence, or on evidence that is biased. Example: All men are testosterone-driven idiots.Or: After being in New York for a week, I can tell you: all New Yorkers are rude.
2) Either/Or Fallacy: Only two possibilities are presented when in fact several exist. Example: America: love it or leave it. Or: Shut down all nuclear power plants, or watch your children and grandchildren die from radiation poisoning.
3) Non Sequitur: The conclusion does not follow logically from the premise. Example: My teacher is pretty; I'll learn a lot from her. Or: George Bush was a war hero; he'll be willing to stand tough for America. Or, he's Christian, so of course he'll do the right thing.
4) Ad Hominem: Arguing against the man instead of against the issue. Example: We can't elect him mayor. He cheats on his wife! Or: He doesn't really believe in the first amendment. He just wants to defend his right to see porno flicks.
5) Red Herring: Distracting the audience by drawing attention to an irrelevant issue. Example: How can he be expected to manage the company? Look at how he manages his wife! Or: Why worry about nuclear war when we're all going to die anyway?
6) Circular Reasoning: Asserting a point that has just been made. Sometimes called "begging the question." Example: She is ignorant because she was never educated. Or: We sin because we're sinners.
7) False Analogy: Wrongly assuming that because two things are alike in some ways, they must be alike in all ways. Example: An old grandmother's advice to her granddaughter, who is contemplating living with her boyfriend: "Why should he buy the cow when he can get the milk for free?"
8) Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc: The mistake of assuming that, because event a is followed by event b, event a caused event b. Example: It rained today because I washed my car. Or: The stock market fell because the Japanese are considering implementing an import tax.
9) Equivocation: Equates two meanings of the same word falsely. Example: The end of a thing is its perfection; hence, death is the perfection of life.(The argument is fallacious because there are two different definitions of the word "end" involved in the argument.)
Dogmatism
The unwillingness to even consider the opponent’s argument. The assumption that even when many, perhaps millions, of other people believe otherwise, only you can be correct. This is closely related to the Either/Or fallacy as it’s based on the usually false assumption that competing theories or perspectives cannot co-exist within single systems. The assumption that those who disagree with you are “biased”, while you are “objective”.
More broadly, the over application of a theory at the expense of discussing the actual issue, specific incidence or evidence at hand; the assertion that one’s position is so correct that one should not even examine the evidence to the contrary. For example, the assumption that the economic theory of capitalism explains moral choices; or the assumption that socialism is morally wrong, even though you attend a public university; the assumption that welfare is wrong and all those who partake in it are lazy (even though you accept federal financial aid or would accept state aid in the case of a catastrophic accident or injury); the argument that drugs are morally wrong and drug addicts should all be locked up or even executed (although you drink alcohol and coffee and take Ritalin and your grandmother uses anti-depressants and you are grateful your alcoholic uncle was cured via AA); the assumption that all animals should be treated humanely (although you respect indigenous cultures that subsist on seal meat); the assumption that because nature is holy, all logging is morally wrong; the assumption that democratic republics are the best form of government for all people; and on and on and on….
Scare Tactics
To reduce complicated issues to simple threats or to exaggerate a possible danger well beyond its actual likelihood.
Example: Because of the possibility of a terrorist hijacking or a mechanical failure, flying on a plane is too dangerous and should be avoided altogether.
Example: Because of the possibility of poisoning of Halloween candy by some people who give it out to trick-or-treaters, communities should ban trick-or-treating.
http://www.uwec.edu/ranowlan/logical%20fallacies.html
This happens with almost every single question during a formal political debate. For example, at a televised debate between presidential candidates, the mediator might ask, "If you become president, what would you do about the rising unemployment numbers?" to which the candidate might reply, "I'm glad you asked, because unemployment is the greatest problem facing this nation yadda yadda yadda, and my opponent's plan to deal with the problem is completely insufficient." Notice, in this example, how the candidate dodged the question entirely. He made an argument, but it didn't answer the mediator's concerns and was thus an irrelevant thesis.
Another example of ignoratio elenchi is the "two wrongs make a right" fallacy, which was recently used to great effect by the Democrats during the final stages of the healthcare debate. When asked if he thought using the reconciliation strategy to pass the healthcare bill with a simple majority vote was the right thing to do, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid--after claiming that nobody was talking about it (a logical fallacy known as the incorrect statement)--Reid released a statement detailing how many times the Republicans have used the reconciliation strategy over the last decade. Like the example above, Reid made an argument, but it was an irrelevant one that said nothing about how right or wrong the strategy is.
This kind of thing happens in cycles, because the majority party is always changing hands. When the minority party is called childish for filibustering a judicial nominee or something, for instance, they always come back with something along the lines of "You guys did the same thing a few years back, nanny nanny boo boo!" This is, of course, a meaningless argument, even though it is usually true. Even if your opponent shot somebody and got away with it, it doesn't mean you can do the same thing.
Argumentum ad hypocriticum
An ad hominum argument is a fallacious argument that attacks a party rather than addressing that party's concerns. It's a very dismissive form of argument, but a surprisingly effective one.
In politics, it can be found on the first page--nay, the first few words--of every politician's playbook. Why debate the pros and cons of Keynesian economics when you can just call your opponent a socialist and get a cheer from the conservatives in the audience? There are lots of words that get thrown around in political ad hominum arguments, leading to the common charge of "name-calling" and "mud-slinging": racist, nazi, hippy, teabagger, anti-christ, etc. Granted, your opponent may very well be a bigotted, warmongering, idiotic sleezebag, but unfortunately, it doesn't mean he's wrong.
A pretty common ad hominum argument in politics uses the tu quoque fallacy. If a person, usually a Republican, assumes a moral position about the benefits of family, faith, sobriety, and traditional marriage but is then caught smoking crack in a truck-stop gas station with three transsexual prostitutes and a spider monkey, people are quick to make judgments about that person's political positions. Here's the thing: if Einstein were caught practicing witchcraft, it wouldn't invalidate his theory of relativity. As another example, just because Hillary Clinton makes a racist joke about Ghandi running a New York gas station, it doesn't mean that Ghandi didn't, in fact, run a gas station.
The Straw Man
The straw man never has a brain
The straw man is a very simple, albeit potent, form of illogic. This is when someone misrepresents their opponent's position, as though they were arguing a man made of straw that they just happened to create right then and there. Yeah, it's a sloppy analogy.
This is everywhere in politics. For example, right after President Bush took office in 2001, he pushed for a new testing system for schools, and then argued that everybody opposed to that system was disinterested in holding schools accountable for their failures. This simply wasn't true, as there were plenty of alternatives offered by his political opponents. President Bush, though, routinely used straw man arguments in his speeches, usually by painting his opposition with weasel words like "some say" and "there are those that think."
More recently, President Obama has done the same thing. Going back to the healthcare debate, President Obama has said on multiple occasions that those opposed to his healthcare initiative want to keep the status quo, despite the wealth of ideas that have come from his opposition to change healthcare. This is a pretty common tactic used by the majority against the minority, because it tells a narrative whereby the minority party is obstructionistic for no good reason and should be ignored.
This can also be found in the Michael Moore/Glenn Beck school of documentary journalism, where quotes are strategically recontextualized to seem far more sinister than they are and altered to appear to make points that were never intended by the original speaker. This makes debating people easy, because you can rebutt crazy arguments that you just created for your opponents out of thin air.
Slippery Slope
Okay, this one is a bit confusing, because it isn't always a logical fallacy. The slippery slope is an analogy used to describe any argument that presupposes that if one small step is taken in a particular direction, it will inevitably lead to a more extreme outcome. For example, it is common wisdom that, once you start drinking alone, you're destined to die naked in a gutter with a liver made of pure grain alcohol. It might be true, but it's not necessarily true, and is thus a logical fallacy.
However, if you can be absolutely sure of each step in a chain of events that will inevitably come true--like so many dominos--you can make a slippery slope argument that is factual. For example, if you swallow a cyanide pill, it will start a series of events that will culminate in your death. Still, this kind of slippery slope argument is incredibly rare, due to the chaotic uncertainty that defines the future.
When it comes to politics, you see this kind of argument fairly often, but it usually comes from everyday people instead of political leaders. A common one that's been going around for a few years now is about gay marriage. Those opposed to gay marriage usually argue against it with a statement that begins with "Once we legalize gay marriage..." These go from silly prophesies about the loss of morals in our now Godless society to the absolutely ridiculous notion (which I've heard more than once, frighteningly enough) that once gays can marry each other, the human race will come to an end because we won't be able to breed anymore, as if legalizing gay marriage were the same as forcing all people to only have sex with people of their own gender.
Association Fallacy
People are surprisingly up-front with this logical fallacy, especially in politics. They come right out and ask, "Yeah, but why does he hold that position?" There are plenty of people willing to imply that many politicians are involved in plans to thwart the American system or gain absolute power or enact Big Brother or whatever, because if we can question a politician's motives, we don't have to pay attention to what they are actually saying.
A corollary to this is the association fallacy, better known as guilt by association. The Republicans are big on this, as when they recently tried to make Barack Obama out to be an extremist because he is associated with Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers. If a person knows somebody with extreme views, the implication goes, then that person must be an extremist as well. This is obviously fallacious, and yet people fall for it all the time. Both sides often do it when it comes to protests, when they start talking about who funds them or "is behind" them, because it is far easier to talk about that than it is to actually confront the issue being protested.
The argumentum ad populum is a fairly specific logical fallacy that assumes that if a majority of people hold a certain belief, that belief must be true. This may seem laughable at first glance, but it's an argument that is constantly being implied by news media of all types. Whenever a reporter, anchorman, or writer starts discussing poll numbers, the common implication is that whatever most people believe must be the truth. Granted, this isn't always the case; sometimes poll numbers will be discussed in terms of who is likely to be elected.
However, we have had political leaders who treat polling statistics as gospel, leaders who change their positions on the basis of poll numbers alone. You could argue that they do this because they want to get re-elected, but then people get mad whenever a politician goes against the majority opinion of his or her constituents, as we recently saw with the healthcare initiative. Just because a majority of people believe something to be wrong, it doesn't mean that it is.
This is a representative democracy, not a true democracy, which means that we elect our leaders to make the difficult choices. The most popular course isn't always the right course, and thus going against the majority view may sometimes be the right thing to do.
Whenever a politician appeals to your fears, insecurities, or paranoia, he or she is demonstrating the logical fallacy of the argumentum ad metum. This one is a combination of a bunch of the above fallacies, as it can be an irrelevant thesis, an unfalsifiable hypothesis, an appeal to motive, and a slippery slope straw man argument, as in the example, "If we don't do X, the terrorists win."
This is a common tactic throughout politics. Republicans want you to be afraid of socialism, terrorism, and a world on the verge of World War III. Democrats want you to be afraid of a global warming apocalypse, racism run amok, and Republicans. While all of these fears can in one way or another be justified, there shouldn't be any need to appeal to them when making an argument. President Bush didn't have to invoke the image of a mushroom cloud on American soil to explain the invasion of Iraq, and President Obama didn't have to invoke the image of poor mothers dying of starvation in the streets to sell his healthcare initiative.
It's a particularly sleezy way to make a point, and it is fallacious in multiple ways. Still, it is dramatic and effective, and thus all politicians and pundits use the argumentum ad metum on a regular basis. It works because it is an "us vs. them" form of argument, and it bypasses a certain degree of critical thinking by playing to people's emotions. Whenever you allow an argument like this to work on you, you bring the country one step closer to a bloody civil war.
Do you ever get the feeling you've heard the same argument a hundred times before? Does it amaze you that most politicians will make the same points again and again, even if those points have been roundly rebuked and discredited? This doesn't faze a politician or pundit, because they live by the argumentum ad nauseam, the rhetorical school of thought whereby if something is repeated often enough, people will come to believe it.
The very existence of talking points and campaign slogans is evidence that the argumentum ad nauseam has been with us for far longer than any of us have been alive. It is perhaps more annoying today than it has ever been, because people who follow politics now have access to the Internet, where they can find nearly every side to every political argument. When these arguments develop at a snail's pace--if at all--you get the feeling that politics never really change.
TAKEN FROM: OpenSalon.com
Logical Fallacies-Samples Avoiding Logical Fallacies Logical fallacies are mistakes in reasoning. They may be intentional or unintentional, but in either case they undermine the strength of an argument. Some common fallacies are defined below. Please familiarize yourselves with them so that you can help writers to avoid them.
1) Hasty Generalization: A generalization based on too little evidence, or on evidence that is biased. Example: All men are testosterone-driven idiots.Or: After being in New York for a week, I can tell you: all New Yorkers are rude.
2) Either/Or Fallacy: Only two possibilities are presented when in fact several exist. Example: America: love it or leave it. Or: Shut down all nuclear power plants, or watch your children and grandchildren die from radiation poisoning.
3) Non Sequitur: The conclusion does not follow logically from the premise. Example: My teacher is pretty; I'll learn a lot from her. Or: George Bush was a war hero; he'll be willing to stand tough for America. Or, he's Christian, so of course he'll do the right thing.
4) Ad Hominem: Arguing against the man instead of against the issue. Example: We can't elect him mayor. He cheats on his wife! Or: He doesn't really believe in the first amendment. He just wants to defend his right to see porno flicks.
5) Red Herring: Distracting the audience by drawing attention to an irrelevant issue. Example: How can he be expected to manage the company? Look at how he manages his wife! Or: Why worry about nuclear war when we're all going to die anyway?
6) Circular Reasoning: Asserting a point that has just been made. Sometimes called "begging the question." Example: She is ignorant because she was never educated. Or: We sin because we're sinners.
7) False Analogy: Wrongly assuming that because two things are alike in some ways, they must be alike in all ways. Example: An old grandmother's advice to her granddaughter, who is contemplating living with her boyfriend: "Why should he buy the cow when he can get the milk for free?"
8) Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc: The mistake of assuming that, because event a is followed by event b, event a caused event b. Example: It rained today because I washed my car. Or: The stock market fell because the Japanese are considering implementing an import tax.
9) Equivocation: Equates two meanings of the same word falsely. Example: The end of a thing is its perfection; hence, death is the perfection of life.(The argument is fallacious because there are two different definitions of the word "end" involved in the argument.)
Dogmatism
The unwillingness to even consider the opponent’s argument. The assumption that even when many, perhaps millions, of other people believe otherwise, only you can be correct. This is closely related to the Either/Or fallacy as it’s based on the usually false assumption that competing theories or perspectives cannot co-exist within single systems. The assumption that those who disagree with you are “biased”, while you are “objective”.
More broadly, the over application of a theory at the expense of discussing the actual issue, specific incidence or evidence at hand; the assertion that one’s position is so correct that one should not even examine the evidence to the contrary. For example, the assumption that the economic theory of capitalism explains moral choices; or the assumption that socialism is morally wrong, even though you attend a public university; the assumption that welfare is wrong and all those who partake in it are lazy (even though you accept federal financial aid or would accept state aid in the case of a catastrophic accident or injury); the argument that drugs are morally wrong and drug addicts should all be locked up or even executed (although you drink alcohol and coffee and take Ritalin and your grandmother uses anti-depressants and you are grateful your alcoholic uncle was cured via AA); the assumption that all animals should be treated humanely (although you respect indigenous cultures that subsist on seal meat); the assumption that because nature is holy, all logging is morally wrong; the assumption that democratic republics are the best form of government for all people; and on and on and on….
Scare Tactics
To reduce complicated issues to simple threats or to exaggerate a possible danger well beyond its actual likelihood.
Example: Because of the possibility of a terrorist hijacking or a mechanical failure, flying on a plane is too dangerous and should be avoided altogether.
Example: Because of the possibility of poisoning of Halloween candy by some people who give it out to trick-or-treaters, communities should ban trick-or-treating.
http://www.uwec.edu/ranowlan/logical%20fallacies.html
http://www.flackcheck.org/taking-down-the-worst/2012/moms-would-you-prefer-an-awful-or-terrible-future/ Either/Or
http://www.flackcheck.org/taking-down-the-worst/2012/guilt-by-associa-sheen/ Ad Hominem
http://www.flackcheck.org/taking-down-the-worst/2012/exploring-exaggeration-in-the-best-video-ever/ Exaggeration
http://www.flackcheck.org/taking-down-the-worst/2012/contesting-the-context/ Quoting out of Context/Contextonomy
http://www.flackcheck.org/taking-down-the-worst/2012/when-pictures-dont-tell-the-story/ Contextonomy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjymRN--Ytk&feature=autoplay&list=PLFB4B2C09199599C9&playnext=3 Appeal to Fear
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB3X4iz8jTU&feature=relmfu Ad Hominem-- personal attack
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyM4zPDGBXE Personal Attack
And more for your viewing pleasure....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWsnzZMIXGU&playnext=1&list=PLFB4B2C09199599C9&feature=results_video
http://www.flackcheck.org/taking-down-the-worst/2012/has-pres-obama-abolished-the-work-requirement-in-welfare/
http://www.flackcheck.org/taking-down-the-worst/2012/do-obama-and-romney-agree-on-anything-about-medicare-reform/
http://www.flackcheck.org/taking-down-the-worst/2012/guilt-by-associa-sheen/ Ad Hominem
http://www.flackcheck.org/taking-down-the-worst/2012/exploring-exaggeration-in-the-best-video-ever/ Exaggeration
http://www.flackcheck.org/taking-down-the-worst/2012/contesting-the-context/ Quoting out of Context/Contextonomy
http://www.flackcheck.org/taking-down-the-worst/2012/when-pictures-dont-tell-the-story/ Contextonomy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjymRN--Ytk&feature=autoplay&list=PLFB4B2C09199599C9&playnext=3 Appeal to Fear
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB3X4iz8jTU&feature=relmfu Ad Hominem-- personal attack
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyM4zPDGBXE Personal Attack
And more for your viewing pleasure....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWsnzZMIXGU&playnext=1&list=PLFB4B2C09199599C9&feature=results_video
http://www.flackcheck.org/taking-down-the-worst/2012/has-pres-obama-abolished-the-work-requirement-in-welfare/
http://www.flackcheck.org/taking-down-the-worst/2012/do-obama-and-romney-agree-on-anything-about-medicare-reform/