© Roger M Tagg 2010
Welcome to FROLIO – a new attempt to merge philosophy and the "semantic web" . This website is under continuing development.
This is a comprehensive, but quite readable list of fallacies in arguments, which the reader is invited to either use or have a defence against. It is effectively a more modern follow-up to Schopenhauer and Thouless, going well beyond their limit of 38 tricks. It's all good fun - many of the examples are quite up to date.
Madsen Pirie is an interesting character. He was a founder of the Adam Smith Institute, which campaigns for free market policies. The institute's ideas were keenly taken up by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. However it also recommended the Poll Tax, which led to Thatcher's downfall; although in fact it recommended a gradual 10-year switch rather than the "all-at-once" change that proved so disastrous. However Pirie and the ASI are not totally politically one-sided, and actually awarded the Blair Government 9 out of 10 at one stage. As well as all this, he co-authored the book 'Boost Your IQ'.
In the list below, I've attempted to paraphrase the rather academic (and many Latin) names for the fallacies presented in the book.
Key to Madsen Pirie's Categories (Types)
| FF | The formal fallacies |
| ILF | Informal linguistic fallacies |
| IFRO | Informal fallacies of relevance - omission |
| IFRI | Informal fallacies of relevance - intrusion |
| IFRP | Informal fallacies of relevance - presumption |
| My name for the fallacy (trick) | Classical (or Pirie's) name | Type | Explanation or example | Page |
| Abstract concepts treated as "things" | Reification | ILF | "The ship of state is in stormy waters", or, saying things about "Existence" | 140 |
| Ambiguous statement made deliberately | Amphiboly | ILF | 9 | |
| Ambiguously using words | Equivocation | ILF | "Having due regard for" | 58 |
| Analogy similar in one respect must be similar in others | Analogical fallacy | IFRP | 11 | |
| Analogy to denigrate opponent's knowledge | Abusive analogy | IFRP | "My opponent has no more knowledge about this than a village idiot" | 1 |
| Appeal to dodgy authority | Verecundiam, argumentum ad | IFRI | "The best experts say that ..." | 173 |
| Appeal to pity | Misericordiam, argumentum ad | IFRI | "How would you like .... ?" Appeal to pity, rather than the rights and wrongs of the argument; "poor battlers", "working families", "wives and children" | 109 |
| Assuming principles that support your case | Apriorism | IFRP | 15 | |
| Aunt Sally | Straw man | IFRO | Misrepresenting part of the opponent's argument in order to knock it down | 155 |
| Backing down on a generalization only when forced to | Definitional retreat | IFRO | You can't call Boulogne abroad! | 46 |
| Begging the question | Petitio principii | IFRP | 123 | |
| Blinding with science | Blinding with science | IFRI | Use longer, obscure words - or technical, academic jargon | 22 |
| Bogus dilemma - the dilemma may not exist | Bogus dilemma | IFRO | Hyping up the 2 horns of the dilemma, usually false consequences | 24 |
| Casting personal aspersions | Hominem (abusive) argumentum ad | IFRI | Attacking the opponent's credibility or reputation, instead of his argument | 88 |
| Circular argument | Circulus in probando | IFRP | 27 | |
| Coincidences must always have a reason | Cum hoc ergo propter hoc | IFRP | "Gun ownership is a major cause of crime" (not in Switzerland?) | 41 |
| Combining separate questions but asking for a single answer | Complex questions | IFRP | "Have you stopped beating your wife?" | 29 |
| Contradictory assumptions | Contradictory premises | FF | 38 | |
| Damning the alternatives - even if we don't know what they all are yet | Damning the alternatives | IFRO | This has to be right - all the other ideas have failed | 44 |
| Damning the origin | Genetic fallacy | IFRI | Tinkering with genes is fascist talk; punctuality - that's like Mussolini's trains | 82 |
| Double standards, "benefit of clergy" | Special pleading | IFRO | The rules should be relaxed or bent for our special circumstances | 153 |
| Emotional appeals to envy to fear to "softly softly" to hate to pride to superstition to being thought a person of the heart rather than of cold reason |
Emotional appeals (argumentum ad invidiam) (argumentum ad metum) (argumentum ad modum) (argumentum ad odium) (argumentum ad superbiam) (argumentum ad superstitionem) (sentimens superior) |
IFRI | 55 | |
| Equivocating where the accent in a sentence lies | Accent | ILF | 3 | |
| Every schoolboy knows - implying you are useless if you disagree | Every schoolboy knows | IFRI | ... that human activity is the main cause of global warming | 60 |
| Exceptional case to reject a general rule | Accident | IFRP | 5 | |
| Exception proves the rule | The exception that proves the rule | IFRO | The exception "tests the rule" or "puts it to the proof", but it doesn't prove that the rule is right - it may prove the opposite | 63 |
| Existence of subject of argument is dubious | Existential fallacy | FF | A class mentioned may have no members | 67 |
| False precision | False precision | IFRI | Using exact numbers for inexact notions | 76 |
| Four-term fallacy | Quaternio terminorum | FF | 133 | |
| Gambler's fallacy | The gambler's fallacy | IFRP | "If a coin has come up heads 4 times, next time it's more likely to be tails" | 79 |
| Half-concealed qualification | Half-concealed qualification | IFRO | Trying to hide the "almost" or claiming "practically all" | 83 |
| Happened after means it must be because of | Post hoc ergo propter hoc | IFRP | 131 | |
| Hasty generalization | Secundum quid | IFRP | "I had two beers in that pub and both were off, so I'll never go there again" | 145 |
| Hedging | Hedging | IFRO | Advance preparation for challenge and retreat, e.g. "none of woman born shall harm Macbeth" | 86 |
| Hiding a "hedge" | Concealed quantification | IFRO | Garage mechanics are crooks - meaning "most" rather than "all", but not saying it | 33 |
| Ignoring the argument altogether | Lapidem, argumentum ad | IFRO | It's all nonsense; much used by Dr Johnson | 101 |
| Implying disagreement is ignorant or class-biased | Poisoning the well | IFRI | "Everyone except an idiot must agree that ..." | 126 |
| Invalidates one's initial assumptions | Conclusion which denies premises | FF | 35 | |
| Irrelevant humour | Irrelevant humour | IFRI | 99 | |
| Irrelevantly quoting one's opponent | Tu quoque | IFRI | "But you yourself said ..." | 164 |
| Labelling | Loaded words | IFRI | Using emotion-charged descriptions or synonyms, e.g. "sucking up", "disgrace" - to slant the argument without materially changing it | 106 |
| Low probability events will never occur | Ex-post-facto statistics | IFRP | Because something with low probability occurred, something special must have happened | 69 |
| Majority must be right | Numeram, argumentum ad | IFRI | "Every opinion poll says ..." | 118 |
| Mandy Rice-Davies ("He would say that, wouldn't he") | Hominem (circumstantial) argumentum ad | IFRI | Concentrating on the opponent's special position or interests, rather than his argument | 90 |
| Middle course is always best | Temperantiam, argumentum ad | IFRP | Call to take the "middle course" regardless of the extremes offered | 157 |
| Missing the point | Ignoratio elenchi | IFRI | Proving one thing, not quite the same as what the point being argued is | 94 |
| Money you can make is the measure of rightness | Crumenam, argumentum ad | IFRI | If you're right, how come you aren't rich? | 39 |
| Negating a logical conclusion | Denying the antecedent | FF | If A, then B. But A doesn't apply, so B can't | 49 |
| New ideas are wrong, otherwise they would have been thought before | Non-anticipation | IFRP | "If it's such a good idea, why has no-one thought of it before?" | 114 |
| New is beautiful | Novitam, argumentum ad | IFRP | "Because it's new, it must be good" | 116 |
| Not proven equals not true | Ignorantiam, argumentum ad | IFRO | Because what the opponent says has never been proved, it's wrong | 92 |
| One-sided assessment | One-sided assessment | IFRO | Not mentioning the arguments for the alternative decision or view | 121 |
| Poor and simple people are more likely to be correct | Lazarum, argumentum ad | IFRI | 104 | |
| Popular, fashionable views must be right | Populum, argumentum ad | IFRI | ... and views of unpopular and unfashionable people must be wrong | 128 |
| Positive conclusion from negative premises | Positive conclusion/negative premises | FF | 130 | |
| Red herring | The red herring | IFRI | Subtly change the subject | 136 |
| Refuting just one minor part of an argument | Refuting the example | IFRO | 138 | |
| Repetition regardless of the argument | Nauseam, argumentum ad | IFRO | "I have said it before, and I will say it again ..." | 111 |
| Retreat from definition as normally understood | Extensional pruning | IFRO | When I said we'd have an inquiry, I didn't say it would be independent | 72 |
| Reversing a logical conclusion | Affirming the consequent | FF | If A then B; so if B, then A | 7 |
| Reversing a subclass relationship | False conversion | FF | If all As are Bs, then all Bs are As (wrong - reversing a subclass relationship) | 74 |
| Runaway train | The runaway train | IFRI | Taking an argument beyond its limits | 144 |
| Scapegoating | Thatcher's blame | IFRP | Attach blame to a person or group regardless | 160 |
| Shifting ground | Shifting ground | IFRO | 147 | |
| Shifting the burden of proof | Shifting the burden of proof | IFRO | "Give me one reason why my argument isn't true" | 149 |
| Slippery slope, "logical" consequence | The slippery slope | IFRI | Arguing that if one accepts point A, people will take things further in that direction, which will in time lead to disaster | 151 |
| Sweeping generalization; assuming it must apply in every case | Dicto simpliciter | IFRP | "You're a Moslem, so you must be a terrorist" | 51 |
| Tacit assumption unstated | Unaccepted enthymemes | IFRO | 166 | |
| Threat of force as a means of persuasion | Baculum, argumentum ad | IFRI | If you don't agree, I'm threatening force | 17 |
| Time honored ways are right, just because they are old | Antiquitam, argumentum ad | IFRP | "That's the way things have always been done" | 14 |
| Token concession | One-sided assessment | IFRO | "OK, I'll grant you (opponent's weaker or less important point), but ..." | 123 |
| Trivial objections | Trivial objections | IFRO | Claiming problems on minor issues are enough to reject the main argument | 162 |
| True for individual members means true for the group or team as a whole | Composition | ILF | The orchestra will be good because all the players are individually brilliant | 31 |
| True for some cases means true for all cases | Illicit process | FF | 97 | |
| Two alternatives only where more exist | Bifurcation | IFRP | "You are either with me, or against me" | 19 |
| Two negative premises | Exclusive premises | FF | If no As are Bs, and no Bs are Cs, then no As are Cs (wrong!) | 65 |
| Typecasting | Division | ILF | California is wealthy, so if he comes from California, he must be rich | 53 |
| Undistributed middle | Undistributed middle | FF | Common term in an argument is misused, e.g. "all As are Xs, all Bs are Xs, so all As are Bs" (but some Xs aren't As or Bs) | 168 |
| Unobtainable perfection | Unobtainable perfection | IFRO | "Because nuclear power (or crossing the road) can never be completely safe, we shouldn't do it" | 171 |
| Wishful thinking | Wishful thinking | IFRI | "I can't believe it, it's not possible" or "We will win on Saturday" or "X must happen or we will be in a terrible mess" or "It's imperative that we fix this" | 176 |
A few other highlights:
| Trick | Page | Highlight |
|---|---|---|
| Analogy | 1 | Don't need to be explicit - leave it up to the audience prejudices to make the connection |
| Reversing | 9 | Make one thing someone has said or done damn their argument |
| Analogy | 13 | Talk about "families" - "family life" hopefully evoking a pleasant glow |
| Assuming | 17 | Better to re-interpret facts than dismiss them out of hand |
| Alternatives | 20,31 | The strategy is to try and limit choice; the salesman's tactic |
| Emotional | 56 | Need to discover the likely emotional make-up of the audience first |
| Exception | 65 | Suits people who like to divide the world into clear, separate classes, or are prone to typecasting |
| Reversing | 75 | OK to reverse "some As are Bs" and "no As are Bs", but not "all are" or "some are not" |
| Gamblers | 80 | More likely, the coin is biased |
| Missing | 96,99 | Basic strategy is to divert attention by making your diversion more interesting |
| Ignoring | 103 | Marcuse: Tolerance can be repressive because it may allow error - so how do we stop such error? |
| Repetition | 113 | Repeating over a long time is more effective than short bursts |
| One-sided | 122 | OK if you know someone else is putting the other side |
| One-sided | 123 | Token concession - suggesting objectivity (I've added this one above) |
| Begging | 125 | Need to disguise the assumption of what you are trying to prove, by using different words |
| Popular | 129 | Popular bogeymen include landlords, banks, absentee landlords, speculators - as against battlers, working families etc |
| Happened | 132 | Relies on our preference for a clear story of a chain of cause, rather than unfathomable complexities or just coincidence |
| Runaway | 144 | Needs a scale of values to appeal to, e.g. "Fewer road accidents" - so keep lowering the speed limit |
| Shifting | 148 | Caused by some humans wanting to present themselves as infallible |
| Slippery | 153 | General aim is to oppose a change |
| Middle | 158 | Middle course just encourages opponents to adopt more extreme bargaining positions |
| Irrelevant | 166 | If unable to find anything to accuse opponent of, call him "Mr High-and-mighty, Holier-than-thou" |
| Undistributed | 169 | Depends on sub-class relationships; the classes will have other members not in the subclass |
| Appeal | 174 | Authorities are dodgy if they are quoted on other than their specialty, or their qualifications are dubious |
Index to more highlights of interesting books
Some of these links may be under construction – or re-construction.
This version updated on 19th January 2011
If you have constructive suggestions or comments, please contact the author rogertag@tpg.com.au .