AP Fallacies Flashcards

8776368115	Hasty Generalization	Making assumptions about a whole group or range of cases based on a sample that is inadequate (usually because it is atypical or just too small).	0
8776374529	Missing the Point	The premises of an argument do support a particular conclusion--but not the conclusion that the arguer actually draws.	1
8776386646	Post hoc (false cause)	Assuming that because B comes after A, A caused B.	2
8776395258	Slippery Slope	When a relatively insignificant first event is suggested to lead to a more significant event, which in turn leads to a more significant event, and so on, until some ultimate, significant event is reached, where the connection of each event is not only unwarranted but with each step it becomes more and more improbable	3
8776403867	Weak Analogy	When an analogy is used to prove or disprove an argument, but the analogy is too dissimilar to be effective, that is, it is unlike the argument more than it is like the argument.	4
8776414327	Appeal to Authority	Using an authority as evidence in your argument when the authority is not really an authority on the facts relevant to the argument.	5
8776480924	Appeal to Pity	It takes place when an arguer tries to get people to accept a conclusion by making them feel sorry for someone.	6
8776488654	Appeal to Ignorance	The arguer basically says, "Look, there's no conclusive evidence on the issue at hand. Therefore, you should accept my conclusion on this issue."	7
8776509062	Straw man	Substituting a person's actual position or argument with a distorted, exaggerated, or misrepresented version of the position of the argument.	8
8776575058	Red herring	Partway through an argument, the arguer goes off on a tangent, raising a side issue that distracts the audience from what's really at stake. Often, the arguer never returns to the original issue.	9
8777075774	False dichotomy	In false dichotomy, the arguer sets up the situation so it looks like there are only two choices. The arguer then eliminates one of the choices, so it seems that we are left with only one option: the one the arguer wanted us to pick in the first place.	10
8777094254	Begging the question	Any form of argument where the conclusion is assumed in one of the premises. It is a form of circular argument.	11
8777110418	Equivocation	Using an ambiguous term in more than one sense, thus making an argument misleading.	12
8777131944	Special pleading	A fallacy of logical argument in which the writer suppresses evidence that contradicts the conclusion in an inductive argument.	13
8777137486	Ad-hominem	In an argument, this is an attack on the person rather than on the opponent's ideas. It comes from the Latin meaning "turn to the man."	14
8777145642	Bandwagon	A fallacy which assumes that because something is popular, it is therefore good, correct, or desirable.	15
8777151893	Appeal to nature	This argument goes that because something is natural, it must be better.	16
8777161155	Argument from Ignorance	An argument stating that something is true because it has never been proven false.	17
8777170892	Non-Sequitur	Latin for "does not follow." An argument in which the conclusion does not follow from the premises.	18
8777181932	Tu quoque	Latin for "you say": avoiding having to engage with criticism by turning it back on the accuser - answering criticism with criticism.	19