Logical fallacies

Ever get the feeling that someone's argument is a bit off, but you can't put your finger on why? Feel like the evidence a politician uses is not enough for the claim they are making? Want to know why when your uncle says "reading something online means it's true" it is actually a bad argument? What's the name for these things? The answer is logical fallacies.

Logical fallacies are used all the time: to make arguments that don't have the right evidence, to claim a relationship between two unrelated things and to attack people's characters instead of their claims. Logical fallacies are really common and generally reveal poor critical thinking.

Understanding and identifying commonly used fallacies will help you to critically analyse claims people make- whether they come from a journal article, news item, opinion piece or an annoying relative. This will help you know a flawed argument when you hear one.

Five common fallacies

Let's start off by exploring five of the most common fallacies.

Slippery slope

Claiming that one action will lead to larger and unintended changes.
For example:
“If we raise minimum wage, businesses will fail.”

Ad hominem

When you attack a person rather than their claim.
For example:
“You are stupid and wrong.”

Appeal to authority

Using a figure of authority to prove your argument is correct.
For example:
"My Mum's friend who is a doctor, said you should eat 3 bananas a day."

False cause

Seeing a relationship between two things when they are probably not the cause of each other.
For example:
“I ate an apple every day in March, and I did not get sick.”

Strawman

You misrepresent someone's argument to make it easier to attack.
For example:
"You said petrol causes climate change, so you want us to live in caves?"

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