fallacy
Argument with holes
A fallacy is a mistaken belief or a flaw in reasoning.
In logic, fallacies are specific types of defective arguments—the straw man, the slippery slope, the appeal to authority.
More loosely, any widespread but erroneous idea qualifies: the fallacy that money buys happiness.
Fallacious reasoning may sound convincing while being fundamentally unsound.
Erroneous belief or understanding
- errorFault in communication
- mistakeWrong action or decision
- flawImperfection in something
- oversightSupervision or inadvertent omission
misinterpretation · misjudgment · miscalculation · faulty reasoning · unsoundness · invalidity · inconsistency · incoherence
Formal deductive argument structure
- non sequiturIllogical conclusion or remark
- circular reasoningFallacy assuming its conclusion
- hasty generalizationConclusion from insufficient evidence
- post hocAfter the event
slippery slope · ad hominem · straw man · red herring · begging the question · equivocation · appeal to authority · appeal to emotion
Deceptive reasoning
- sophismMisleading logical trickery
- chicaneryDeception through clever manipulation
- subterfugeDeliberate deception to conceal
- duplicityDeliberate misleading behavior
rhetoric · manipulation · spin · misdirection · obfuscation · prevarication · casuistry · bad faith argument
Theory of knowledge
- dialecticLogical argument through opposition
- rationalismReason as knowledge source
- empiricismKnowledge through observation
- skepticismDisposition toward doubt
formal logic · critical thinking · rhetoric · Aristotle · Socratic method
misconception
Erroneous belief or understanding
oversight · misinterpretation · misjudgment · miscalculation · faulty reasoning · unsoundness · invalidity · inconsistency · incoherence · cognitive bias
syllogism
Formal deductive argument structure
- non sequiturIllogical conclusion or remark
- circular reasoningFallacy assuming its conclusion
- hasty generalizationConclusion from insufficient evidence
post hoc · slippery slope · ad hominem · straw man · red herring · begging the question · equivocation · appeal to authority · appeal to emotion · bandwagon
sophistry
Deceptive reasoning
- sophismMisleading logical trickery
- chicaneryDeception through clever manipulation
- subterfugeDeliberate deception to conceal
duplicity · rhetoric · manipulation · spin · misdirection · obfuscation · prevarication · casuistry · bad faith argument
epistemology
Theory of knowledge
- dialecticLogical argument through opposition
- rationalismReason as knowledge source
- empiricismKnowledge through observation
skepticism · formal logic · critical thinking · rhetoric · Aristotle · Socratic method
- philosophy termstruth, reason, knowledge, wisdom, logic
- logical fallaciesstraw man, ad hominem, red herring, slippery slope, circular reasoning
- Misconceptionsmisconception, myth, mistaken belief, misbelief, wrong idea
- SAT vocabularyaesthetic, ambiguous, benevolent, candid, concise
- critical thinkingcritical thinking, reasoning, logic puzzles, analysis, inference
- logicpremise, premises, conclusion, conclusions, inference
fallacyvalid argument
Reasoning where conclusion follows necessarily
sound argument · proof · logical proof · syllogism · demonstration
- logical fallacyError in reasoning
- logical fallaciesDefects in reasoning structure
- sunk cost fallacyHonoring spent resources irrationally
- pathetic fallacyNature given human feelings
- gambler's fallacyAssuming randomness self-corrects
- gamblers fallacyExpecting past randomness to influence future odds