Contents

Notes on Contributors xiii

Introduction 1

Part I Formal Fallacies 35

Propositional Logic 37

1 Affirming a Disjunct 39

Jason Iuliano

2 Affirming the Consequent 42

Brett Gaul

3 Denying the Antecedent 46

Brett Gaul

Categorical Logic 49

4 Exclusive Premises 51

Charlene Elsby

5 Four Terms 55

Charlene Elsby

6 Illicit Major and Minor Terms 60

Charlene Elsby

7 Undistributed Middle 63

Charlene Elsby

Part II Informal Fallacies 67

Fallacies of Relevance 69

8 Ad Hominem: Bias 71

George Wrisley

9 Ad Hominem: Circumstantial 77

George Wrisley

10 Ad Hominem: Direct 83

George Wrisley

11 Ad Hominem: Tu Quoque 88

George Wrisley

12 Adverse Consequences 94

David Vander Laan

13 Appeal to Emotion: Force or Fear 98

George Wrisley

14 Appeal to Emotion: Pity 102

George Wrisley

15 Appeal to Ignorance 106

Benjamin W.

16 Appeal to the People 112

Benjamin W. McCraw

17 Appeal to Personal Incredulity 115

Tuomas W. Manninen

18 Appeal to Ridicule 118

Gregory L. Bock

19 Appeal to Tradition 121

Nicolas Michaud

20 Argument from Fallacy 125

Christian Cotton

21 Availability Error 128

David Kyle Johnson

22 Base Rate 133

Tuomas W. Manninen

23 Burden of Proof 137

Andrew Russo

24 Countless Counterfeits 140

David Kyle Johnson

25 Diminished Responsibility 145

Tuomas W. Manninen

26Essentializing 149

Jack Bowen

27Galileo Gambit 152

David Kyle Johnson

28Gambler’s Fallacy 157

Grant Sterling

29Genetic Fallacy 160

Frank Scalambrino

30Historian’s Fallacy 163

Heather Rivera

31Homunculus 165

Kimberly Baltzer-Jaray

32Inappropriate Appeal to Authority 168

Nicolas Michaud

33Irrelevant Conclusion 172

Steven Barbone

34Kettle Logic 174

Andy Wible

35Line Drawing 177

Alexander E.

36Mistaking the Relevance of Proximate Causation 181

David Kyle Johnson

37Moving the Goalposts 185

Tuomas W. Manninen

38Mystery, Therefore Magic 189

David Kyle Johnson

39Naturalistic Fallacy 193

Benjamin W. McCraw

40Poisoning the Well 196

Roberto Ruiz

41Proving Too Much 201

Kimberly Baltzer-Jaray

42Psychologist’s Fallacy 204

Frank Scalambrino

43Red Herring 208

Heather Rivera

44Reductio ad Hitlerum 212

Frank Scalambrino

45Argument by Repetition 215

Leigh Kolb

46Special Pleading 219

Dan Yim

47Straw Man 223

Scott Aikin and John Casey

48Sunk Cost 227

Robert Arp

49Two Wrongs Make a Right 230

David LaRocca

50Weak Analogy 234

Bertha Alvarez Manninen

Fallacies of Ambiguity 239

51Accent 241

Roberto Ruiz

52Amphiboly 246

Roberto Ruiz

53Composition 250

Jason Waller

54Confusing an Explanation for an Excuse 252

Kimberly Baltzer-Jaray

55Definist Fallacy 255

Christian Cotton

56Division 259

Jason Waller

57Equivocation 261

Bertha Alvarez Manninen

58Etymological Fallacy 266

Leigh Kolb

59Euphemism 270

Kimberly Baltzer-Jaray

60Hedging 273

Christian Cotton

61If by Whiskey 277

Christian Cotton

62Inflation of Conflict 280

Andy Wible

63Legalistic Mistake 282

Marco Antonio Azevedo

64Oversimplification 286

Dan Burkett

65Proof by Verbosity 289

Phil Smolenski

66Sorites Fallacy 293

Jack Bowen

Fallacies of Presumption 297

67Accident 299

Steven Barbone

68All or Nothing 301

David Kyle Johnson

69Anthropomorphic Bias 305

David Kyle Johnson

70Begging the Question 308

Heather Rivera

71Chronological Snobbery 311

A.G. Holdier

72Complex Question 314

A.G. Holdier

73Confirmation Bias 317

David Kyle Johnson

74Conjunction 321

Jason Iuliano

75Constructive Nature of Perception 324

David Kyle Johnson

76Converse Accident 330

Steven Barbone

77 Existential Fallacy 332

Frank Scalambrino

78 False Cause: Cum Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc 335

Bertha Alvarez Manninen

79 False Cause: Ignoring Common Cause 338

Bertha Alvarez Manninen

80 False Cause: Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc 342

Bertha Alvarez Manninen

81 False Dilemma 346

Jennifer Culver

82 Free Speech 348

Scott Aikin and John Casey

83 Guilt by Association 351

Leigh Kolb

84 Hasty Generalization 354

Michael J.

85 Intentional Fallacy 357

Nicolas Michaud

86 Is/Ought Fallacy 360

Mark T. Nelson

87 Masked Man 364

Charles Taliaferro

88 Middle Ground 367

Grant Sterling

89 Mind Projection 369

Charles Taliaferro

90 Moralistic Fallacy 371

Galen Foresman

91 No True Scotsman 374

Tuomas W. Manninen

92 Reification 378

Robert Sinclair

93 Representative Heuristic 382

David Kyle Johnson

94 Slippery Slope 385

Michael J. Muniz

95 Stolen Concept 388

Rory E. Kraft, Jr.

96 Subjective Validation 392

David Kyle Johnson

97 Subjectivist Fallacy 396

Frank Scalambrino

98 Suppressed Evidence 399

David Kyle Johnson

99 Unfalsifiability 403

Jack Bowen

100 Unwarranted Assumption 407

Kimberly Baltzer-Jaray

Index 410