Category: Informal Fallacies
Informal fallacies are unsound arguments based on the fact that at least one of its premises is unsound. Informal fallacies may or may not use a valid logical form.
Canceling Hypotheses
Butterfly Logic
Burden of Proof
Black and White Thinking
Bifurcation Fallacy
The bifurcation fallacy is the fallacy of the ‘excluded middle’. Only two options are presented as possible, while there may be three, or even more. In Latin, this is referred to as Tertium non datur ; ‘there is no third’. Example 1 Either you cook now, or we’ll starve to death Harry! But we had…
Biased Sample
Begging the Question
Reaching a conclusion from a premise that already contains or presupposes the conclusion is a fallacy called begging the question. It represents a fallacious argument with a built-in assumption. Example: “Cigarettes are bad for you because they are not healthy” Conclusion: “Cigarettes are bad for you”Premise: “Cigarettes are not healthy” Although the conclusion may be…
Bandwagon Fallacy
It’s best to look at the bandwagon fallacy as a variant of two other fallacies rather than as a distinct fallacy. More precisely, it’s an effect, the bandwagon effect that occurs when the appeal to popularity or the appeal to the people fallacy is made. What exactly is the bandwagon effect? It’s the product of…