Types of Fallacies

TYPES OF FALLACIES
Formal fallacies
The formal fallacy (deductive) is detected by the critical examination of logical
reasoning. That is to say, there is no concatenation between the conclusion and the
premise, although the pattern of reasoning seems to be logical, it is always
incorrect.
The pattern that follows this type of fallacies is:

Cats have four legs.
Silvestre is a cat.
Therefore: Silvestre has four legs.
The formal fallacies can be detected by replacing the elements that make up the
premises with symbols, and then see if the reasoning is adjusted to the rules of logic.
Some subtypes of formal fallacies are:
-Appeal to probability
With probability and prior knowledge, what seems logical is taken for granted,
because it is quite probable.
Example
There are dark clouds in the sky.
Dark clouds mean it's going to rain.
Then today it will rain.

Fallacy of the masked man
It is also called intentional fallacy and involves replacing one of the parties. Thus,
when the two things exchanged are identical, it is assumed that the argument is valid.
Example
The police reported that the thief who robbed Jesus' house had a beard.
The neighbor of Jesus wears a beard.
Therefore, the thief is the neighbor of Jesus.
Average term not distributed
The middle term of the syllogism does not cover in its premises all the
members of the group or category
Example
Every Mexican is Latin American.
A Panamanian is Latin American.
Therefore, some Panamanian is Mexican.
Informal fallacies
Informal (inductive) fallacies depend on the content itself and perhaps on the purpose
of reasoning. They are found more often than formal fallacies and their various types
are almost infinite.
Some authors classify them into subcategories, precisely because of their extensive
variety:
- Fallacies of presumption
When there is a presumption of truth but there is no evidence of it, false reasoning
can be provoked. Two of these fallacies are:
- Complex question fallacy, which implies reaching questionable assumptions.
Example
"Are you going to admit that it does not work?"If the answer is yes, the presumption is
shown, but if it is answered no, it means that the statement is true but you do not want
to admit it.
- Hasty generalization fallacy, based on a unique abnormal situation. It is the opposite
of the fallacy of generalization.
Example
"Hitler was a vegetarian. So, vegetarians are not to be trusted."
Relevance fallacies
This type of fallacy seeks to persuade a person with irrelevant information, through
appealing to emotions and not to logic. Here are included:
- Appeal to authority, known as Argumentum ad Verecundiam ; that is, argument of
modesty. The veracity of the argument is linked to the authority or prestige of the
person who defends it. It is a logical fallacy because it does not depend on the person
making the claim.
Example
"Astronauts believe in God. Then God exists, or do you think you know more than
them?"
- Appeal to popular opinion, in which the opinion of the majority is followed and a
belief or idea is taken for granted only because public opinion endorses it.
Example
"Everyone buys that brand of shoes, it must be very comfortable."
- Attack the person, also called Ad Hominem . Its use is very frequent in the political
debate, since objective arguments are substituted by personal disqualification.
Example
"What can this deputy know about the suffering of the people, if it is a child of father and
mother?"
- Bandwagon fallacy, referring to those that contain arguments that are attractive for their
popularity and social trends.
Example
"Green food prevents many diseases. I will eat only unprocessed foods so as not to get
sick."
Fallacies of ambiguity
The lack of clarity and a simple misunderstanding can cause various types of these fallacies:
- Acute fallacies, those that occur when the way in which a word is emphasized is not clear or generates
confusion.
Example
"A"says:"We will defend the rights of men to their ultimate consequences."
"B"responds:"It is clear that they will not defend those of women then".\
Or the classic example of the sentence "I did not take the exam yesterday", which lends itself to different
interpretations.
- Fallacy fallacies, which happen when the words used have different meanings.
Example
Have faith in science and have faith in God.
- Straw man fallacies, which refer to misrepresentations that are introduced to make
an argument seem weak.
Example
Politician 1:"The debt is very high, we should not spend more on Defense".
Politician 2:"You propose leaving the country unprotected against external enemies!".

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Types of Fallacies

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TYPES OF FALLACIES

The pattern that follows this type of fallacies is:

Dark clouds mean it's going to rain.

Then today it will rain.

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