a field guide to fallacies

Someone just pulled something on you.

Find out what it was. Learn its name. Send them the link. Sofizm is a short, illustrated field guide to logical fallacies, in Turkish and English. Not a logic course; a spotter’s guide.

Temel, Dursun and Fadime: three friends from the Black Sea coast who argue about everything.

Temel and Dursun arguing across a backgammon board in the coffee house; Fadime stands behind them, arms folded, looking at you.

The usual suspects

The forty you meet most often. Each one drawn, with examples and a comeback.

No. 01 Straw Man You didn't beat my argument. You beat the one you made up. No. 02 Ad Hominem No answer to the claim, but plenty to say about the person. No. 03 Tu Quoque “You do it too!” Perhaps. That still doesn't make it right. No. 04 Slippery Slope One cookie today, diabetes tomorrow, the apocalypse by Thursday. No. 05 False Dilemma Two options on the table, the rest hidden. “You're with us or against us.” No. 06 Hasty Generalization You saw two examples and passed judgment on the whole world. No. 07 Anecdotal Fallacy “My grandad smoked two packs a day and lived to 95.” That's not data. That's grandad. No. 08 False Cause Two things happened together, so one caused the other. The rooster doesn't raise the sun. No. 09 Appeal to Authority “Experts say so.” Which experts, which field, what evidence? No. 10 Bandwagon Millions of people can't be wrong. They can, all at once. No. 11 Red Herring When cornered, toss out a new topic and watch everyone chase it. No. 12 Loaded Question “Have you stopped cheating on tests?” Yes convicts you. So does no. No. 13 Argument from Ignorance “You can't prove it's false, so it's true.” No. You just can't prove it. No. 14 Begging the Question Using the thing you're proving as the proof. It's true because it's true. No. 15 Moving the Goalposts The proof you asked for arrived, so now you want a different proof. Goal disallowed. No. 16 Cherry Picking Show the three data points that help, bury the thirty that don't. No. 17 No True Scotsman When a counterexample shows up, redefine the club: “he's not a real fan anyway.” No. 18 Special Pleading The rule applies to everyone except me. Why? Because me. No. 19 Appeal to Pity “If you fail me I lose my scholarship.” Sad. The answers are still wrong. No. 20 Appeal to Force “Agree, or else.” A threat isn't an argument. It's a threat. No. 21 Appeal to Nature “It's natural, so it's safe.” So are poisonous mushrooms. No. 22 Genetic Fallacy Judging an idea by where it came from instead of what it says. No. 23 Poisoning the Well Prime the audience before they speak: “now listen to him lie.” No. 24 Middle Ground One says 2+2=4, the other says 6. So the answer must be 5. No. 25 False Analogy Alike in one way, so alike in every way. No. 26 Equivocation One word, two meanings, one argument. Hope nobody notices the switch. No. 27 Composition Each part is light, so the whole is light. A truckload of feathers. No. 28 Gambler's Fallacy Five heads in a row, so tails is due. The coin doesn't remember. No. 29 Texas Sharpshooter Shoot first, then paint the target around the holes. No. 30 Fallacy Fallacy A bad argument doesn't make the claim false. True things get defended badly all the time. No. 31 Sunk Cost Fallacy “We've spent so much, we have to finish.” The money's gone either way. No. 32 Appeal to Tradition “We've always done it this way.” You may have always done it wrong. No. 33 Relative Privation “Children are starving somewhere and you're complaining about your knee.” No. 34 Nirvana Fallacy If it doesn't fix everything it's useless. Skip the seatbelt, crashes still happen. No. 35 Survivorship Bias You only see the ones who made it. The rest aren't around to talk. No. 36 Appeal to Fear “Buy this or your kid falls behind.” Fear sells. Evidence doesn't. No. 37 Two Wrongs Make a Right Excusing your wrong by pointing at theirs. No. 38 Personal Incredulity “I can't imagine how, so it's false.” Not being able to imagine isn't evidence. No. 39 Bare Assertion No evidence. Just “because I say so.” No. 40 Appeal to Motive “I know why you're saying that.” Why they say it doesn't change whether it's true.

The full catalogue 129

Every fallacy we know of, in eleven groups.

Missing the Point

Attack Fallacies

Distraction Fallacies

Questionable Cause

Statistical Fallacies

Appeals to Authority and the Crowd

Appeals to Emotion

Fallacies of Ambiguity

Errors of Generalization

Category Errors

Formal Fallacies