Logical Fallacies Review
Across
- 3. This fallacy claims there are only two options in a given situation. Often, these two options are extreme opposites of each other, failing to acknowledge that other, more reasonable, options exist.
- 6. This is when someone continues doing something because of the effort they already put in it, regardless of whether the additional costs outweigh the potential benefits.
- 7. This is an informal fallacy in which one attempts to protect their universal generalization from a falsifying counterexample by excluding the counterexample improperly.
- 8. This is the belief that the probability for an outcome after a series of outcomes is not the same as the probability for a single outcome.
- 9. An example of this fallacy - Aliens don’t exist. If they did, we would have seen one by now.
- 11. An example of this fallacy - Losing a tooth can be scary, but have you heard about the Tooth Fairy?
- 12. This fallacy says that because one thing happened after another, it means that the first thing caused the second thing happen.
- 14. This fallacy avoids the argument by shifting focus onto something's or someone's origins.
- 15. This is a statement crafted to mislead or confuse readers or listeners by using multiple meanings or interpretations of a word or simply through unclear phrasing.
Down
- 1. This is when the speaker attacks his opponent's character or personal traits in an attempt to undermine their argument.
- 2. AKA cherry-picking; this fallacy is committed when differences in data are ignored, but similarities are overemphasized.
- 4. An example of this fallacy - "Smoking pot is against the law because it's wrong; I know it's wrong because it is against the law."
- 5. When a speaker avoids having to engage with criticism by turning it back on the accuser - he answers criticism with criticism.
- 10. This is also referred to as the equivocation fallacy; an example would be "I don't understand why you're saying I broke a promise. I said I'd never speak to my ex-girlfriend again. And I didn't. I just sent her some pictures and text messages."
- 13. An example of this fallacy - "If you miss practice, it means you were probably goofing off. People who goof off drop out of school and end up penniless."