Fallacies

Posted on June 16th, 2003 by longestnow.
Categories: sjStories.

Start with the classics:  excluded middle, post ergo propter, overuse of Occam’s razor, affirming the consequent | denying the antecedent, collective | divisive, ad hominem…


Then the intuitive ones for which I know no name:  the universal anecdote (I know this great anecdote, which applies everywhere and describes a perfect cross-section) | the universal peer group (you and I know most Americans won’t stand for this) …


Then the devilish ones:  the rephrasing problem (or, passing the foregone-conclusion buck) — considering a replacement to an old idea, but then discarding it by saying “that implies foo, which can’t be right” — although foo is equivalent to the idea you were reconsidering replacing.


A list, from a scifraud member’s sig:  http://kspope.com/fallacies/fallacies.php

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