Logical Fallacies

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A logical fallacy is a statement that contains faulty reasoning. Don’t give your reader a reason to doubt your information. Persuasive writing especially requires sound logic to support opinions.

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Logical Fallacies

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What’s wrong with this statement?

If I don’t get the summer internship at the newspaper, I won’t have a career in journalism when I graduate.

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A logical fallacy is a statement that contains faulty reasoning. Don’t give your reader a reason to doubt your information. Persuasive writing especially requires sound logic to support opinions.

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Logical Fallacies

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This statement sets up only two options although many strategies for starting a career in journalism exist. It is too extreme to seem reasonable.

If I don’t get the summer internship at the newspaper, I won’t have a career in journalism when I graduate.

A logical fallacy is a statement that contains faulty reasoning. Don’t give your reader a reason to doubt your information. Persuasive writing especially requires sound logic to support opinions.

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Common logical fallacies include the following. Click to choose the fallacy you want to explore.

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Logical Fallacies

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•Overgeneralization

•Circular reasoning

•False analogy

•Either/or reasoning

•Single cause

•False cause

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Logical Fallacies

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OvergeneralizationAn overgeneralization is a statement so broad that it can easily be disproved. Look for words like all, everyone, no one, always, never, none, when you revise.

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Logical Fallacies

OvergeneralizationAn overgeneralization is a statement so broad that it can easily be disproved. Look for words like all, everyone, no one, always, never, none, when you revise.

What is the overgeneralization in this sentence?

People who go to the beach always get sunburns.

Click to see the overgeneralization

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Logical Fallacies

OvergeneralizationAn overgeneralization is a statement so broad that it can easily be disproved. Look for words like all, everyone, no one, always, never, none, when you revise.

What is the overgeneralization in this sentence?

People who go to the beach always get sunburns.

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Logical Fallacies

OvergeneralizationAn overgeneralization is a statement so broad that it can easily be disproved. Look for words like all, everyone, no one, always, never, none, when you revise.

People who go to the beach always get sunburns. ORIGINAL

People who go to the beach often get sunburns.

REVISED

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Logical Fallacies

Circular ReasoningAn attempt to prove a statement by simply repeating it in different words is circular reasoning.

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Logical Fallacies

Click to see the repeated idea

Circular ReasoningAn attempt to prove a statement by simply repeating it in different words is circular reasoning.

What is the repeated idea in this sentence?

Term limits are a good idea because politicians should remain in office only for a certain amount of time.

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Logical Fallacies

Circular ReasoningAn attempt to prove a statement by simply repeating it in different words is circular reasoning.

What is the repeated idea in this sentence?

Term limits are a good idea because politicians should remain in office only for a certain amount of time.

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Logical Fallacies

Circular ReasoningAn attempt to prove a statement by simply repeating it in different words is circular reasoning.

How would you revise to avoid this circular reasoning?

Term limits are a good idea because politicians should remain in office only for a certain amount of time.

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Logical Fallacies

Circular ReasoningAn attempt to prove a statement by simply repeating it in different words is circular reasoning.

Term limits are a good idea because politicians should remain in office only for a certain amount of time.

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politicians shouldremain in office only for a certain amount of time.

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Logical Fallacies

Circular ReasoningAn attempt to prove a statement by simply repeating it in different words is circular reasoning.

Term limits are a good idea because

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Logical Fallacies

Circular ReasoningAn attempt to prove a statement by simply repeating it in different words is circular reasoning.

Term limits are a good idea because

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voters should be givenmany opportunities for political change.

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Logical Fallacies

Circular ReasoningAn attempt to prove a statement by simply repeating it in different words is circular reasoning.

This revised sentence gives specific information about why term limits are a good idea.

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Term limits are a good idea because voters should be givenmany opportunities for political change.

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False AnalogyA false analogy is a comparison between two things that are different in some essential way.

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Logical Fallacies

False AnalogyA false analogy is a comparison between two things that are different in some essential way.

What is wrong with this comparison?

Employees are like nails. You have to keep hammering them to make them work.

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Logical Fallacies

False AnalogyA false analogy is a comparison between two things that are different in some essential way.

This argument compares people to nails. The two are completely different. It may sound clever but has little meaning.

Employees are like nails. You have to keep hammering them to make them work.

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Either/Or ReasoningAn either/or fallacy is a statement suggesting that there are only two possible ways to view a situation or only two options to choose from.

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Logical Fallacies

Either/Or ReasoningAn either/or fallacy is a statement suggesting that there are only two possible ways to view a situation or only two options to choose from.

What other possibilities can you imagine for this example?

We must either allow scientists to continue running tests on animals, or we’ll have no new medicines in the future.

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Logical Fallacies

Either/Or ReasoningAn either/or fallacy is a statement suggesting that there are only two possible ways to view a situation or only two options to choose from.

There are many ways for scientists to develop new medicines in addition to running tests on animals.

We must either allow scientists to continue running tests on animals, or we’ll have no new medicines in the future.

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Logical Fallacies

Either/Or ReasoningAn either/or fallacy is a statement suggesting that there are only two possible ways to view a situation or only two options to choose from.

We must either allow scientists to continue running tests on animals, or we’ll have no new medicines in the future.

ORIGINAL

Allowing scientists to continue running tests on animals will allow them to use an important tool in developing new medicines.

REVISED

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This revision removes the limited options and presents a more reasonable statement.

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Single CauseIn a single cause fallacy, the writer assumes that an event has just one cause when there are actually multiple causes.

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Logical Fallacies

Single CauseIn a single cause fallacy, the writer assumes that an event has just one cause when there are actually multiple causes.

Can you think of other possible reasons why many species of animals are at risk of extinction?

Many species of animals are at risk of extinction because of overhunting.

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Logical Fallacies

Single CauseIn a single cause fallacy, the writer assumes that an event has just one cause when there are actually multiple causes.

Many species of animals are at risk of extinction because of overhunting.

ORIGINAL

Many species of animals are at risk of extinction because of the destruction of their habitat, overhunting, air and water pollution, and other causes.

REVISED

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False CauseJust because one event occurred after another in time, the first event may not have caused the second event. Don’t let that kind of false cause reasoning show up in your writing.

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Logical Fallacies

False CauseJust because one event occurred after another in time, the first event may not have caused the second event. Don’t let that kind of false cause reasoning show up in your writing.

What might be the true causes in this situation?

Crime rates dropped as a result of the mayor’s get-tough speeches.

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Logical Fallacies

False CauseJust because one event occurred after another in time, the first event may not have caused the second event. Don’t let that kind of false cause reasoning show up in your writing.

A drop in the crime rate might be the result of many factors, such as a crackdown by police, hiring more police officers, and more community involvement. The mayor’s speeches may have had little or nothing to do with it.

Crime rates dropped as a result of the mayor’s get-tough speeches.

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Logical Fallacies

False CauseJust because one event occurred after another in time, the first event may not have caused the second event. Don’t let that kind of false cause reasoning show up in your writing.

Crime rates dropped as a result of the mayor’s get-tough speeches.

ORIGINAL

Crime rates dropped as a result of a crackdown by police, the hiring of additional police officers, and more community involvement.

REVISED

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