Logical Fallacy Catalog
64 terms across 6 themes — every definition in the Atlas sourced from this manual, with executive examples and counter-moves.
Attacking the person rather than the argument.
If A then B; B happened; therefore A.
A single story used as proof of a general claim.
It's true because authority says so.
Common sense says so, therefore it's true.
Believing something is true because of the consequences of its truth.
Substituting feeling for argument.
Using fear instead of evidence.
Claiming something is true because it hasn't been proven false (or vice versa).
If it's 'natural,' it's good.
It's better because it's newer.
Asking for a conclusion based on sympathy rather than logic.
Rejecting an argument because of dislike for the source or beneficiary.
It's right because it's how we've always done it.
Reasoning backward from outcomes to motives.
I can't believe it; therefore it isn't true.
n=1 generalized to n=everyone.
Saying it enough times until it sounds true.
It's true because many believe it.
Assuming the conclusion in the premise.
Asking the other side to disprove an unsupported claim.
Quoting only the studies that support the position.
Selecting only the data that supports the conclusion.
The conclusion is hidden inside the premise.
What's true of the parts is assumed true of the whole.
Because there's no sharp line, no distinction exists.
Treating two things that move together as one causing the other.
With this, therefore because of this.
Quietly redefining a term mid-argument.
If A then B; not A; therefore not B.
What's true of the whole is assumed true of the parts.
Constraining the option set to bias the decision.
Using a word with two meanings as if it meant one.
Insisting on a word's original meaning over its current one.
Concluding that because an argument contained a fallacy, its conclusion must be false.
Presenting two options as the only possibilities.
Treating two things as comparable when they're not.
Stacking so many tenuous links that the conclusion sounds clever.
Judging an argument by its origin rather than its merit.
Burying the room in a flood of weak arguments faster than they can be addressed.
Sweeping conclusions from a small sample.
Implying conclusions through leading questions while disclaiming responsibility.
Words chosen to bias the audience toward a conclusion.
A question with a built-in unproven assumption.
Assuming the truth must lie between two extremes.
Deriving 'is' from 'ought.'
Changing success criteria whenever the prior criteria are met.
Deriving 'ought' from 'is.'
Redefining a category to exclude counterexamples.
I can't imagine how it works, therefore it doesn't.
B followed A, therefore A caused B.
Introducing an irrelevant topic to distract from the issue.
Treating an abstraction as if it were a concrete thing.
Assuming one cause where many are at play.
A small step inevitably leads to extreme consequences.
Small step → catastrophic outcome, without the intermediate causal links.
Exempting a case from a rule for no principled reason.
Restating the strongest version of your opponent's argument before responding.
Misrepresenting an argument to make it easier to attack.
Generalizing from winners while ignoring identical losers.
Drawing a target around wherever the bullets landed.
A phrase that ends thought rather than advancing it.
Deflecting by pointing to the other side doing it too.
Justifying a wrong because someone else also did wrong.