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ad hominem  Attempting to rebut a source's argument or claim or position, etc., on the basis of considerations that logically apply to the source rather than to the argument or claim or position.
appeal to ignorance  The view that an absence of evidence against a claim counts as evidence for that claim.
begging the question  See question-begging argument.
burden of proof, misplacing  A form of fallacious reasoning in which the burden of proving a point is placed on the wrong side. One version occurs when a lack of evidence on one side is taken as evidence for the other side, in cases where the burden of proving the point rests on the latter side.
circumstantial ad hominem  Attempting to discredit a person's claim by referring to the person's circumstances.
false dilemma  This pattern of fallacious reasoning: "X is true because either X is true or Y is true, and Y isn't," said when X and Y could both be false.
genetic fallacy  Rejecting a claim on the basis of its origin or history.
inconsistency (form of ad hominem)  A pattern of fallacious reasoning of the sort, "I reject your claim because you act inconsistently with it yourself," or "You can't make that claim now because you have in the past rejected it."
line-drawing fallacy  The fallacy of insisting that a line must be drawn at some precise point when in fact it is not necessary that such a line be drawn.
perfectionist fallacy  Concluding that a policy or proposal is bad simply because it does not accomplish its goal to perfection.
personal attack ad hominem  A pattern of fallacious reasoning in which we refuse to accept another's argument because there is something about the person we don't like or of which we disapprove. A form of ad hominem.
poisoning the well  Attempting to discredit in advance what a person might claim by relating unfavorable information about the person.
question-begging argument  An argument whose conclusion restates a point made in the premises or clearly assumed by the premises. Although such an argument is technically valid, anyone who doubts the conclusion of a question-begging argument would have to doubt the premises, too.
slippery slope  A form of fallacious reasoning in which it is assumed that some event must inevitably follow from some other, but in which no argument is made for the inevitability.
straw man  A type of fallacious reasoning in which someone ignores an opponent's actual position and presents in its place a distorted, exaggerated, or misrepresented version of that position.







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