Master List of Logical Fallacies

 

1. A Priori Argument: Also, Rationalization; Proof Texting. A corrupt argument from logos, starting with a given, pre-set belief, dogma, doctrine, scripture verse, "fact" or conclusion and then searching for any reasonable or reasonable-sounding argument to rationalize, defend or justify it. Certain ideologues and religious fundamentalists are proud to use this fallacy as their primary method of "reasoning" and some are even honest enough to say so. The opposite of this fallacy is the Taboo.

2. Actions have Consequences:  The contemporary fallacy of a person in power falsely describing an imposed punishment or penalty as a "consequence" of another's negative act. E.g.," The consequences of your misbehavior could include suspension or expulsion." A corrupt argument from ethos, arrogating to oneself or to one's rules or laws an ethos of cosmic inevitability, i.e., the ethos of God, Fate, Destiny or Reality Itself.  Freezing to death is a "consequence" of going out naked in subzero weather but going to prison is a punishment for bank robbery, not a natural, inevitable or unavoidable "consequence," of robbing a bank.  Not to be confused with the Argument from Consequences, which is quite different. An opposite fallacy is that of Moral Licensing.

3. Ad Hominem Argument: Also, "Personal attack," "Poisoning the well." The fallacy of attempting to refute an argument by attacking the opposition�s personal character or reputation, using a corrupted negative argument from ethos. E.g., "He's so evil that you can't believe anything he says." See also "Guilt by Association." Also applies to cases where valid opposing evidence and arguments are brushed aside without comment or consideration, as simply not worth arguing about, solely because of the lack of power or status of the person making the argument. The opposite of this latter is the "Star Power" fallacy.

4. Alphabet Soup: A corrupt implicit argument from ethos in which a person overuses acronyms, abbreviations, form numbers and arcane insider "shop talk" primarily to prove to an audience that s/he "speaks their language" and is "one of them," or to shut out, confuse or impress outsiders. E.g., "It's not uncommon for a K-12 with ASD to be both GT and LD." Or,  "I hope I'll keep on drawing my BAQ until I get my DD214."  

5. Appeal to Closure: The contemporary fallacy that an argument, standpoint, action or conclusion no matter how questionable must be accepted as final or else the point will remain unsettled, which is unthinkable, and those affected will be denied "closure." This fallacy falsely reifies a specialized term from Gestalt Psychology (closure) while refusing to recognize the undeniable truth that some points will indeed remain unsettled, perhaps forever. E.g., "Society would be protected, crime would be deterred and justice served if we sentence you to life without parole, but we need to execute you in order to provide closure." See also, Argument from Ignorance, and Argument from Consequences. 




6. Appeal to Heaven: (also Deus Vult, Gott mit Uns, Manifest Destiny, American Exceptionalism, the Special Covenant). An extremely dangerous fallacy (a deluded argument from ethos) asserting that God (or History, or a higher power) has ordered, supports or approves of one's own standpoint or actions so no further justification is required and no serious challenge is possible. (E.g., "God ordered me to kill my children," or "We need to take away your land, since God [or Manifest Destiny, or Fate, or Heaven] has given it to us as our own.") A private individual who seriously asserts this fallacy risks ending up in a psychiatric ward, but groups or nations who do it are far too often taken seriously. This vicious fallacy has been the cause of endless bloodshed over history. See also, Magical Thinking. Also applies to deluded negative Appeals to Heaven, e.g., "We don't ever have to worry about a deadly pandemic because God wouldn't let that happen here!" The opposite of the Appeal to Heaven is the Job's Comforter fallacy.
   

7. Appeal to Pity: (also "Argumentum ad Miserecordiam"). The fallacy of urging an audience to �root for the underdog� regardless of the issues at hand (e.g., �Those poor, cute little squeaky mice are being gobbled up by mean, nasty cats that are ten times their size!�) A corrupt argument from pathos. See also, Playing to Emotions. The opposite of the Appeal to Pity is the Appeal to Rigor, an argument (often based on machismo or on manipulating an audience's fear) based on mercilessness. E.g., "I'm a real man, not like those bleeding hearts, and I'll be tough on [here fill in the enemy or bogeyman of the hour.]"  In academia this also applies to politically-motivated calls for "Academic Rigor" and against "Dumbing Down" or "Grade Inflation."
   

8. Appeal to Tradition: (also, Conservative Bias, "The Good Old Days"). The fallacy that a standpoint, situation or action is right, proper and correct simply because it has "always" been that way, because people have "always" thought that way, or because it continues to serve one particular group very well. A corrupted argument from ethos (that of past generations). (E.g., "In America, women have always been paid less, so let's not mess with long-standing tradition.").  The opposite of this is The Appeal to Novelty (also, "Pro-Innovation bias," "Recency Bias, "The Bad Old Days"), e.g., "It's NEW, and [therefore it must be] improved!" or "This is the very latest discovery--it has to be better."

  See also Argument from Intertia, and Default Bias..


9. Argument from Consequences (also, Outcome Bias) The major fallacy of arguing that something cannot be true because if it were the consequences would be unacceptable. (E.g., "Global climate change cannot be caused by human burning of fossil fuels, because if it were, switching to non-polluting energy sources would bankrupt American industry," or "Doctor, that's wrong! I can't have terminal cancer, because if I did that'd mean that I won't live to see my kids get married!")  

Not to be confused with Actions have Consequences.


10. Argument from Ignorance: The fallacy that since we don�t know (or can never know, or cannot prove) whether a claim is true or false, it must be false (or that it must be true). E.g., �Scientists are never going to be able to positively prove their theory that humans evolved from other creatures, because we weren't there to see it! So, that proves the Genesis six-day creation account is  literally true as written!� This fallacy includes Attacking the Evidence, e.g. "Your evidence is missing, incomplete, or even faked! That proves I'm right!" This usually includes �Either-Or Reasoning:� E.g., �The vet can't find any reasonable explanation for why my dog died. See! See! That proves that you poisoned him! There�s no other logical explanation!� A corrupted argument from logos. A fallacy commonly found in American political, judicial and forensic reasoning.�

See also "A Priori Argument" and "Argumentum ex Silentio."


11. Argument from Inertia (also �Stay the Course�). The fallacy that it is necessary to continue on a mistaken course of action even after discovering it is mistaken, because changing course would mean admitting one's decision (or one's leader, or one's faith) was wrong, and all one's effort, expense and sacrifice was for nothing, and that's unthinkable. A variety of the Argument from Consequences, E for Effort, or the Appeal to Tradition. 

12. Argument from Motives (also Questioning Motives). The fallacy of declaring a standpoint or argument invalid solely because of the evil, corrupt or questionable motives of the one making the claim. E.g., "Bin Laden wanted us out of Afghanistan, so we have to keep up the fight!" Even evil people with corrupt motives sometimes say the truth (and even those who have the highest motives are often wrong or mistaken). A variety of the Ad Hominem argument. The counterpart of this is the fallacy of falsely justifying or excusing evil or vicious actions because of the perpetrator's purity of motives or lack of malice. (E.g., "He's a good Christian man; how could you accuse him of doing something like that?")

see also Moral Licensing.


13. Argumentum ad Baculam ("Argument from the Club." Also, "Argument from Strength," "Muscular Leadership," Bullying, Fascism). The fallacy of "persuasion" or "Proving one is right" by force, violence, or threats. E.g., "Gimmee your money or I'll knock your head off!" or "We have the perfect right to take your land, since we have the guns and you don't." Also applies to indirect forms of threat. E.g., "Give up your foolish pride, kneel down and accept our religion today if you don't want to burn in hell forever and ever!"




14. Argumentum ex Silentio (Argument from Silence). The fallacy that if available sources remain silent or current knowledge and evidence can prove nothing about a given subject or question this fact in itself proves something about the truth of the matter. E.g., "Science can tell us nothing about God. That proves God doesn't exist." Or "Science admits it can tell us nothing about God, so you can't deny that God exists!" Often misused in the American justice system, where, contrary to the 5th Amendment,  remaining silent or "taking the Fifth" is often falsely portrayed as proof of guilt. E.g., "Mr. Hixel has no alibi for the evening of January 15th. This proves that he was in fact in room 331 at the Smuggler's Inn, murdering his wife with a hatchet!" In today's America, choosing to remain silent in the face of a police officer's questions can make one guilty enough to be arrested or even shot. See also, Argument from Ignorance.

15. Availability Bias (Also, Attention Bias, Anchoring Bias): A fallacy of logos stemming from the natural tendency to give undue importance to information that is immediately available at hand, particularly the first or last information received, and to minimize or ignore broader data or wider evidence that clearly exists but is not as easily remembered or accessible. E.g., "We know from experience that this doesn't work," when "experience" means the most recent local experience, ignoring multiple instances in other places and times where it has worked and does work.
    

16. Bandwagon (also, Argument from Common Sense, Argumentum ad Populum): The fallacy of arguing that because "everyone" supposedly thinks or does something, it must be right. E.g., "Everyone knows that undocumented aliens ought to be kicked out!"�Sometimes also includes Lying with Statistics, e.g. �Surveys show that over 75% of Americans believe Senator Snith is not telling the truth. For anyone with half a brain, that conclusively proves he�s a dirty liar!�

  Sometimes combined with the "Argumentum ad Baculam," e.g., "Like it or not, it's time to choose sides: Are you going to get on board  the train with everyone else, or get crushed under the wheels as it goes by?" For the opposite of this argument see the Romantic Rebel fallacy. 

17. Big Lie Technique (also "Staying on Message"): The contemporary fallacy of repeating a lie, fallacy, slogan, talking-point or deceptive half-truth over and over in different forms (particularly in the media) until people believe it without further proof or evidence.. E.g., "What about the Jewish Question?" Note that when this particular phony debate was going on there was no "Jewish Question," only a "Nazi Question," but hardly anybody in power recognized or wanted to talk about that.   
    

18. Blind Loyalty (also Blind Obedience, Unthinking Obedience, the "Team Player" appeal, the Nuremberg Defense). The dangerous fallacy that an argument or action is right simply and solely because a respected leader or source (a President, expert, one�s parents, one's own "side," team or country, one�s boss or commanding officers) say it is right. This is over-reliance on authority, a corrupted argument from ethos that puts loyalty above truth,  above one's own reason and  above conscience. In this case a person attempts to justify incorrect, stupid or criminal behavior by whining "That's what I was told to do," or �I was just following orders."  See also, "The Soldiers' Honor Fallacy." A not-uncommon but extreme example of this fallacy is the Big Brain/Little Brain Fallacy (also, the Fuerherprinzip) in which a tyrannical cult-leader tells followers "Don't think with your little brains (the brain in their heads) but with your BIG brain (the leader's)." This last is sometimes expressed in positive terms, i.e., "You don't have to worry your heads about the rightness or morality of your acts since I (the leader) am taking all responsibility and will take the punishment or even go to hell if I'm wrong." See also, "Just Do It!"
    

19. Blood is Thicker than Water (also Favoritism, Compadrismo, "For my friends, anything."). The reverse of the "Ad Hominem" fallacy, a corrupt argument from ethos where a statement, argument or action is automatically regarded as true, correct and above challenge because one is related to, or knows and likes, or is on the same team as the individual involved.��(E.g., "My brother-in-law says he saw you goofing off on the job. You're a hard worker but who am I going to believe, you or him? You're fired!")

20. Brainwashing (also, "Propaganda"): The Cold War-era fantasy that an enemy can instantly convince an unsuspecting audience with their vile but somehow unspeakably persuasive "propaganda,"  e.g., "Don't look at that website! They're trying to brainwash you with terrorist propaganda!" Historically, this fallacy refers more properly to the inhuman Argumentum ad Baculam of  "beating an argument into" a prisoner via pain, fear, sensory deprivation,, prolonged abuse and sophisticated psychological manipulation (Also, the "Stockholm Syndrome."). Such "brainwashing" can also be accomplished by pleasure ("Love Bombing,"),, e.g., "Did you like that? I know you did. Well, there's lots more where that came from when you sign on with us!" (See also, "Bribery.") An unspeakably sinister form of persuasion by brainwashing involves deliberately addicting a person to drugs and then providing or withholding the substance depending on the addict's compliance. Note: Only the "other side" brainwashes. "We" never brainwash.
    

21. Bribery (also Material Persuasion, Material Incentive, Financial Incentive). The fallacy of "persuasion" by bribery, gifts or favors, the reverse of the Argumentum ad Baculam. As is well known, someone who is persuaded by bribery rarely "stays persuaded" unless the bribes keep on coming in and increasing with time.�

22. Circular Reasoning (The Vicious Circle; Catch 22, Begging the Question, Circulus in Probando): A fallacy of logos where A is because of B, and B is because of A, e.g., "You can't get a job because you have no experience, and you have no experience because you can't get a job." Also refers to falsely arguing that something is true by repeating the same statement in different words. E.g., �The witchcraft problem is the most urgent spiritual crisis in the world today. Why? Because witches threaten our immortal souls.� A corrupt argument from logos. See also the "Big Lie technique."

23. The Complex Question: The fallacy of demanding a direct answer to a question that cannot be answered without first analyzing or challenging the basis of the question itself. E.g., "Just answer me 'yes' or 'no':  Did you think you could get away with plagiarism and not suffer the consequences?" Or, "Why did you rob that bank?" Also applies to situations where one is forced to either accept or reject complex standpoints or propositions containing both acceptable and unacceptable parts. A corruption of the argument from logos. A counterpart of Either/Or Reasoning.

24. Confirmation Bias: A fallacy of logos, recognizing the fact that one always tends to see, select and share evidence that confirms one's own standpoint and beliefs, as opposed to contrary evidence. This fallacy is how "Fortune Tellers" work--If I am told I will meet a "tall, dark stranger" I will be on the lookout for a tall, dark stranger, and when I meet someone even marginally meeting that description I will marvel at the correctness of the "psychic's" prediction. See also, "Half Truth,," and "Defensiveness." 

25. Default Bias: (Also, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," Acquiescence, "Making one's peace with the situation," "Get used to it," "Whatever is, is right,"  "Let it be, let it be," "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know."). The logical fallacy of automatically favoring or accepting a situation simply because it exists right now, and arguing that any other alternative is mad, unthinkable, impossible, or at least would take too much effort, stress and risk to change.  The opposite of this fallacy is Nihilism ("Tear it all down!"), blindly rejecting what exists in favor of what could be, the infantile disorder of romanticizing anarchy, "permanent revolution," or change for change's sake.

26. Defensiveness (Also, Choice-support Bias): A fallacy of ethos (one's own), in which after one has taken a given decision, commitment or course of action, one automatically tends to defend that decision and to dismiss opposing options, even when one's decision later on proves to be shaky or wrong. "Yeah, I voted for Snith. Sure, he turned out to be a crook and a liar and he got us into war, but I still say that back then he was better than all of the available alternatives!"  See also "Argument from Inertia" and "Confirmation Bias."

27. Diminished Responsibility: The common contemporary fallacy of applying a specialized judicial concept (that criminal punishment should be less if one's judgment was impaired) to reality in general. E.g., "You can't count me absent on Monday--I was hung over and couldn't come to class so it's not my fault."  Or, "Yeah, I was speeding on the freeway and killed a guy, but I was buzzed out of my mind and didn't know what I was doing so it didn't matter that much." In reality the death does matter very much to the victim, to his family and friends and to society in general. Whether the perpetrator was high or not does not matter at all since the material results are the same. This fallacy is rooted in the confusion of "consequences" with "punishment."

28. Disciplinary Blinders: A very common contemporary scholarly fallacy of ethos (that of one's discipline or field),  automatically disregarding, discounting or ignoring a priori otherwise-relevant arguments and evidence that come from outside one's own professional discipline, discourse community or academic area of study. E.g., "That may be true or may be false, but it's so not what we're doing in our field right now,"  See also, "Star Power."

29. E" for Effort. (Also Noble Effort) The common contemporary fallacy that something must be right, true, valuable, or worthy of respect and honor simply because someone has put so much sincere good-faith effort or even sacrifice and bloodshed into it. (See also Appeal to Pity; Argument from Inertia; Heroes All; or Sob Story.).�
    

30. Either/Or Reasoning: (also False Dilemma, False Dichotomy, Black/White Fallacy, Binary Logic). A fallacy that falsely offers only two possible options even though a broad range of possible alternatives are always readily available. E.g., "Either you are 100% Simon Straightarrow or you are queer as a three dollar bill--it's as simple as that and there's no middle ground!" Or, �Either you�re in with us all the way or you�re a hostile and must be destroyed!  What's it gonna be?"  Also applies to falsely countering one option or case to another that is not really opposed, e.g., falsely countering "Black Lives Matter" with "Blue Lives Matter" when in fact not a few police officers are themselves African American, and African Americans and police are not (or ought not to be!) natural enemies.  See also, Overgeneralization.
    

31. Equivocation: The fallacy of deliberately failing to define one's terms, or deliberately using words in a different sense than the one the audience will understand. (E.g., Bill Clinton stating that he did not have sexual relations with "that woman," meaning no sexual penetration, knowing full well that the audience will understand his statement as "I had no sexual contact of any sort with that woman.") This is a corruption of the argument from logos, and a tactic often used in American jurisprudence.

32. Esoteric Knowledge (Esoteric Wisdom, Inner Truth): A fallacy from logos and ethos, that there is some knowledge reserved only for the Wise or the Enlightened, things that the masses cannot understand and do not deserve to know, at least not until they become more "spiritually advanced."  The counterpart of this fallacy is that of Obscurantism (Obscurationism; Willful Ignorance), that (almost always said in a basso profundo voice) "There are some things that mere mortals must never seek to discover!" E.g., "Scientific research on human sexuality is morally wrong!  There are some things that humans are simply not meant to know!" For the opposite of this latter, see the "Plain Truth Fallacy" below. Related to this is the "Long Ago and Far Away" fallacy, that facts, evidence, practices or arguments from ancient times and/or distant lands and "exotic"
    cultures carry a special gravitas or ethos simply because of their language or origin, e.g., the Greek or Latin Liturgy, or for those Americans who have no Asian roots, Zen Buddhism and Sanskrit Mantras.
    

33. Essentializing: A fallacy that proposes a person or thing �is what it is and that�s all that it is,� and at its core will always be the way it is right now (E.g., "All terrorists are monsters, and will still be terrorist monsters even if they live to be 100" or "'The poor you will always have with you,' so any effort to eliminate poverty is pointless."). Also refers to the fallacy of arguing that something is a certain way "by nature," an empty claim that no amount of proof can refute. (E.g., "Americans are cold and greedy by nature," or "Women are naturally better cooks than men.") See also "Default Bias."  The opposite of this  is the fallacy of Relativizing, blithely dismissing any and all arguments against one's standpoint by shrugging one's shoulders and responding that "Everything's relative," or falsely invoking Einstein, Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, or Quantum Weirdness to confuse, mystify or falsely "refute" an opponent. See "Red Herring." 

34. Excluded Middle: A corrupted argument from logos that proposes that since a little of something is good, more must be better (or that if less of something is good, none at all is even better). E.g., "If eating an apple a day is good for you, eating an all-apple diet is even better!" or "If a low fat diet prolongs your life, a zero-fat diet should make you live forever!"  The opposite of this fallacy is that of Excluded Outliers, where one arbitrarily dismisses examples or results that disprove one's standpoint by calling them "Weird," "Outliers," or "Atypical" and thus unworthy of serious consideration.  

35. False Analogy: The fallacy of incorrectly comparing one thing to another in order to draw a false conclusion. E.g., "Just like an alley cat needs to prowl, a normal adult can�t be tied down to one single lover."�

The opposite of this fallacy is the Sui Generis Fallacy, a postmodern stance that rejects the validity of analogy and of inductive reasoning altogether, because any given thing, person or idea is "sui generis" i.e., unique, in a class unto itself.  


36. Finish the Job:  The dangerous contemporary fallacy that an action or standpoint (or the continuation of the action or standpoint) may not be questioned or discussed because there is "a job to be done," falsely assuming all "jobs" are meaningless but never to be questioned. Sometimes those involved internalize ("buy into") the "job" and make the task a part of their own ethos.  (E.g., "Ours is not to reason why / Ours is but to do or die.") Related to this is the "Just a Job" fallacy. (E.g., "How can torturers stand to look at themselves in the mirror?  But, I guess it's OK because for them it's just a job.")   (See also "Blind Loyalty," "The Soldiers' Honor Fallacy" and "Argument from Inertia.")




37. Guilt by Association: The fallacy of trying to refute or condemn someone's standpoint, arguments or actions by evoking the negative ethos of those with whom one associates or of a group, religion or race to which he or she belongs or once adhered to. A form of Ad Hominem Argument. (E.g., "Don't listen to her. She's a Republican so you can't trust anything she says.")� An extreme instance of this is the "For my enemies, nothing" Fallacy, where perceived "enemies" are always wrong and must be conceded nothing, not even the time of day, e.g., "He's a Republican, so even if he said the sky is blue I still wouldn't believe him."

38. The Half Truth (also Card Stacking, Stacking the Deck, Incomplete Information). A corrupt argument from logos, the fallacy of consciously selecting, collecting and sharing only that evidence that supports one's own standpoint, telling the truth but deliberately minimizing or omitting important key details in order to falsify the larger picture and support a false conclusion.(e.g. �The truth is that Ciudad Ju�rez, Mexico is one of the world's fastest growing cities and can boast of a young, ambitious and hard-working population, mild winters, a dry and sunny climate, low cost medical and dental care, a multitude of churches and places of worship, delicious, spicy local cuisine and a swinging nightclub scene. Taken together, all these facts clearly prove that Ju�rez is one of the world�s most desirable places for young families to live, work and raise a family.�)  See also, Confirmation Bias.

39. Hero-Busting (also, "The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good") under which, since nothing and nobody in this world is perfect there are not and have never been any heroes: Washington and Jefferson held slaves, Lincoln was a racist, Karl Marx had a kid by the housemaid, Martin Luther King Jr. had an eye for women too, Lenin condemned feminism, the Mahatma drank his own urine (ugh!), the Pope is wrong on same-sex marriage and women's ordination, Mother Teresa loved suffering and was wrong on just about everything else too, etc., etc  Also applies to the near-universal contemporary political tactic of ransacking everything a person has said, written or done since childhood in order to find something to condemn (and we all have something!). An early example of this latter is deftly described in Robert Penn Warren's classic novel, All the King's Men. This is the opposite of the "Heroes All" fallacy.

40. Heroes All (also Everyone's a Winner). A contemporary fallacy that everyone is above average or extraordinary. A corrupted argument from pathos (not wanting anyone to lose or to feel bad). Thus, every member of the Armed Services, past or present, who served honorably is a national hero, every student who competes in the Science Fair wins a ribbon or trophy, and every racer is awarded a winner's jersey. This corruption of the argument from pathos, much ridiculed by American comedian Garrison Keeler, ignores the fact that if everyone wins nobody wins, and if everyone's a hero nobody's a hero. The logical result of this fallacy is that, as author Alice Childress writes, "a hero ain't nothing but a sandwich." See also the "Soldiers' Honor Fallacy."  
    

41. I Wish I Had a Magic Wand: The fallacy of regretfully (and falsely) proclaiming oneself powerless to change a bad or objectionable situation.. E.g., "What can we do about gas prices? As Secretary of Energy I wish I had a magic wand, but I don't" [shrug] .

Or, "No, you can't quit piano lessons. I wish I had a magic wand and could teach you piano overnight, but I don't, so like it or not, you have to keep on practicing." The parent, of course, ignores the possibility that the child may not want or need to learn piano. See also, TINA.

42. Job's Comforter Fallacy: The fallacy that since there is no such thing as chance and we (I, my group, or my country) are under special protection of heaven any misfortune or random natural disaster that we suffer must be due to someone's secret sin or open wickedness. The opposite of the Appeal to Heaven, this is the fallacy employed by the Westboro Baptist Church members who protest fallen service members' funerals all around the United States. See also, Magical Thinking. 

43. Just Plain Folks: This corrupt modern argument from ethos argues to a less-educated or rural audience that the one arguing is "just plain folks" who "speaks plainly" and thinks like the audience, and is thus worthy of belief, unlike some "double-domed professor," "Washington bureaucrat," "tree-hugger" or other despised outsider who "doesn't think like we do" or "doesn't share our values."  This is a counterpart to the Ad Hominem Fallacy and occasionally carries a distinct flavor of xenophobia or racism as well. This also includes the fallacy that "We're just plain folks so we need to keep our heads down and not get involved in the big things of this world, like politics, demonstrations or protests." See also the Plain Truth Fallacy.

44. Just Do it.  (Also, "Find a way;" "I don't care;" "Accomplish the mission;" "By Any Means Necessary." )  A pure, abusive Argumentum ad Baculam (argument from force), in which someone in power arbitrarily waves aside or overrules the objections of subordinates and orders them to accomplish a goal by any means required, fair or foul  The clear implication is that unethical or immoral methods should be used. E.g., "You say there's no way you can finish the dig because there's an old unmarked graveyard under the excavation site? Well, find a way! I don't want to know how you do it, just do it! This is a million dollar contract and we need  it done by Tuesday."  See also, Plausible Deniablity.
    

45. Law of Unintended Consequences (Also, "Every Revolution  Finally Ends up Eating its own Young"): In this very dangerous, archly pessimistic postmodern fallacy the bogus "Law of Unintended Consequences," once a semi-humorous satirical corollary of "Murphy's Law," is elevated to to the status of an iron law of history. This fallacy arbitrarily proclaims a priori that since we can never know everything or foresee anything, sooner or later in today's "complex world" unforeseeable adverse consequences and negative side effects (so-called "unknown unknowns") will always end up blindsiding and overwhelming, defeating and vitiating any and all "do-gooder" efforts to improve our world. Instead, we must always expect defeat and be ready to roll with the punches by developing "grit" or "resilience" as a primary survival skill. This nihilist fallacy is a practical negation of the the possibility of any argument from logos. See also, TINA. 
    

46. Lying with Statistics: The contemporary fallacy of using true figures and numbers to �prove� unrelated claims. (e.g. "College tuition costs have actually never been lower. When expressed as a percentage of the national debt, the cost of getting a college education is actually far lower today than it was in 1965!"). A corrupted argument from logos. This includes the Tiny Percentage Fallacy, that an expense that is otherwise quite significant somehow becomes insignificant simply because it's a tiny percentage of something larger.  E.g., a consumer who would choke at spending a dollar extra for two cans of peas will typically ignore $50 extra on the price of a car, or $1000 extra on the price of a house, simply because these differences are "only" a tiny percentage of the much larger amount being spent.  Historically, sales taxes or value-added taxes have successfully gained public acceptance and remain "under the radar" because of this latter fallacy. (See also Half-truth,  Snow Job, and Red Herring.)

47. Magical Thinking (also, the Sin of Presumption):: An ancient but deluded fallacy of logos, that when it comes to "crunch time," provided one has enough faith, prays hard enough, does the right rituals, or "claims the promise," God will always work a miracle at the request of the True Believer. In practice this nihilist fallacy denies the existence of a rational or predictable universe and thus the possibility of any argument from logic. See also, Positive Thinking, the Appeal to Heaven, and the Job's Comforter fallacy. .

48. Mala Fides (Arguing in Bad Faith; also Sophism):  Using an argument that the arguer himself or herself knows is not valid.  E.g., An unbeliever attacking believers by throwing verses from their own Holy Scriptures at them , or a lawyer arguing for the innocence of someone whom s/he knows fully well to be guilty. This latter is a common practice in American jurisprudence, and is sometimes portrayed as the worst face of "Sophism."

49. Moral Licensing: The contemporary ethical fallacy that one's consistently moral life, good behavior or recent especially-significant sacrifice earns him/her the right to commit an immoral act without repercussions, consequences or punishment. E.g., "I've been good all year, so one little bad won't matter," or  "After what I went through, God knows I need this."  See also Argument from Motives.
    

50. MYOB (Mind Your Own Business; You're Not the Boss of Me;  "So What?", The Appeal to Privacy), The contemporary fallacy of arbitrarily terminating any discussion of one's own standpoints or behavior, no matter how absurd, dangerous, evil or offensive, by drawing a phony curtain of privacy around oneself and one's actions. A corrupt argument from ethos (your own). (E.g., "Sure, I was doing eighty and weaving between lanes on Mesa Street--what's it to you? You're not a cop, you're not my nanny. It's my business to speed, and your business to get the hell out of the way.  Mind your own business!" Or, "Yeah, I killed my baby. So what? Butt out!  It's none of your business!") Rational discussion is cut off because "it is none of your business!" See also, "Taboo." The counterpart of this is "Nobody Will Ever Know," (also "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas;." or the Heart of Darkness Syndrome) the fallacy that just because nobody important is looking (or because one is on vacation, or away in college, or overseas) one may freely commit immoral, selfish or negative acts at will without expecting any of the normal consequences or punishment . Author Joseph Conrad graphically describes this sort of moral degradation in the character of Kurtz in his classic novel, The Heart of Darkness.
    

51. Name-Calling: A variety of the "Ad Hominem" argument. The dangerous fallacy that, simply because of who one is, any and all arguments, disagreements or objections against one's standpoint or actions are automatically racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, bigoted, discriminatory or hateful. E.g., "My stand on abortion is the only correct one. To disagree with me, argue with me or  question my judgment in any way would only show what a pig you really are." Also applies to refuting an argument by simply calling it a "fallacy," or declaring it invalid without proving why it is invalid, or summarily dismissing  arguments or opponents by labeling them "racist," "communist," "fascist," or some other negative name without further explanation . A subset of this is the Newspeak fallacy, creating identification with a certain kind of audience by inventing racist or offensive nicknames for common enemies, e.g., "The damned RINO's are even worse than the Libs and the Dems." Or, "In Dubya Dubya Two we managed to beat the Japs and the Jerries, so why is it so hard for us to beat ISIS and the Towel-heads?" See also, "Reductionism," "Ad Hominem Argument," and "Alphabet Soup."

52. No Discussion (also No Negotiation, the Control Voice, Peace through Strength, Fascism):  A pure Argumentum ad Baculam that rejects reasoned dialogue, offering either instant, unconditional compliance/surrender or death as the only two options for settling even minor differences. E.g., "Get down on the ground, now!" or "We don't talk to terrorists." This deadly fallacy falsely paints real or potential "hostiles" as monsters devoid of all reason, and far too often contains a very strong element of "machismo" as well. I.e. "A real, muscular leader never resorts to pantywaist pleading, apologies, fancy talk or argument. That's for lawyers, liars and pansies and is nothing but a delaying-tactic. A real man stands tall, talks straight, draws fast and shoots to kill."  Actor John Wayne frequently portrayed this fallacy in his movie roles. See also, The Pout.

53. Non-recognition: A deluded fallacy in which one deliberately chooses not to publicly "recognize"  ground truth on the theory that this would somehow reward evil-doers if we recognize their deeds as real. Often the underlying theory is that the situation is "temporary" and will soon be reversed. E.g., In the decades from 1949 until Richard Nixon's time the United States officially refused to recognize the existence of the most populous nation on earth, the People's Republic of China because America supported the Republic of China government on Taiwan instead and hoped they might return to power on the mainland. More than half a century after the Korean War the U.S. still refuses to pronounce the name of or recognize a nuclear-armed DPRK (North Korea). An individual who does this risks institutionalization (e.g., "I refuse to recognize Mom's murder, 'cuz that would give the victory to the murderer! I refuse to watch you bury her! Stop!  Stop!) but tragically, such behavior is common in international relations. See also the State Actor Fallacy, and The Pout.
    

54. Non Sequitur: The fallacy of offering reasons or conclusions that have no logical connection to the argument at hand (e.g. �The reason I flunked your course is because the government is printing purple five-dollar bills! Purple!�).�(See also Red Herring.)

Occasionally involves the breathtaking arrogance of claiming to have special knowledge of why God, fate or the Universe is doing certain things. E.g., "This week's earthquake was obviously meant to punish those people for their great wickedness."

55. Nothing New Under the Sun (also, �Seen it all before,� "Plus �a change, plus c'est la m�me chose.")  Fairly rare in contemporary discourse, this deeply cynical fallacy, a corruption of the argument from logos, falsely proposes that there is not and has never been any real novelty in this world,. Any argument that there are truly �new� ideas or phenomena is judged  a priori to be unworthy of serious discussion and dismissed with a sigh and a wave of the hand as "the same old same old."  E.g., �[Sigh!] Idiots! Don't you see that the current influx of refugees from the Mideast is just the same old Muslim invasion of Europe that�s been going on for 1,500 years?�   Or, �Libertarianism is nothing but anarchism, which, in turn, is nothing but the ancient Antinomian Heresy. Like I told you, there's nothing new under the sun!� 

56. Overgeneralization (also Hasty Generalization, Totus pro Partes Fallacy) where a  broad generalization that is agreed to be true is offered as overriding all particular cases, particularly special cases requiring immediate attention. E.g., "Doctor, you say this time of year a  flu vaccination is essential. but I would point out that ALL vaccinations are essential" (implying that I'm not going to give special attention to getting the flu shot).  Or, attempting to refute "Black Lives Matter" by replying, 'All Lives Matter," the latter undeniably true but still a fallacious overgeneralization in that specific and urgent context.  Also includes the the Pars pro Toto Fallacy,. the stupid but common fallacy of incorrectly applying one or two true examples to all cases. E.g. �Some college student was tailgating me all the way up North Main Street last night. This proves that all college students are lousy drivers and that we should pull their driver�s licenses until they either grow up, learn to drive or graduate!� 

57. The Paralysis of Analysis (also, Procrastination, the Nirvana Fallacy): A postmodern fallacy that since all data is never in, any conclusion is always provisional, no legitimate decision can ever be made, and any action should always be delayed until forced by circumstances. A corruption of the argument from logos.  

(See also "Law of Unintended Consequences.")

58. The Passive Voice Fallacy.  A fallacy from ethos, concealing agency behind the curtain of the grammatical passive voice, e.g., "It has been decided that you will be let go," arrogating an ethos of cosmic inevitability to a very fallible decision made by identifiable and fallible human beings.

59. The Plain Truth Fallacy; (also, the Simple Truth fallacy, Salience Bias, the KISS Principle [Keep it Short and Simple], the Executive Summary): A fallacy of logos favoring familiar or easily comprehensible data, examples and evidence over that which is more complex and unfamiliar but much closer to the truth. E.g,, "Ooooh, that has equations and formulas in it!  Just boil it down for me," or "I don't want your damned philosophy lesson!  Just tell me why this is happening!"  A more sophisticated version of this fallacy arbitrarily proposes, as did Scottish rhetorician John Campbell, that the Truth is always simple by nature and only enemies of the Truth would seek to make it complicated. (See also, The Snow Job.) The opposite of this fallacy is the postmodern fallacy of Ineffability or Complexity, that the world is so complex that there is no truth, or that Truth (capital-T), if it exists, is unknowable except by God and is thus forever inaccessible and irrelevant to us mere finite mortals. (See also the Paralysis of Analysis.)

60. Plausible Deniability:  A vicious fallacy of ethos under which someone in power forces those under his or her control to do some questionable or evil act and to then falsely assume public responsibility for that act in order to protect the ethos of the one in command. E.g., "Make sure he meets with a fatal accident and that it doesn't get back to me! Be sure that I know nothing about it!"

61. Playing on Emotion (also, the Sob Story, the Pathetic Fallacy, or the "Bleeding Heart" fallacy): The classic fallacy of pure argument from pathos, ignoring facts and calling on emotion alone. E.g., �If you don�t agree that witchcraft is a major problem just shut up, close your eyes for a moment and picture in your mind all those poor moms crying bitter tears for their innocent tiny children whose cozy little beds and happy tricycles lie all cold and abandoned, just because of those wicked old witches! Let's string�em all up!� The opposite of this is the archly cynical fallacy of Apathy, where any and all legitimate arguments from pathos are brushed aside because, in the words of country music singer Jo Dee Messina, "My give a damn is busted."

Also associated with the Pathetic Fallacy is the fallacy of Refinement ("Real Feelings"), where certain classes of living beings such as plants and animals, infants, babies and children, slaves, deep-sea sailors, farmworkers, convicts, refugees, addicts, terrorists, foreigners or "the lower classes" in general are deemed incapable of experiencing real pain like we do, or of having any "real feelings" at all, only brutish appetites, lusts, instincts, drives, cravings and automatic tropisms. See also, They're Not Like Us.


62. Political Correctness ("PC"): A postmodern fallacy, a counterpart of the "Name Calling" fallacy, supposing that the nature of a thing or situation can be changed by simply changing its name. E.g., "Today we strike a blow for animal rights and against cruelty to animals by changing the name of �pets� to �animal companions.�" Or "Never, ever play the 'victim' card, because it's so manipulative and sounds so negative, helpless and despairing. Instead of saying 'victims,' we are 'survivors.'" (Of course, when "victims" disappear then perpetrators conveniently vanish as well!)  

Also applies to other forms of  political "Language Control," e.g., being careful never to refer to North Korea or ISIS/ISIL by their rather pompous proper names ("the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" and "the Islamic State," respectively). See also, Non-recognition.

63. Positive Thinking Fallacy: An immensely popular but deluded modern fallacy of logos, that because we are "thinking positively" that in itself somehow biases external, objective reality in our favor even before we lift a finger to act. See also, Magical Thinking. Note that this particular fallacy is often part of a much wider closed-minded, sometimes cultish ideology where the practitioner is warned against paying attention to to or even acknowledging the existence of "negative" evidence or counter-arguments against his/her standpoints. In the latter case rational argument or refutation is most often futile.

64. The Pout (also The Silent Treatment, Noncooperation):. An Argumentum ad Baculam that arbitrarily rejects or gives up on dialogue before it is concluded. The most benign nonviolent form of this fallacy is found in passive-aggressive tactics such as slowdowns, boycotts, sitdowns and strikes.  The United States recently ended a half-century long political Pout with Cuba. See also "No Discussion" and "Nonrecognition."

65. Post Hoc Argument: (also, "Post Hoc Propter Hoc;"  "Too much of a coincidence," the "Clustering Illusion"): The classic paranoiac fallacy of distinguishing nonexistent patterns in random coincidences, concluding that just because something happens close to, at the same time or just after something else the first thing is caused by the second. E.g., "AIDS first emerged as a problem back in the very same era when Disco music was becoming popular--that's too much of a coincidence: It proves that Disco caused AIDS!"�  

66. Red Herring: An irrelevant distraction, attempting to mislead an audience by bringing up an unrelated but usually emotionally loaded issue. E.g., "In regard to my recent indictment for corruption let�s be straight about what�s really important: Terrorism! Vote for me and I'll fight those terrorists anywhere in the world!"  Also applies to raising unrelated issues as falsely opposing the issue at hand, e.g., "You say 'Black Lives Matter," but I say 'Zika Matters!'" when the two are in no way opposed, only competing for attention.
    

67. Reductionism: (also, Oversimplifying, Sloganeering): The fallacy of deceiving an audience by giving simple answers or bumper-sticker slogans in response to complex questions, especially when appealing to less educated or unsophisticated audiences. E.g., "If the glove doesn�t fit, you must vote to acquit." Or, "Vote for Snith. He's tough on terrorism!"
    

68. Reifying: The fallacy of treating imaginary categories as actual, material "things." (E.g., "The War against Terror is a fight to the death between Freedom and Evil!") Sometimes also referred to as "Essentializing" or �Hypostatization.�

69. The Romantic Rebel (Also, Truthout): The contemporary fallacy of claiming truth or validity for one's standpoint solely or primarily because one is heroically standing up to prevailing "orthodoxy," the existing Standard Model, conventional wisdom, or whatever may be the Bandwagon of the moment, a corrupt argument from ethos. E.g., "Back in the day the scientific establishment thought that the world was flat, until Columbus proved them wrong!  Now scientific orthodoxy has us believing that bottled water is nothing but H^2,O. They're trying to suppress the truth that bottled water actually has nitrogen in it and causes congenital vampirism!"  The opposite of the Bandwagon fallacy.

70. Scare Tactic (Also Paranoia): A variety of Playing on Emotions, a raw appeal to fear. A corrupted argument from pathos.(E.g., "If you don't shut up and do what I say we're all gonna die! In this moment of great crisis we can't afford the luxury of criticizing or trying to second-guess my decisions. Our very lives and freedom are in peril!  We need to be united as one!") See also, "We Have to do Something!."
    

71. Sending the Wrong Message: A dangerous fallacy of logos that attacks a given statement, argument or action, no matter how true or necessary, because it will "send the wrong message." In effect, those who use this fallacy are openly confessing to fraud and admitting that the truth will destroy the fragile web of illusion that has been created by their lies. E.g., "Actually, we're losing the war against drugs hands down, but if we publicly admit it we'll be sending the wrong message." 
    

72. Shifting the Burden of Proof. (see also Argument from Ignorance)  A fallacy of logos that challenges an opponent to disprove a controversial claim rather than asking the person making the claim to defend his/her own argument. E.g., "Space-aliens are everywhere among us masquerading as true humans, even right here on campus! I dare you prove it isn't so! See?  You can't!  That means  what I say has to be true." 

73. Slippery Slope (also, the Domino Theory): The common fallacy that "one thing inevitably leads to another." E.g., "If you two go and drink coffee together one thing will lead to another and soon enough you'll be pregnant and end up spending your life on welfare living in the Projects," or "If we close Gitmo one thing will lead to another and before you know it armed terrorists will be strolling through our front doors with explosive suicide belts!"
    

74. Snow Job (Also Information Bias):The fallacy of �proving� a claim by overwhelming an audience with mountains of irrelevant facts, numbers, documents, graphs and statistics that they cannot be expected to understand or evaluate. This is a corrupted argument from logos. See also, "Lying with Statistics."

75. Soldiers' Honor Fallacy. The ancient fallacy that all who wore a uniform, fought hard and followed orders are worthy of some special honor or glory or are even "heroes," whether they fought for freedom or fought to defend slavery, marched under Grant or Lee, Hitler, Stalin or McArthur, fought to defend their homes, fought for oil or to spread empire, or even fought against and killed U.S. soldiers!. A corrupt argument from ethos (that of a soldier), closely related to the "Finish the Job" fallacy ("Sure, he died for a lie, but he deserves honor because he followed orders and did his job to the end!"). See also "Heroes All." This fallacy was recognized and decisively refuted at the Nuremburg Trials after World War II but remains powerful to this day nonetheless. See also "Blind Loyalty." Related is the State Actor Fallacy, that those who fight and die for a country (America, Russia, Iran, the Third Reich, etc.) are worthy of honor or at least pardonable while those who fight for a non-state actor (abolitionists, guerrillas, freedom-fighters, jihadis) are not and remain "terrorists" no matter how noble or vile their cause, until or unless they are adopted by a state after the fact.

76. Star Power (also Testimonial, Questionable Authority, Faulty Use of Authority): In academia, a corrupt argument from ethos in which arguments, standpoints and subjects of academic discourse are granted unquestioned validity or condemned to obscurity solely by whoever the reigning "stars" of the discipline are at the moment, e.g., "Network Theory has been thoroughly criticized and is so last-week!. This week everyone's into Shannon Information Theory and Pierce's theory of microaggressions. Get with the program." (See also, the Bandwagon.) At the popular level this also refers to a corrupt argument from ethos in which popular support for a standpoint or product is established by a well-known or respected figure (e.g. a star athlete or entertainer) who is not an expert and who may have been well paid to make the endorsement (e.g., �Olympic gold-medal pole-vaulter Fulano de Tal uses Quick Flush Internet-shouldn�t you?" Or, "My favorite rock star warns that vaccinations spread rickets, so I'm not vaccinating my kids!" ). Includes other false, meaningless or paid means of associating oneself or one�s product or standpoint with the ethos of a famous person or event (e.g., �Try Salsa Cabria, the official taco sauce of the Winter Olympics!�).

77. Straw Man (also "The Straw Person" ""The Straw Figure"): The fallacy of setting up a phony, weak or ridiculous parody of an opponent's argument and then proceeding to knock it down with a wave of the hand. E.g., "Vegetarians say animals have feelings like you and me. Ever seen a cow laugh at a Shakespeare comedy? Vegetarianism is nonsense!" Or, "Pro-choicers hate babies!" Or, "Pro-lifers hate women and want them to spend their lives barefoot, pregnant and chained to the kitchen stove!" This fallacy is only too common in American politics and popular discourse.

78. Taboo: The fallacy of unilaterally declaring certain arguments, standpoints or actions "sacrosanct" and not open to discussion, or arbitrarily taking some standpoints or options "off the table" beforehand. (E.g., "Don't bring my drinking into this," or "Before we start, you need to know I won't allow you to play the race card or to attack my arguments by claiming 'That's just what Hitler would say!'")  Also applies to discounting or rejecting certain arguments and evidence out of hand because they are "against the Bible" or other sacred doctrine. See also the A Priori Argument.

79. They're all Crooks. The fallacy of refusing to get involved in public politics because all politicians and politics are allegedly corrupt, ignoring the fact that if this is so it is because "decent" people like you and me refuse to get involved, leaving the field open to the "crooks." An example of Circular Reasoning.
    

80. They're Not Like Us (Also, Stereotyping, Xenophobia. Prejudice): A badly corrupted, discriminatory argument from ethos where facts, arguments, experiences or objections are arbitrarily disregarded, ignored or put down without serious consideration because those involved "are not like us," or "don't think like us." E.g., "It's OK for Mexicans to earn a buck an hour in the maquiladoras.  If it happened here I'd call it brutal exploitation and daylight robbery but south of the border, down Mexico way they're different from us."  Or, "You claim that life must be really terrible over there for terrorists  to ever think of blowing themselves up with suicide vests just to make a point, but remember that they're different from us. In their religion they don't think about life and death the same way we do." A variety of the Ad Hominem Fallacy, most often applied to non-white or non-Judeochristian populations.

81. The "Thousand Flowers" Fallacy (Also, "Take names and kick butt.): A sophisticated "Argumentum ad Baculam" in which free and open discussion and "brainstorming" is temporarily allowed and encouraged not in order to hear and consider opposing views, but rather to "smoke out," identify and later punish or liquidate dissenters. The name comes from the Thousand Flowers Period in Chinese history when Communist leader Chairman Mao Tse Tung applied this policy with deadly effect.
    

82. TINA (There Is No Alternative. Also "That's an order," "Get over it," "It is what it is," or the "Fait Accompli"). A very common contemporary extension of the either/or fallacy in which someone in power quashes critical thought by announcing that there is no realistic alternative to a given standpoint, status or action, arbitrarily ruling any and all other options out of bounds, or announcing that a decision has been made and any further discussion is insubordination, disloyalty, disobedience or simply a waste of precious time when there's a job to be done. (See also, "Taboo;" "Finish the Job.")  Often a variety of the Argumentum ad Baculam.
    

83. Transfer: (Name Dropping) A corrupt argument from ethos, falsely associating a famous person, place or thing with an unrelated standpoint (e.g. putting a picture of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on an advertisement for mattresses, using Genghis Khan, a Mongol who hated Chinese, as the name of a Chinese restaurant, or using the Texas flag to sell cars or pickups that were made in Detroit, Kansas City or Kyoto). This fallacy is common in contemporary academia in the form of using a profusion of scholarly-looking citations from respected scholars to lend a false gravitas to otherwise specious ideas or text. �

(See also "Star Power.")


84. Tu Quoque ("You Do it Too!"; also, Two Wrongs Make a Right): A corrupt argument from ethos, the fallacy of defending a shaky or false standpoint or excusing one's own bad action by pointing out that one's opponent's acts, ideology or personal character are also open to question, or are perhaps even worse than one's own. E.g., "Sure, we may have tortured prisoners and killed kids with drones, but we don't cut off heads off like they do!" Or, "You can't stand there and accuse me of corruption! You guys are all into politics and you know what you have to do to get reelected!"  Related to the Red Herring and to the Ad Hominem Argument.




85. We Have to Do Something: (Also,  the Placebo Effect, "Security Theater"). The dangerous contemporary fallacy that when "People are scared / People are angry / People are fed up" it becomes necessary to do something, anything, at once even if it is an overreaction, is a completely ineffective, inert placebo, or actually makes the situation worse, rather than "just sitting there doing nothing." (E.g., "Banning air passengers from carrying ham sandwiches onto the plane and making parents take off their newborn infants' little pink baby-shoes probably does nothing to deter potential hijackers, but people are scared and we have to do something to respond to this crisis!") This is a badly corrupted argument from pathos. (See also "Scare Tactic.")
    

86. Where there�s smoke, there�s fire (also Hasty Conclusion, Jumping to a Conclusion). The dangerous fallacy of drawing a snap conclusion and/or taking action without sufficient evidence. E.g., �My neighbor Jaminder Singh wears a long beard and a turban and speaks a funny language. Where there's smoke there's fire. That�s all the evidence we need that he's a terrorist! Let's burn his store down!� A variety of the �Just in Case� fallacy.

The opposite of this is the "Paralysis of Analysis."

87. The Wisdom of the Crowd (also, The Magic of the Market). A very common contemporary fallacy that individuals may be wrong but "the crowd" or "the market" is infallible, ignoring historic examples like witch-burning, lynching, and the market crash of 2008.

88. The Worse Negates the Bad (also, Be Grateful for What You've Got): The logical fallacy that a bad situation stops being bad because it could be far worse, or because someone, somewhere has it even worse than you. E.g., "I cried because I had no shoes, until I saw someone with no feet." Or, "You're protesting because you earn only $7.25 an hour? Well, I happen to know there are people in Uttar Pradesh who are doing the very same work you're doing for one tenth of what you're making, and they're grateful just to have a job!  You need to shut up, put down that picket sign, go back to work and  thank heaven every day for what little you've got!" The opposite of The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good fallacy.

89. Worst Case Fallacy (also, "Just in case."): A pessimistic fallacy by which one�s reasoning is based on an improbable, far-fetched or even completely imaginary worst-case scenario rather than on reality. This plays on pathos (fear) rather than reason. E.g., "What if armed terrorists were to attack your county grain elevator tomorrow morning at dawn? Are you ready to fight back?  Better stock up on assault rifles and ammunition today, just in case!"

90. Zero Tolerance (also, Zero Risk Bias, Disproportionate Response, Even One is Too Many, Judenrein). The contemporary fallacy of declaring an "emergency" and promising to devote unlimited resources to stamp out a limited or even nonexistent problem. E.g., "I just read about an actual case of cannibalism somewhere in this country. That's disgusting, and even one case is way, way too many! We need a Federal Taskforce against Cannibalism with a million-dollar budget and offices in every state, a national SCAN program in all the grade schools (Stop Cannibalism in America Now!), and an automatic double death penalty for cannibals; in other words, zero tolerance for cannibalism in this country!" This is a corrupt and cynical argument from pathos, almost always politically driven, a particularly sinister variety of the "We Have to do Something" fallacy. (See "Playing on Emotions," "Red Herring," and also the "Big Lie Technique.")

     OW 7/06 with thanks to Susan Spence. Latest revision 3/16, with special thanks to Business Insider and to all readers who suggested corrections, additions and clarifications.  This is a living document, so any suggestions or critiques are welcome. Please copy and share freely.