On the Logic Ladder you met fallacies one at a time: attacking the person, the straw man, the false dilemma and hasty generalization, among others. In real writing they hide inside ordinary paragraphs. Spotting them is part of reading an argument well, and of rebutting fairly.
| Fallacy (Logic Ladder name) | The flaw | In a letter to the editor |
|---|---|---|
| Attacking the Person | rejects a claim by attacking who made it | “Of course she wants a skate park; she’s a teenager.” |
| Straw Man | swaps the real view for a weaker one | “Tree supporters want the town to spend every dollar on leaves.” |
| False Dilemma | offers two options when there are more | “Either we close the pool or we raise taxes.” |
| Hasty Generalization | leaps from too few cases | “Two kids skipped class, so students don’t care about school.” |
| Slippery Slope | predicts a chain of results without reasons for each link | “Allow phones at lunch, and soon no one will learn anything.” |
| Red Herring | changes the subject | “Why worry about the library’s hours when the roads have potholes?” |
| Appeal to the People | true or good because many believe or do it | “Everyone in town already supports it.” |
| False Cause | one thing came first, so it caused the other | “The team lost after the new coach came, so she is the problem.” |
Key idea
A fallacy is a flaw in the reasoning, not a conclusion you dislike. Name the flaw by what the faulty step does, then answer it by bringing the argument back to the real issue.
Why it works
Fallacies persuade because they look like reasons. Naming them in your own drafts keeps you honest, and naming them in others’ writing (politely) shows readers exactly where an argument breaks, which is stronger than simply disagreeing.
Worked example: Name it, then answer it
“If the school lets students choose one elective, next they’ll want to choose all their classes, and soon there will be no required subjects at all.”
- The writer predicts a chain: one elective → all classes → no requirements.
- No reason is given for why each step would follow. That is a slippery slope.
- A fair answer: “The proposal is for one elective. If later proposals go further, they can be judged on their own merits.”
Answer: Slippery slope; answer it by returning to the actual proposal.
Worked example: Not every flaw you see is a fallacy
“Nearly all the veterinarians in the state survey recommend a yearly checkup for dogs, so you should probably take yours in.” A reader objects: “Appeal to authority!” Is it?
- The Logic Ladder separates fair and unfair appeals to authority.
- Here the experts speak about their own field, and the claim is qualified (“probably”).
- That is a reasonable appeal, not a fallacy.
Answer: No: citing experts in their own field, where they agree, is fair.
Common mistake
Calling any argument you disagree with a fallacy. An argument can reach a conclusion you dislike by perfectly good reasoning, and a fallacy can be used for a conclusion you like. Check: point to the exact step that goes wrong and name what it does. If you can’t, it may be a disagreement, not a fallacy. The Logic Ladder’s Good Reasoning That Looks Like a Fallacy shows the fair cousins of each fallacy.
For fallacies in spoken argument, see the Debate chapter Fallacies in Debate.