The complete list

Every logical fallacy, cognitive bias, rhetorical device, and debate tactic on fallacy.is, grouped by category. 20 entries. Each has a short URL you can paste into any discussion.

Logical fallacies (14)

Errors in reasoning that make an argument invalid or misleading, regardless of the conclusion.

  1. Ad Hominem Attacking the person making an argument instead of the argument itself.
  2. Anecdotal Evidence Drawing a general conclusion from a single story or personal experience.
  3. Appeal to Authority Using a person's status as proof of a claim, instead of the evidence behind the claim.
  4. Appeal to Emotion Substituting an emotional reaction for an argument about the facts.
  5. Bandwagon Treating how many people believe a claim as evidence that the claim is true.
  6. Circular Reasoning Supporting a claim with the claim itself, dressed up in different words.
  7. False Dichotomy Framing a choice as two options when more exist.
  8. Genetic Fallacy Judging a claim by its source, origin, or history instead of its content.
  9. No True Scotsman Redefining a category on the fly to exclude counterexamples, protecting a claim about the category.
  10. Post Hoc Assuming that because one thing followed another, the first caused the second.
  11. Red Herring Introducing an irrelevant topic to distract from the actual argument.
  12. Slippery Slope Claiming a small step will inevitably cause a chain of extreme consequences, without showing why.
  13. Straw Man Replacing someone's argument with a weaker version, then knocking down the weaker version.
  14. Tu Quoque Dismissing a critique by pointing out that the critic is guilty of the same thing.

Cognitive biases (3)

Predictable patterns in how the mind distorts judgment — useful to name, hard to avoid.

  1. Confirmation Bias The tendency to notice, remember, and trust evidence that supports what you already believe.
  2. Dunning-Kruger Effect A pattern where people with limited competence in a domain tend to overestimate their ability in that domain.
  3. Sunk Cost Fallacy Continuing a course of action because of what has already been spent on it, rather than what it still offers.

Rhetorical devices (1)

Techniques used to persuade rather than reason. Some are fair; many are traps.

  1. Whataboutism Deflecting a criticism by raising a different criticism of the critic or their side.

Debate tactics (2)

Moves people make in arguments — dodges, traps, and bad-faith patterns worth naming.

  1. Gish Gallop Burying an opponent in a flood of claims, too many and too fast to refute in real time.
  2. Motte and Bailey Defending a bold claim by retreating to a weaker, related claim when challenged, then returning to the bold claim later.