20 Most Common Logical Fallacies

What is an argument? What is a bad argument? Train your argumentation skills by studying "bad" logic. In this video, we discuss 20 common argumentation mistakes or logical fallacies.

00:00 Introduction: Spot the Fallacy
02:10 What Is an Argument?
05:10 Twenty Most Common Fallacies

06:50 1 — Ad Hominem
09:59 2 — Appeal to Common Belief
12:20 3 — Appeal to Emotion
14:15 4 — Appeal to Law
16:30 5 — Argument from Offence
17:42 6 — Argument from Trauma
21:31 7 — Begging the Question
23:12 8 — Bulverism
25:00 9 — Cherry Picking
28:59 10 — Chronological Snobbery

30:32 11 — False Dilemma
32:35 12 — Genetic Fallacy
33:40 13 — No True Scotsman
35:19 14 — Non Sequitur
37:15 15 — Poisoning the Well
38:52 16 — Reductio ad Hitlerum
41:42 17 — Slippery Slope
43:41 18 — Strawman Fallacy
45:15 19 — Unfalsifiability
47:18 20 — Whataboutism

50:32 Recapitulation (and a Secret)

Spot the Fallacy is a game, a pedagogical tool I developed to help undergraduates who have little (sometimes no) grounding in logic and argumentation.

At the beginning of each course, I introduce and demonstrate 20 “most common” logical fallacies (such as ad hominem, slippery slope, chronological snobbery, etc). I then tell students that I will be *deliberately* committing one fallacy per lecture. And I challenge them to “catch me”.

Eyes light up. Learning becomes a game. The most rewarding part are the fun discussions we have at the end of each lecture about what students found problematic in my argumentation and whether it amounted to a fallacy or not.

Obviously, the purpose is to help hone transferable critical skills, train intellectual and moral virtues, and foster a posture of learning that avoids the opposite pitfalls of naïve credulity and categorical cynicism. Ironically but predictably, learning about “bad” logic has translated into good essays and even better conversations.

I try to mix it up each year by introducing new fallacies. This keeps fresh even for returning students. This year's two new fallacies are Argument from Trauma and Whataboutism.

Oxford-style Online Tutorials with Dr. Jason Lepojärvi:
https://studycslewis.com/references-main2/

Видео 20 Most Common Logical Fallacies канала Dr. Jason Lepojärvi