Most arguments people make on the internet have names. Knowing those names is the first step to noticing them faster than your opponent.
How to Play: Each question shows a flawed argument. Pick the fallacy it commits from 4 options. 10 random per round.
Result
Top 12 Logical Fallacies to Recognize
Logical fallacies are reasoning errors with names. Every fallacy in this quiz has been catalogued for at least 100 years and shows up daily in political debate, courtrooms, family arguments, and Twitter threads.
| # | Argument Example | Fallacy Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | You're wrong because you're not a doctor | Ad Hominem |
| 2 | Everyone believes it, so it must be true | Bandwagon |
| 3 | If we allow X, then soon Y, then Z | Slippery Slope |
| 4 | Either you're with us or against us | False Dichotomy |
| 5 | You can't disprove it, so it's true | Appeal to Ignorance |
| 6 | The expert said it, so it's true | Appeal to Authority |
| 7 | My opponent didn't really say that, but here's a worse version | Strawman |
| 8 | It happened after, so it must have caused it | Post Hoc |
| 9 | This applies to all members of the group | Hasty Generalization |
| 10 | Look over here, not at the actual issue | Red Herring |
| 11 | Have you stopped beating your wife? | Loaded Question |
| 12 | X is true because X is true | Begging the Question |
Why Fallacies Are Worth Memorizing
Logical fallacies are categorized into three families. Formal fallacies are errors of structure — the conclusion doesn’t follow from the premises regardless of content. Relevance fallacies attack things irrelevant to the actual claim (the speaker’s character, the audience’s emotions, irrelevant authority). Presumption fallacies hide assumptions in the question itself.
Ad Hominem attacks the person rather than their argument. It’s the most-cited fallacy in political coverage because it’s easy to spot. The variant Tu Quoque (‘you too’) points out hypocrisy as if it refutes the argument — but a hypocrite can still be correct.
Strawman misrepresents an opponent’s argument to make it easier to attack. The dishonest debater paraphrases your position into an extreme version, then defeats that. Recognizing strawman in real time requires careful listening and the ability to say, ‘No, that’s not what I said.’
Slippery Slope assumes a small step inevitably leads to extreme consequences. It’s not always wrong — sometimes a slope really is slippery — but it requires evidence of the chain reaction, not just assertion. False Dichotomy presents two options when more exist. ‘You’re either with us or against us’ ignores the option of being undecided.
Begging the Question uses the conclusion as a premise: ‘X is true because X is true.’ Modern usage often confuses this with ‘raises the question,’ but the original logical sense is circular reasoning. Appeal to Authority cites an expert’s opinion as proof — fine if the expert is in the right field, fallacious if not (a doctor’s view on economics, a CEO’s view on physics).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common fallacy in politics?
Ad Hominem (attacking the person) and Strawman (misrepresenting their position). Both appear in nearly every political debate. Slippery Slope and False Dichotomy are close behind.
Is 'appeal to authority' always wrong?
No. Citing a relevant expert is normal good reasoning. It becomes a fallacy when the cited authority is outside their expertise (a famous actor on medical advice) or when the expert’s reasoning is opaque.
How is Begging the Question different from Circular Reasoning?
They’re the same. ‘Begging the question’ originally meant assuming the conclusion in your premise — circular reasoning. Modern English uses ‘begs the question’ to mean ‘raises the question,’ which is a different (and sometimes annoying) usage.
Why do fallacies have Latin names like 'post hoc'?
Latin was the language of medieval scholastic logic. ‘Post hoc ergo propter hoc’ means ‘after this therefore because of this’ — assuming sequence implies causation. The Latin survives because it’s compact and historically rooted.
Are these formal logic mistakes?
Some are formal (Affirming the Consequent, Denying the Antecedent), but most fallacies in everyday argument are informal — errors of relevance or presumption rather than strict logical structure.
Note: Fallacy definitions per the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Some fallacies (Slippery Slope, Hasty Generalization) appear under multiple names in different texts.
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