Critical Thinking In Educating Children Means Well-Rounded Citizens

Understanding 15 Common Logical Fallacies is Critical for Sound Thinking: An Introduction

Understanding 15 common logical fallacies argues that Critical thinking is the foundation of sound decision-making. It enables individuals to evaluate arguments logically and avoid being misled by faulty reasoning. Logical fallacies—errors in reasoning—are pervasive in political discourse, media, advertising, and even personal conversations. As political party messaging becomes more illogical, relying on well-known fallacies for their structure intended to feed people the information they are likely to believe as true on one hand and false on the other.

Outside of politics, we find this kind of misinformation and overt manipulation in corporate advertising designed to make you think that one brand is better than the other, each argument accusing the competition of being inferior. Or take the case of a legal trial where the attorneys for either side are actively trying to demolish the argument of the other side in ways that defy critical thinking with the hope that jurors themselves are not critical thinkers and are easily persuaded to one side or the other.

In other words, understanding 15 common logical fallacies must not be overlooked as an important part of the 6-12 public school curriculum. Private and Religious schools would also benefit their communities teaching critical thinking.

My Jury Duty Experience

When called to Jury duty, I made it a habit to announce my profession as that of a professor of Language and literacy. I have yet to be seated on a jury. Perhaps because I appear to either side as being able to dissect their arguments, see through their intention, and have an adverse effect on the seated jury?

I was once called to Jury Duty while teaching at University in Lubbock, Texas. Before panels were called, the Jury Room Judge asked “ If you are a professor at the University please stand.” I stood. The Judge smiling said, “Dr. you are dismissed come up and collect your seven dollars.” It was a good thing as I was traveling to an important academic conference to present a paper and serve on a panel discussion that day.

Understanding 15 Common Logical Fallacies: A Critical Thinking Exercise

Teaching the most common logical fallacies to middle and high school students equips them with tools to navigate a world awash in misinformation and manipulation. This essay identifies 15 fallacies that undermine critical thinking, explains how they function, and provides real-world examples to illustrate their impact.

Yet it is important to understand that there are many more fallacies to learn but in this essay, we only concentrate on the most common misuses of logic. Understanding the misuses or fallacies of logic we begin to reorganize the mind to recognize the flaws in thinking thus developing a sense of responsibility as a member of society. This essay is the first in a series I will present focused on critical thinking and why it is eschewed by both Republican and Democratic policy platforms in our neo-liberal nation.

Below are the 15 most common logical fallacies in no particular order of importance. In other words, the fallacies each carry the same weight in evaluating whether an argument is sound and thus true or weak and therefore false.

1. The Strawman Fallacy

The strawman fallacy involves distorting an opponent’s argument to make it easier to attack.

Examples:

• “If we raise the minimum wage, small businesses will go bankrupt.” This oversimplifies a proposal for wage increases with gradual implementation.
• “You don’t support free college? You must hate education.”

Recognizing the strawman fallacy allows students to focus on actual arguments rather than exaggerated misrepresentations.

2. Ad Hominem Attacks

The ad hominem fallacy shifts focus from the argument to the person making it.

Examples:

• “Why trust her policy proposals? She’s divorced.”
• “You can’t take financial advice from someone who isn’t rich.”

Understanding this fallacy helps students separate ideas from irrelevant personal attacks.

3. The False Dilemma (Either-Or Fallacy)

This fallacy presents two extreme options while ignoring nuanced alternatives.

Examples:

• “If we don’t ban all video games, kids will never study.”
• “You’re either with us or against us.”

Teaching this fallacy highlights the importance of seeking a middle ground and alternative solutions.

4. Appeal to Authority

This fallacy relies on endorsements from figures of authority instead of evidence.

Examples:

• “A celebrity takes these supplements, so they must work.”
• “A Nobel Prize winner supports this theory, so it must be true.”

Students learn to critically evaluate claims, regardless of authority.

5. The Bandwagon Fallacy

The bandwagon fallacy assumes that widespread acceptance validates a claim.

Examples:

• “Everyone is switching to this phone, so it must be the best.”
• “Most people support this law, so it’s the right decision.”

Teaching this fallacy encourages independent thought.

6. Hasty or Broad Sweeping Generalizations

A hasty generalization draws broad conclusions from limited evidence.

Examples:

• “One bad experience at a restaurant means all locations are terrible.”
• “I met a rude tourist from Italy, so all Italians must be rude.”

Students learn to demand sufficient evidence before forming conclusions.

7. Circular Reasoning

Circular reasoning restates the conclusion as its premise, offering no real proof.

Examples:

• “This app is great because everyone says it’s great.”
• “We can trust the news because it comes from reliable sources.”

Teaching this fallacy highlights the importance of evidence-based reasoning.

8. Post Hoc Fallacy

This fallacy assumes causation from mere correlation.

Examples:

• “I aced the test because I wore my lucky socks.”
• “Crime rates dropped after the new mayor took office, so their leadership caused the decline.”

Understanding this fallacy fosters critical thinking about cause-and-effect relationships.

9. Slippery Slope Fallacy

The slippery slope fallacy suggests that one small step will inevitably lead to extreme consequences.

Examples:

• “If we allow one exception to the dress code, soon there will be no rules.”
• “If we legalize this drug, all drugs will become legal.”

Students learn to evaluate each step independently instead of assuming inevitable extremes.

10. Appeal to Emotion

This fallacy manipulates feelings rather than presenting logical arguments.

Examples:

• “If you don’t adopt this puppy, it will never find a home.”
• “Vote for me, or our country will collapse.”

By recognizing emotional manipulation, students can focus on facts over feelings.

11. The Argument from Incredulity

This fallacy dismisses a claim as false simply because it seems implausible or difficult to understand.

Examples:

• “I can’t believe humans landed on the moon, so it must be a hoax.”
• “How could billions of stars exist? That sounds made up.”

Teaching this fallacy encourages students to investigate evidence instead of relying on gut reactions.

12. The Red Herring Fallacy

The red herring fallacy introduces an irrelevant topic to distract from the original argument.

Examples:

• “Why focus on climate change when unemployment is a bigger issue?”
• “Don’t worry about safety regulations; think about how much they cost businesses.”

Recognizing red herrings helps students stay focused on the central issue.

13. The False Equivalence

This fallacy falsely equates two unrelated things, suggesting they are equally valid or comparable.

Examples:

• “Denying climate change is just another opinion, like preferring one sports team over another.”
• “Cheating on a test isn’t any worse than copying your friend’s notes.”

Teaching this fallacy sharpens students’ ability to compare ideas critically.

14. The Appeal to Ignorance

The appeal to ignorance claims that a lack of evidence disproves or proves something.

Examples:

• “No one has proven aliens don’t exist, so they must be real.”
• “There’s no evidence against this law, so it must be effective.”

Students learn that the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

15. The Tu Quoque Fallacy (Whataboutism)

This fallacy deflects criticism by pointing out flaws in the accuser, rather than addressing the argument.

Examples:

• “You can’t criticize my spending habits; you buy expensive coffee every day.”
• “How can you talk about climate change when you drive a car?”

Understanding this fallacy ensures students focus on the argument rather than retaliatory accusations.

Conclusion: Empowering Critical Thinkers

Understanding these 15 logical fallacies equips students with the tools to evaluate arguments critically. Recognizing faulty reasoning in politics, media, advertising, scam artists, and daily life fosters informed decision-making and strengthens democracy. Teaching critical thinking early ensures future generations can navigate misinformation and contribute to a rational and thoughtful society.

Teaching critical thinking crosses over many academic disciplines and may be taught in any of the following curriculums: Science, Mathematics, History, Civics, and English or Language Arts. Science and mathematics survive on the foundations of logic. History and Civics are dependent on argument, some of which are illogical, either in the events themselves or in the way they are presented in books. The language arts study of grammar is an intense study of the logical structure of language and how that structure inhabits how one thinks of the world.

That being said, it is important to point out that sometimes a good argument goes against one’s taken for granteds (TFGs). Those things we believe but remain unexamined. Things like George Washington Chopped Down a Cherry Tree and when confronted he could not tell a lie. Or, as I wrote about in an earlier post, Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg Address on a moving train from Washington DC to Gettysburg Pennsylvania. Or abortion is a sin against God and humanity, or even Cavemen ate a better diet than is offered up by today’s processed foods so I’ll eat a Paleo diet. None of these carry much weight because they are all untrue.

Learning to think critically helps one navigate the misinformation and perhaps even the intent of the argument itself. In the first example above, the myth is intended to teach the idea that it is better to tell the truth than to tell a lie. The second provides one with proof that Abraham Lincoln was a linguistic genius to create such a concise, yet, powerful speech while making the short trip from Washington to Gettysburg. The TFGs over the issue of abortion are many and appear to be cast in concrete by one’s religious beliefs or one’s ideas of privacy. And the argument for a paleo diet depends on whether or not the caveman diet was healthy or not.

In each case, the conclusion drawn is unfounded as they remain unexamined memes repeated from belief rather than from examination. Learning to unpack arguments at their core is a skill that the tellers of tales to make one conform to another’s will is an important skill allowing one to distinguish between what is true and what is fantasy and manipulative speech!

Suggestions for Further Reading

Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, Fast and Slow.

Weston, A. (2018). A Rulebook for Arguments.

Bowell, T., & Kemp, G. (2014). Critical Thinking: A Concise Guide.

Walton, D. (2008). Informal Logic: A Pragmatic Approach.

Sagan, C. (1997). The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark.

Dennett, D. C. (2013). Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking.

Fallacy Files (online resource).

Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1974). Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases.

DISCLAIMER: The images on this page, and across the whole blog are created using AI imaging and are intended to illustrate the argument in the post. They are NOT representing real people or events directly, rather the images enhance the argument and nothing more. We do not intend any offense, nor do we wish to single out individuals in any way by the images themselves.

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