Bottom-up condemnation
Occurs when a negative generalization about a group is used as if it settled the character or behavior of a specific member of that group.
ConceptualEvidential
Foundational
Middle school+
Family
Comparison/Generalization Fallacy
The argument draws the wrong lesson from a comparison, stereotype, exception, or generalization.
Bottom-up justification
Occurs when a positive generalization about a group is used as if it established the virtue or competence of a specific member of that group.
ConceptualEvidential
Foundational
Middle school+
Composition fallacy
Occurs when something true of the parts is assumed to be true of the whole they compose.
Conceptual
Intermediate
High school
Division fallacy
Occurs when something true of a whole is assumed to be true of each part or member of that whole.
Conceptual
Intermediate
High school
False analogy
Occurs when one thing is treated as sufficiently like another even though the comparison breaks down at the point the argument depends on.
Conceptual
Intermediate
High school
False balance
Occurs when a dispute is presented as if the competing sides were roughly equal in credibility or evidential support even though the evidence is not remotely balanced.
PerspectivalEvidential
Intermediate
High school
False compromise
Occurs when the midpoint between two positions is treated as correct simply because it lies between them.
Conceptual
Foundational
Middle school+
False equivalence
Occurs when two things are treated as equivalent in seriousness, meaning, or explanatory weight despite relevant differences that make the comparison misleading.
ConceptualEvidential
Foundational
Middle school+
Faulty generalization
Occurs when an inductive conclusion reaches further than the available evidence can reasonably support, or ignores information that should limit the generalization.
ConceptualEvidential
Intermediate
High school
Incomplete comparison
Occurs when one option is called better, worse, cheaper, safer, or more effective without specifying the relevant comparison class or the other factors that matter.
Conceptual
Foundational
Middle school+
Inconsistent comparison
Occurs when different comparison targets are used across different dimensions to create the illusion of one all-around winner.
ConceptualEvidential
Foundational
Middle school+
Nirvana fallacy
Occurs when a realistic option is rejected because it does not solve a problem perfectly or because an imagined ideal is used as the standard of comparison.
Conceptual
Foundational
Middle school+
Perfect solution fallacy
Occurs when a useful solution is dismissed because it does not fully solve the problem or because some flaws would remain afterward.
ConceptualEvidential
Foundational
Middle school+
Perfect standard
Occurs when a messy range of better and worse cases is collapsed into a rigid perfect-or-failed binary.
Conceptual
Foundational
Middle school+
Perverted analogy
Occurs when an analogy is deliberately stretched past its intended point so it can be mocked or refuted.
TacticalConceptual
Intermediate
High school
Top-down condemnation
Occurs when a negative trait found in one member of a group is used to condemn the group as a whole.
ConceptualEvidential
Foundational
Middle school+
Top-down faulty generalization
Occurs when a reasonable generalization is attacked by demanding that it hold without relevant scope conditions or exceptions.
ConceptualEvidential
Intermediate
High school
Top-down justification
Occurs when a positive trait found in one member of a group is used to justify a positive conclusion about the group as a whole.
ConceptualEvidential
Foundational
Middle school+