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To persuade you, people often try to use logical fallacies (Credit: Javier Hirschfeld) When people are trying to persuade you, they sometimes reach for underhand tricks like the 'appeal to ignorance' ...

So goes a fallacious argument from ignorance. The fallacy can occasionally be massaged slightly into a much more palatable and seemingly wise saying: "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence." ...

The Internet is teeming with crazies, jerks, and blowhards; and in online forums, debaters are full of passionate intensity. Peruse the comments area on any popular blog, and you’ll find more ...

The Book of Bad Arguments is a great primer for anyone looking to understand logical fallacies and become a better debater. It helps that each logical fallacy is accompanied by a comic featuring funny ...

"I strongly object to wrong arguments on the right side," said GK Chesterton. "I think I object to them more than to the wrong arguments on the wrong side." Arguments are attempts to persuade by ...

The "follow the money" argument is an intellectually lazy fallacy. However, if you really do think that money will change our minds, then write us a check. Glance through any sufficiently long ...

If you’ve been in on any online debates, you’ve probably heard of the ad hominem argument, an “argument against the person” in other words, attacks on someone’s character. Here’s one formal definition ...

In the heat of political argument, each side is sure of its position and convinced that the opposing one is illogical. Often the opposing side is defined as if it were simply illogical. But as ...

Steven Novella, president of the New England Skeptical Society, pointed out a variety of these abuses in his book, The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe.What follows are five logical fallacies, along ...