appeal to authority(Saying thatbecause anauthority thinkssomething, it musttherefore be true.)begging thequestion(A circularargument in whichthe conclusion isincluded in thepremise.)strawman(misrepresentargument)bandwagon(Appealing topopularity or the factthat many people dosomething as anattempted form ofvalidation.)ambiguity(Using doublemeanings orambiguities oflanguage to misleador misrepresent thetruth.)middle ground(Saying that acompromise, ormiddle point,between twoextremes is thetruth.)the gambler's fallacy(Believing that 'runs'occur to statisticallyindependentphenomena such asroulette wheel spins.)tu quoque(Avoiding having toengage with criticismby turning it back onthe accuser -answering criticismwith criticism.)cherrypicking(when an argumenthighlights evidencethat supports itsconclusion whileignoring significantevidence to thecontrary)composition/division(Assuming thatwhat's true aboutone part ofsomething has tobe applied to all, orother, parts of it.)appeal to nature(Making theargument thatbecause somethingis 'natural' it istherefore valid,justified, inevitable,good, or ideal.)special pleading(Moving thegoalposts ormaking upexceptions when aclaim is shown tobe false.)slippery slope(Asserting that if weallow A to happen,then Z willconsequently happentoo, therefore Ashould not happen.)(the texassharpshooter)Cherry-picking dataclusters to suit anargument, or findinga pattern to fit apresumption.appeal to emotion(Manipulating anemotionalresponse in placeof a valid orcompellingargument.)loaded question(Asking a questionthat has apresumption built intoit so that it can't beanswered withoutappearing guilty.)genetic(Judgingsomething good orbad on the basisof where it comesfrom, or fromwhom it comes.)(the fallacy fallacy)Presuming thatbecause a claim hasbeen poorly argued,or a fallacy has beenmade, that the claimitself must be wrong.no true scotsman(Making what couldbe called an appealto purity as a way todismiss relevantcriticisms or flaws ofan argument.)burden of proof(Saying that theburden of proof liesnot with the personmaking the claim,but with someoneelse to disprove.)black-or-white(Where twoalternative states arepresented as the onlypossibilities, when infact more possibilitiesexist.)anecdotal(Using personalexperience or anisolated exampleinstead of a validargument, especiallyto dismiss statistics.)false cause(Presuming that areal or perceivedrelationship betweenthings means thatone is the cause ofthe other.)personal incredulity(Saying thatbecause one findssomething difficultto understand thatit's therefore nottrue.)appeal to authority(Saying thatbecause anauthority thinkssomething, it musttherefore be true.)begging thequestion(A circularargument in whichthe conclusion isincluded in thepremise.)strawman(misrepresentargument)bandwagon(Appealing topopularity or the factthat many people dosomething as anattempted form ofvalidation.)ambiguity(Using doublemeanings orambiguities oflanguage to misleador misrepresent thetruth.)middle ground(Saying that acompromise, ormiddle point,between twoextremes is thetruth.)the gambler's fallacy(Believing that 'runs'occur to statisticallyindependentphenomena such asroulette wheel spins.)tu quoque(Avoiding having toengage with criticismby turning it back onthe accuser -answering criticismwith criticism.)cherrypicking(when an argumenthighlights evidencethat supports itsconclusion whileignoring significantevidence to thecontrary)composition/division(Assuming thatwhat's true aboutone part ofsomething has tobe applied to all, orother, parts of it.)appeal to nature(Making theargument thatbecause somethingis 'natural' it istherefore valid,justified, inevitable,good, or ideal.)special pleading(Moving thegoalposts ormaking upexceptions when aclaim is shown tobe false.)slippery slope(Asserting that if weallow A to happen,then Z willconsequently happentoo, therefore Ashould not happen.)(the texassharpshooter)Cherry-picking dataclusters to suit anargument, or findinga pattern to fit apresumption.appeal to emotion(Manipulating anemotionalresponse in placeof a valid orcompellingargument.)loaded question(Asking a questionthat has apresumption built intoit so that it can't beanswered withoutappearing guilty.)genetic(Judgingsomething good orbad on the basisof where it comesfrom, or fromwhom it comes.)(the fallacy fallacy)Presuming thatbecause a claim hasbeen poorly argued,or a fallacy has beenmade, that the claimitself must be wrong.no true scotsman(Making what couldbe called an appealto purity as a way todismiss relevantcriticisms or flaws ofan argument.)burden of proof(Saying that theburden of proof liesnot with the personmaking the claim,but with someoneelse to disprove.)black-or-white(Where twoalternative states arepresented as the onlypossibilities, when infact more possibilitiesexist.)anecdotal(Using personalexperience or anisolated exampleinstead of a validargument, especiallyto dismiss statistics.)false cause(Presuming that areal or perceivedrelationship betweenthings means thatone is the cause ofthe other.)personal incredulity(Saying thatbecause one findssomething difficultto understand thatit's therefore nottrue.)

the fallacy game! - Call List

(Print) Use this randomly generated list as your call list when playing the game. There is no need to say the BINGO column name. Place some kind of mark (like an X, a checkmark, a dot, tally mark, etc) on each cell as you announce it, to keep track. You can also cut out each item, place them in a bag and pull words from the bag.


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  1. appeal to authority (Saying that because an authority thinks something, it must therefore be true.)
  2. begging the question (A circular argument in which the conclusion is included in the premise.)
  3. strawman (misrepresent argument)
  4. bandwagon (Appealing to popularity or the fact that many people do something as an attempted form of validation.)
  5. ambiguity (Using double meanings or ambiguities of language to mislead or misrepresent the truth.)
  6. middle ground (Saying that a compromise, or middle point, between two extremes is the truth.)
  7. the gambler's fallacy (Believing that 'runs' occur to statistically independent phenomena such as roulette wheel spins.)
  8. tu quoque (Avoiding having to engage with criticism by turning it back on the accuser - answering criticism with criticism.)
  9. cherrypicking (when an argument highlights evidence that supports its conclusion while ignoring significant evidence to the contrary)
  10. composition/division (Assuming that what's true about one part of something has to be applied to all, or other, parts of it.)
  11. appeal to nature (Making the argument that because something is 'natural' it is therefore valid, justified, inevitable, good, or ideal.)
  12. special pleading (Moving the goalposts or making up exceptions when a claim is shown to be false.)
  13. slippery slope (Asserting that if we allow A to happen, then Z will consequently happen too, therefore A should not happen.)
  14. (the texas sharpshooter) Cherry-picking data clusters to suit an argument, or finding a pattern to fit a presumption.
  15. appeal to emotion (Manipulating an emotional response in place of a valid or compelling argument.)
  16. loaded question (Asking a question that has a presumption built into it so that it can't be answered without appearing guilty.)
  17. genetic (Judging something good or bad on the basis of where it comes from, or from whom it comes.)
  18. (the fallacy fallacy) Presuming that because a claim has been poorly argued, or a fallacy has been made, that the claim itself must be wrong.
  19. no true scotsman (Making what could be called an appeal to purity as a way to dismiss relevant criticisms or flaws of an argument.)
  20. burden of proof (Saying that the burden of proof lies not with the person making the claim, but with someone else to disprove.)
  21. black-or-white (Where two alternative states are presented as the only possibilities, when in fact more possibilities exist.)
  22. anecdotal (Using personal experience or an isolated example instead of a valid argument, especially to dismiss statistics.)
  23. false cause (Presuming that a real or perceived relationship between things means that one is the cause of the other.)
  24. personal incredulity (Saying that because one finds something difficult to understand that it's therefore not true.)