Sources and Resources

Listed here are quality general resources on logical fallacies, as well as sources of information used in the Fallacy Files. Specific sources and resources on individual fallacies will be found at the end of the particular file for each fallacy. If you know of any good resources which are not listed here but should be, or there is a broken link to a resource, please let me know.

Books | Fun | Lesson Plans | Online Articles | Web Indices | Weblogs | Web Sites

Web Sites

  • Categorical syllogism form evaluation program

    This site allows one to test the form of a categorical syllogism, construct and evaluate Venn diagrams, as well as identify formal syllogistic fallacies. A very useful program, though the instructions for use are sketchy, so it may be difficult for a novice to learn. If you're new to syllogisms, try "Silly Syllogisms" first.

  • Informal Fallacies

    From Charles Ess, a professor of religion and philosophy, comes this collection of 28 files on standard fallacies. It is based on his A Database of Informal Fallacies (1987), and consists mainly of examples, though some of the files are empty. Despite the title, there are a few formal fallacies covered. Also, since most of the files on individual fallacies contain no or little explanatory matter, this is not the best place to start out studying the fallacies. Complicating the situation even further is the fact that some nonfallacious examples are included, along with a "fallacy" which is no such thing, with no indication of which are supposed to be fallacious and which not. So, these files would seem to be of most use to someone wanting to test their understanding on a number of examples, with some ringers thrown in. Disappointingly, most of the examples are anecdotal, reconstructed from memory, or invented: there are few direct quotations, and no citations to allow one to examine the examples in their own words in context.

  • Silly Syllogisms

    By Fergus Duniho. A JavaScript program which randomly generates a categorical syllogism, and allows one to test it for fallacies. Since a randomly generated syllogism is more likely to be invalid than valid, this is a good test of fallacy spotting. The program also comes with a clear, brief tutorial on syllogisms and their fallacies.

  • Stephen's Guide to the Logical Fallacies

    This is the granddaddy of fallacy web sites, first posted in 1995. Stephen Downes, an information architect with a master's degree in philosophy, created the site. It contains short entries for the standard list of fallacies, together with rather unrealistic, cooked-up examples. This guide is probably of most use for a quick check or refreshing of memory concerning a specific fallacy, rather than as a way to learn about fallacies. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to have been updated since '96.

    • The Fallacy Zoo

      Based on Stephen Downes' list, this site was created by Brian Yoder, a software engineer. Like Downes' site, it hasn't been updated in a long time. I include it mainly because I like the name.

Weblogs

  • Fallacy Files Weblog

    The weblog that accompanies this website, it includes examples taken from the media and current events, as well as puzzles, paradoxes, book reviews, and links and pointers to articles and books of current interest.

  • Humbug! Online

    The weblog companion to the book Humbug! by Jef and Theo Clark, a father and son team of Australian educators. More satirical than scholarly, it leans politically to the right, with an emphasis on Australian politics.

  • The Non Sequitur

    A weblog by two philosophy professors who teach logic, and are rather coy about their identities, for some reason. It concentrates on American politics from a liberal point of view, mainly criticizing the prominent conservative columnists George Will, Charles Krauthammer, and David Brooks.

  • Notes on Logic

    A excellent weblog by Lee Archie, who is a philosopher at Lander University. The entries are concerned mainly with fallacies and related informal logic topics. Highly recommended.

  • Overcoming Bias

    A weblog by a large group that includes philosophers, psychologists, economists, and artificial intelligence researchers. Its focus is on cognitive biases and how to overcome them. Moderately technical, it's likely to be of most interest to those who have some familiarity with the psychological literature on bias. There is some overlap between logical fallacies and cognitive bias, though logicians and psychologists tend to work in ignorance and misunderstanding of each other. Hopefully, efforts such as this will help bridge the gap.

Web Indices

  • Critical Thinking on the Web: Fallacies

    Tim van Gelder's fallacies category in his guide to quality critical thinking resources on the web. Some overlap with this list, but also some differences which may help to give the reader a different perspective.

  • The Open Directory Project: Informal Logic

    The Open Directory category on informal logic, which I formerly edited, has links to quality sites covering logical fallacies, as well as other informal logic topics. This category is currently in need of a volunteer editor.

Fun with Fallacies

Fallacies can be fun and funny! Cases in point:

  • Dave Barry, "How to Argue Effectively"

    Let me put it this way. In terms of arguments vis-a-vis winning, this article will tell you how to do so more often, on any topic qua topic, against any opponent, so to speak.

  • James W. Benham & Thomas J. Marlowe, "Logical Fallacies"

    A unique collection of examples.

  • Voros McCracken, "Change the Subject, and Change Your Life"

    How to argue about baseball; or, rather, how not to argue about baseball. Also useful for not arguing about other topics.

  • Julia Nefsky, "A Logical Vacation"

    So you think that there's nothing funny about logic? Here's an excellent article explaining the role of logic―or, more accurately illogic―in humor, with many funny examples of fallacies.

  • Max Shulman, "Love is a Fallacy"

    Dobie Gillis is hoist on his own logical petard.

Online Articles

  • Bad Moves

    A column by Julian Baggini, editor of The Philosopher's Magazine, on informal logic and fallacies, often applied to issues in the news. It amounts to a short book covering many of the main fallacies, together with other issues in informal logic.

  • Fallacies

    By Bradley Dowden. An article from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, written by one of the two editors of that reference work. Consists of a short introductory discussion of the scholarly controversies over fallacies, followed by a long list of named fallacies. There are 164 names of fallacies, though many of the fallacies have multiple names. I count 103 fallacies with substantive entries, though necessarily each entry is brief since the entire article is one long webpage! Unfortunately, the examples given are either short cooked-up ones, or the typical textbook chestnuts. If you can't find a fallacy listed in the Fallacy Files, this would be the most likely place to find a short but sound explanation of it on the web.

Lesson Plans

Books

Acknowledgments: Thanks to Vance Ricks and Alfred Uhl. gncurtis@fallacyfiles.org