The 10 Commandments of Logic

In this version of the 10 Commandments, logical fallacies are exposed, named, and renounced. 

1. Thou shall not attack the person’s character, but the argument. (Ad hominem) 

2. Thou shall not misrepresent or exaggerate a person’s argument in order to make them easier to attack. (Straw man fallacy)  

3. Thou shall not use small numbers to represent the whole. (Hasty generalization) 

4. Thou shall not argue thy position by assuming one of its premises is true. (Begging the question) 

5. Thou shall not claim that because something occurred before, it must be the cause. (Post Hoc/False cause) 

6. Thou shall not reduce the argument down to two possibilities. (False dichotomy) 

7. Thou shall not argue that because of our ignorance, claim must be true or false. (Ad ignorantum) 

8. Thou shall not lay the burden of proof onto him that is questioning the claim. (Burden of proof reversal) 

9. Thou shall not assume “this” follows “that” when it has no logical connection. (Non sequitur) 

10. Thou shall not claim that because a premise is popular, therefore it must be true. (Bandwagon fallacy)

This list came to my attention from another chat group.  Well worth repeating.... Hat tip to Matt

Original is < HERE>

Related post:

PhilosFX: Taxonomy of the Logical Fallacies

Jul 05, 2011

An excellent Taxonomy of the Logical Fallacies is available HERE. Nathan, who tipped me to this site, says, "Might be good mental floss on occasion!" Skeptics rely on sound logic in the quest for Truth....