Logical Fallacy Detector

An ad hominem attacks the person making the argument instead of addressing the claim itself.

Example: "Ignore her policy idea. She is clueless."

A straw man misrepresents someone else's position into a weaker or more extreme claim that is easier to attack.

Example: "You want shorter meetings, so you must want the team to stop communicating."

A red herring introduces a distracting side issue that pulls attention away from the original argument.

Example: "We were discussing rent prices, but the real issue is how rude city traffic feels."

A false dichotomy presents only two choices when more options or nuance actually exist.

Example: "Either we ban phones entirely or students will never learn."

A slippery slope claims that one small step will inevitably trigger a chain of extreme consequences.

Example: "If we allow one late assignment, soon deadlines will disappear and school will collapse."

An appeal to authority treats a claim as true mainly because a famous or credentialed person says it.

Example: "A billionaire founder said it, so it must be correct."

An appeal to emotion substitutes feelings like fear, guilt, pity, or outrage for solid reasoning.

Example: "If you cared about families, you would support this law immediately."

A bandwagon fallacy argues that something is right or best because many people believe or do it.

Example: "Everyone uses this study app, so it must be the smartest choice."

Circular reasoning uses the conclusion as part of its own support instead of adding new evidence.

Example: "This rule is fair because it is obviously fair."

A hasty generalization draws a broad conclusion from too little evidence or a tiny sample.

Example: "I met two rude tourists, so tourists are disrespectful."

A false cause assumes that because one event happened before or near another, it caused it.

Example: "Sales dipped after the rebrand, so the new logo caused the decline."

A tu quoque dismisses criticism by accusing the other side of hypocrisy instead of addressing the argument.

Example: "You waste energy too, so your climate argument does not matter."

A loaded question smuggles an unproven assumption into the question itself.

Example: "Why are you always misleading voters?"

Equivocation shifts the meaning of a key word or phrase during the argument.

Example: "The plan is free, and free means there should be no limits at all."

An appeal to nature treats something as good, safe, or right simply because it is natural.

Example: "It is natural, so it must be safer than the synthetic option."

A no true Scotsman moves the goalposts by redefining a group to exclude counterexamples.

Example: "No real environmentalist would ever take that flight."