They occur when the premises of an argument have no bearing upon its conclusion. That is they occur in arguments whose premises have no logical relevance to their conclusion. In addition, such fallacies often involve a distractive element which diverts attention away from this very problem. (Such arguments are often referred to in Latin as non sequiturs which means it does not follow).
The irrelevance here is logical and not psychological. They are deceptive because of the psychological relevance that is often confused with logical relevance. This then defeats the purpose of logic namely, the observance of relevance between the premises and their conclusion in any given argument.
1.Ad hominem (attacking the person) arguments try to discredit a conclusion (claim, proposal etc.) by attacking its proponents instead of providing a reasoned examination of the conclusion (proposal) itself. They are divided into several variants with the most pervasive being ad hominem abusive and circumstantial.
2. Ad hominem abusive arguments attack a person’s age, character, family, gender, ethnicity, appearance, dress, personality, economic status, behavior or professional, political, or social affiliations. They employ the principle of transference i.e. what is true in psychology is also true in logic. They are also called the genetic fallacies They deceptive because of the psychological relevance that is often confused with logical relevance. This then defeats the purpose of logic namely, the observance of relevance between the premises and their conclusion in any given argument.
3.Ad hominem (attacking the person) arguments try to discredit a conclusion (claim, proposal etc.) by attacking its proponents instead of providing a reasoned examination of the conclusion (proposal) itself. They are divided into several variants with the most pervasive being ad hominem abusive and circumstantial.
4. Ad hominem abusive arguments attack a person’s age, character, family, gender, ethnicity, appearance, dress, personality, economic status, behavior or professional, political, or social affiliations. They employ the principle of transference i.e. what is true in psychology is also true in logic. They are also called the genetic fallacies They c) Red Herring is a fallacy that introduces an irrelevant issue to divert attention from the subject under discussion. A red herring is an extraneous matter used purely to divert attention away from the issue posed by an argument. Because it is irrelevant, it contributes nothing to an argument, though it misleads its audience into thinking otherwise. Red herring enable those who use them to mask other defects in their arguments and thus to evade the real issue.
-The name of this fallacy comes from an old trick used by farmers in Europe to keep hunters and their dogs from galloping through crops. By dragging a smoked herring with a strong odor along the edge of their fields, farmers threw the dogs off the track by destroying the scent of the fox.
5. Ad Vericundiun (appeal to authority) occurs when we accept (or reject) a claim merely because of the prestige, status, or respect we accord its proponents (or opponents) e.g. Testimonials – exemplified by celebrities who appear on adverts and commercials endorsing products, services or brands of goods. Mariga – UAP, Patrick Njiru with Panadol etc
6. Ad Misericordian (appeal to pity).This occurs when we arouse in the audience sense or feeling of pity or sympathy and appeal to it to win argument. This is used mainly by defense lawyers even the prosecution in cases. The legal systems encourage this.
marto answered the question on April 30, 2019 at 12:15