The 10 Commandments of Logic

These are not original to me; however, I have seen them around the internet and find them most helpful.  May all of us strive to obey these in our interactions and discussions!

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)

Courage and Godspeed,

Chad

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