A logical fallacy is, simply put, a flaw in reasoning. Often, logical fallacies are tactics that are used in order to bolster arguments that are, otherwise, pretty weak. At worst, they are diversion ...

Yuri Arcurs peopleimages.com / Getty Images/iStockphoto When I was in college, I remember naively signing up for a course called “Introduction to Logic.” It turned out to be one of the greatest ...

To persuade you, people often try to use logical fallacies (Credit: Javier Hirschfeld) When people are trying to persuade you, they sometimes reach for underhand tricks like the 'appeal to ignorance' ...

For regulars at Ars Technica, the forums are as much a part of the site’s identity as the articles. And where there are forums, there are flame wars. The BattleFront is infamous for its contentious ...

"I strongly object to wrong arguments on the right side," said GK Chesterton. "I think I object to them more than to the wrong arguments on the wrong side." Arguments are attempts to persuade by ...

An informal fallacy is an attempt at making a logical argument where there’s a failure in the reasoning itself. This can stem from a number of causes, such as the misapplication of words and phrases, ...

The Book of Bad Arguments is a great primer for anyone looking to understand logical fallacies and become a better debater. It helps that each logical fallacy is accompanied by a comic featuring funny ...

The Internet is teeming with crazies, jerks, and blowhards; and in online forums, debaters are full of passionate intensity. Peruse the comments area on any popular blog, and you’ll find more ...

Six months of xenophobic political bloviation do not overturn centuries of experience. Trade and immigration are good for the US economy. As Adam Smith and David Ricardo explained two centuries ago, ...

Informal fallacies, popular with politicians and conmen of all stripes, are frequently found in inductive arguments and can be very hard to uncover. What follows is a selection of some of the more ...