Not an argument

Many of you apparently fail at posting basic arguments in this forum and instead post prejudice and opinion.

To assist you in understanding the purpose of a debate here are some tips:

Valid arguments can take one of three forms:
Inductive reasoning: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inductive_reasoning
Deductive reasoning: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deductive_reasoning
Reasoning by analogy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analogical_reasoning

Also be aware of self contradictory statements and performative contradictions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contradiction
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performative_contradiction

And finally, please avoid these common fallacies:
Proving a negative: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_ignorance
"What about the children": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_emotion
"Ok for me but not for you": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_standard
"True for me but not for you": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativist_fallacy
"It's always been that way": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_tradition
"God/jesus/the government said so": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_authority
"X happens when Y happens therefore X causes Y": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_hoc_ergo_propter_hoc
"chaos will break loose if we don't have a government": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_fear

 

[Iminess]

God i hate that one
"God/Jesus/the government"
Sticky!

 

[Billetes]

You should sticky this Sythe.

 

[nonamekiller]

This reminds me of geometry, T_T there were so many laws to know.

 

[Konner for 2012]

Anything else we should know?

 

[Personal Jesus]

Anything else we should know?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbole

 

[Persia_Ugly]

Excellent initiative Sythe. Glad this is sticky'd

 

[kill dank]

This is very helpful, I'm reading the articles now. Thanks

 

[Noobmage]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductio_ad_Hitlerum

I suppose it could fall under http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_hoc_ergo_propter_hoc but it could still be worth mentioning

 

[DeXoh]

http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/

Another useful resource

 

[onethousand]

Don't forget the grand master of all logical fallacies, the argumentum ad hominem.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem

 

[Fimusda]

Random post, another commonly used fallacy is attacking a straw man.

Person A represents position X. Person B changes position X slightly to make it position Y, and presents X and Y as the same thing. They then attack Y.

 

[SexayMistahBee]

How I learned to argue when debating to make myself as convincing as possible

Assertion
Reasoning
Evidence/Examples

Just basic highschool stuff..


These links are really helpful to everybody, thanks for providing them (I'm over an year late, I know)
I wish that I could learn directly from Sythe

 

[xuandma]

These links are really helpful to everybody, thanks for providing them

 

[idrinkgas]

Reading links now, seems helpful as of so far

 

[Hodge-Dung]

Just some of those are helpfull, other fails too

 

You forgot ad hominem arguments, they're uncommon but they're annoying.

Edit: Didn't see it posted above. :$

 

[Rsaccounttrader]

The point is we don't want ad hominem attacks on this forum. We're debating the ideas, not the integrity of the thinkers.

 

[Anet390]

I currently do debate (at a middle school level right now, high school next year.) And I think the SFA section needs a lot of work. Firstly, I think these two wiki links are important for those who find themselves in an argument with a specific person in the SFA section rather than a group of people:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leading_question
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loaded_question

Leading and Loaded questions are very strong tools used in debate, if used correctly you can ask your opponent/contender a series of questions that will lead them to contradict themselves (check Sythe's OP for link explaining contradiction).

Example:
Person A is arguing that we should not allow US citizens to use ak-47's for hunting because there are plenty of other weapons they can use that can kill animals just as well if not better. And ak-47's run the risk of being used for mass murders of humans rather than animals.
Person B would use leading and loaded qustions as so...

B: You said that there are plenty of other guns to hunt with? And the ak47 runs the risk of being used for murder, therefor we shall not allow citizens to use ak47's for hunting?
A: Yes. Correct.
B: Because you yourself said that there are other guns that can kill animals would you agree that there are other guns that can kill humans?
A: Yes, I suppose.
B: Then you are agreeing with me that banning ak47's will not stop criminals from comitting mass murders, because as you stated there are other weapons that can be used to kill living things. (Animals, Humans)

(NOTE: This is a really simple example. If you are still confused, feel free to shoot me a PM and I will explain this in more detail)

 

[Nerfed]

God thanks for saying this, im Glad someone actually cares about the SFA section. "Please give us a Cracking down mod to actually enforce these rules"