1. GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills
Logical Fallacies

2. GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

3. All girls have long eyelashes. Cows has long eyelashes Conclusion:
Premise & Conclusion
Premise:
All girls have long eyelashes.
Cows has long eyelashes
Conclusion:
Therefore, all girls are cows
Is this statement logically right?
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

4. Is this reasoning logical?
Premise:
“A cloud is 90% water.
A watermelon is 90% water.
A plane can fly through a cloud.
Conclusion:
Therefore, a plane can fly through
a watermelon”
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

5. The reasoning is flawed The conclusion is illogical
There is logic in the premise
of the statements –
BUT the conclusion makes no
logical sense.
The reasoning is flawed
The conclusion is illogical
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

6. This type of arguments are called Logical fallacies
Fallacy is a mistake in reasoning
A statement or argument based on false inference that causes incorrectness in reasoning
Used to cloud our logical thinking, appeal to our emotions rather than intellect
Often masquerade as logical statements
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

7. Objective of the course
You will be able to identify fallacies
Able to indicate instances or type of fallacy
Situations
Found in newspapers, magazines, reports, advertisements
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

8. Why Study Fallacies ?
Able to spot poor reasoning & know why it is wrong
Able to correct other’s mistakes, or refute them convincingly
Supplements your knowledge on logic
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

9. Why Study Fallacies ?
Know when your reasoning in an essay is flawed or questionable
Prevent you from making generalized statements without backing it up with sound evidence
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

10. 3 categories of fallacies
(1) Fallacies that appeal to emotions (total 4)
- Claims are made that appeal to emotions rather than reason
(2) Fallacies that distract (total 3)
- Claims made to divert attention from the main issue
(3) Other common types (total 5)
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

11. (1) TYPE 1- appeal to emotions
(a) Appeal to fear/force/scare tactics -ad baculum
The claim makes use of threats.
The threats are irrelevant to the argument.
Therefore the claim is fallacious
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

12. Example: appeal to fear/force/scare tactics
If you don’t finish your vegetables, you will get cancer
If you do not forward this mail to 10 friends, you will face bad luck - (chain mail)
Listerine: kills the germ that causes bad breath
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

13. WHY FALLACIOUS?
- No proof that not eating veges can cause cancer + Not all cancers are caused by not eating veges
No proof that the chain mail causes bad luck
- Other factors may also cause bad breath.
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

14. (b) Appeal to vanity/flattery
(1) TYPE 1
(b) Appeal to vanity/flattery
Use flattery to make the reader or listener feel special.
Use persuasive language.
Often used in advertisements. To entice consumers to buy products or services
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

15. Example: Appeal to vanity/flattery
I don’t moisturize, I don’t tone, I just use Dove!
BMW 3.0Si: for those who deny themselves nothing
SBB blue-chip MasterCard, a radically new way of life
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

16. WHY FALLACIOUS?
Where is the proof that Dove is 3 in 1? That it moisturizes & tones other than it just cleans ?
Can a car really last for life?
having the new master card may not necessary change your life in a radical way
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

17. (b) Appeal to numbers/ bandwagon /peer pressure
(1) TYPE 1
(b) Appeal to numbers/ bandwagon /peer pressure
Use to solicit group identity
Put pressure on individuals to follow the crowd.
Often used in adverts - to buy software or hardware or other products & services
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

18. Example: Appeal to numbers/bandwagon/peer pressure
Millions of people smoke. Therefore smoking must not be bad for people.
All the really smart people watch University Challenge. You should watch too.
Classical music is really neat - but like my friends I prefer Linkin’ Park. We are not nerds.
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

19. WHY FALLACIOUS?
Just because millions of people do something is a poor basis to say that the action is right.
Not smart people also watch that TV show!
You don’t have to follow your friends in your choice of music to listen to. Where is the proof that classical music lovers are nerds?
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

20. Use pity to establish the truth of a conclusion
(1) TYPE 1
(b) Appeal to pity (ad misericodium)
Use pity to establish the truth of a conclusion
Use language to evoke compassion to induce the listener to accept the claim
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

21. Example: Appeal to pity
You should hire him as a coach of our football team because he broke his leg and cannot play big time football anymore.
We should re-elect Encik Fauzi as our MP because his wife just died and his crippled mother lives with him.
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

22. Why Fallacious? Pity does not serve as evidence for a claim.
Therefore the claim is fallacious
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

23. TYPE 2 - Fallacies that distract (total 3 - Claim that diverts attention from the main issue)
(a) Ad Hominem / against the person
Sometimes called - fallacy of opposition
Attacks the person’s personality, beliefs, affiliation, ethnicity to reject a claim
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

24. Encik Latif just divorce his wife. How can his proposal be any good?
Example: Ad-Hominem
Encik Latif just divorce his wife. How can his proposal be any good?
How can you vote for Salmah as prefect when she is related to the Headmistress?
You agree that the government should increase on military spending because your father works in a munitions factory.
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

25. Why Fallacious?
The character or circumstance of the person has no claim on the truth of the claim.
Encik Latif divorcing his wife has got nothing to do with his working ability
Salmah may have the makings of a good prefect even though she is related to the head mistress.
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

26. TYPE 2
(b) Red Herring
An issue brought into the picture to divert the listener’s or reader’s attention from the real issue
This happens a lot in meetings and group discussions.
Be aware of this!
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

27. Example: Red herring
Why worry about the Pandas becoming extinct when we have a large number of homeless in our own country?
Why should we donate to the Iraq war when we still have people living in poverty?
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

28. Why Fallacious?
One issue is not related to the other. Therefore the first claim cannot justify the second claim.
The extinction of pandas and the homeless are two separate issues
The contribution to Iraq war and the plight of the poor are two separate issues.
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

29. TYPE 2 (c) Straw Man Oversimplify an evidence to support a claim.
The simplification, therefore cannot support the claim
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

30. Example: Straw Man & why fallacious
Those who favor gun control also favor disarming the police
This is oversimplifying the issue. The first claim is not strong enough to support the second claim.
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

31. Oversimplify the issue. Equality does not mean for every situations!
Example: Straw Man & why fallacious
What women in her right mind would support total equality with men. No women wants the right to go to war or the right to pay alimony
Oversimplify the issue. Equality does not mean for every situations!
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

32. TYPE 3 - Other common fallacies
(a) Begging the question (circular argument)
The claims in the premise is again drawn in the conclusion.
Redundant
Repeating an issue (going in circles)
The argument does not go anywhere!
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

33. Example: begging the question & why fallacious?
My argument must be correct because I am the smartest student in the class.
The conclusion merely restate the premise. Being smart does not mean that you are correct.
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

34. Example: begging the question & why fallacious?
Murderers should be executed because they are killers!
The conclusion merely restate the premise. Murderers are killers by definition. So, what is the justification why killers must be executed?
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

35. Example: begging the question & why fallacious?
The bible is the word of God because it says it is.
Whether or not the bible is the word of God is a matter of personal faith. The statement should be written as:
The Bible says that it is the word of God. The word of God cannot be false. Therefore, the Bible is the word of God.
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

36. TYPE 3 - Other common fallacies
(b) Slippery slop (snowball argument/ domino theory)
Suggests to the listener that if one action is taken, it will lead to similar actions & the end result is negative or undesirable
Assumes a chain reaction of cause-effect of events
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

37. Example: slippery slope & why fallacious?
Let one student disrupt my lecture, then other students would want to ask & I therefore cannot complete my lecture in time.
Student’s interruptions may disrupt a lecture BUT not all lectures are delayed because of students disruptions.
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

38. Example & why fallacious?
President Richard Nixon - We have to win in Vietnam or the entire SEA will become communist
Winning the Vietnam war might have saved Vietnam from Communism BUT not all communist state are dependent of the success of the Vietnam War.
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

39. TYPE 3 - Other common fallacies
(c) False dilemma or black / white argument/ either -or
A limited number of opinion is given when in reality there are more options
An illegitimate use or the word “or”
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

40. Example of False Dilemma (black/white) & why fallacious?
FSKTM Love it or leave it.
Should have been written as:
One of the ways to excel in FSKTM is to love the life here. Hating it would affect your studies and may result with you having to leave.
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

41. Example of False Dilemma (black/white) & why fallacious?
Stop smoking or die young.
Fallacious because death can be caused by other factors not just by smoking. Should have been written as:
One of the ways to avoid dying young is to stop smoking as smoking might affect one’s health.
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

42. Example of False Dilemma (black/white) & why fallacious?
Either go to college or forget about getting a good job.
Fallacious because good jobs are not dependent on going to college alone. Should have been written as:
Going to college and getting a degree is one means of getting a good job.
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

43. TYPE 3 - Other common fallacies
(d) Hasty generalization
This is the chief error made by many.
Leaping to a conclusion without a strong or large enough justification.
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

44. Example of Hasty generalization
Feminists hate men. Ramlah is a feminist. Ramlah hates men.
I notice that my fat friend is jolly. Therefore all fat people are jolly.
All pop stars are rude. I asked Elton John for his autograph at a restaurant and he told me to get lost.
All the arguments are based on insufficient evidence
& there fore are not valid.
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

45. TYPE 3 - Other common fallacies
(b) Burden of Proof (Appeal to ignorance)
Premise: If something has not been proven as false, the claim must be true.
Shifts the burden the other party to prove in order to make a claim.
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

46. Example of burden of proof & why fallacious?
Since you cannot proof that ghosts does not exist, then they do exist.
Since scientists cannot proof that global warming will take place, it probably wont.
The new experimental drug must be working because not a single patient has returned to complain.
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

47. SUMMARY OF FALLACIES
(1) Fallacies that appeal to emotions (total 4)
- Claims are made appeal to emotions rather than reason
Appeal to Fear/Force/ Scare tactics or ad baculum
Appeal to Vanity/Flattery
Appeal to Numbers/ Belief/
Bandwagon/Peer pressure
Appeal to Pity (Ad misericordium)
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

48. 3 categories of fallacies
(2) Fallacies that distract (total 3)
- Claims made divert attention from the main issue
Ad hominem (attack/against the
person)
Red herring
Straw Man
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

49. 3 categories of fallacies
(3) Other common types (total 5)
Begging the question (circular
arguments)
Slippery slope (domino theory)
False dilemma (either- or)
Hasty generalization
Burden of proof
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

50. THE END
THE END
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

51. Identify & explain the logical fallacy in the following statements.
WARMING UP
Identify & explain the logical
fallacy in the following
statements.
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

52. 1. Could I receive an A for this class
1. Could I receive an A for this class. If I don't get an 'A' I won't get the scholarship that I apply for
1. Appeal to fear/scare tactics
2. Appeal to numbers /bandwagon/ peer pressure
3. Redherring/smokescreen
4. Appeal to pity
Slippery slope / domino theory
Begging the question / circular argument
Hasty generalization
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

53. 1. Could I receive an A for this class
1. Could I receive an A for this class. If I don't get an 'A' I won't get the scholarship that I apply for
Appeal to pity
This line of "reasoning" is fallacious
because pity does not serve as
evidence for a claim
Just to get a scholarship does not
justify a person to be given an A –
There are other criteria to be considered
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

54. 2. The women in my family love babies. All women love babies
Appeal to numbers /bandwagon/peer pressure
Redherring/smokescreen
Appeal to pity
Appeal to fear /scare tactics /ad bacculum
Ad hominem
Begging the question/circular argument
Hasty generalization
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

55. 2. All women in my family love babies. All women love babies
Hasty generalization
Faulty logic – unqualified
A generalization. This fallacy is
committed when a person draws
a conclusion about a population
based on a sample that is not
large enough
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

56. 3. You shouldn’t accept national
health care because it is a socialist idea
Appeal to numbers /bandwagon/peer pressure
Redherring/smokescreen
Appeal to pity
Appeal to fear /scare tactics /ad bacculum
Ad hominem
Begging the question/circular argument
Hasty generalization
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

57. 3. You shouldn’t accept national
health care because it is a socialist idea
Red herring
Switching to another issue to distract
from the main argument. This sort of
"reasoning" is fallacious because
merely changing the topic of
discussion hardly counts as an
argument against a claim.
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

58. 4. In a democracy the people are free because democracies are free countries.
Appeal to numbers /bandwagon/peer pressure
Redherring/smokescreen
Appeal to pity
Appeal to fear /scare tactics /ad bacculum
Ad hominem
Begging the question/circular argument
Hasty generalization
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

59. 4. In a democracy the people are free because democracies are free countries.
Begging the question
Circular argument
This sort of "reasoning" is fallacious because
simply assuming that the premise is true does not constitute evidence for that conclusion. Democracy = free country = free people. Circular argument with no end.
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

60. 1. Redherring/smokescreen 2. Slippery slope/ domino theory
5. The gang members caught by the police last night comprises immigrants from country X. Most immigrants who work in this country have trouble with the law and come from country X where thievery are rampant.
1. Redherring/smokescreen
2. Slippery slope/ domino theory
3. Scare tactics /ad bacculum
4. Ad hominem
5. Begging the question/circular argument
6. Hasty generalization
7. Burden of proof/Appeal to ignorance
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

61. Faulty logic – unqualified Generalization. Making a
5. The gang members caught by the police last night comprises immigrants from country X. Most immigrants who work in this country have trouble with the law and come from country X where thievery are rampant.
Hasty generalization
Faulty logic – unqualified
Generalization. Making a
judgment based on a small
Sample.
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

62. 6. Ralph Nader was the best candidate
for president, because he was totally
better than any of the others.
1. Redherring/smokescreen
2. Slippery slope/ domino theory
3. Scare tactics /ad bacculum
4. Ad hominem
5. Begging the question/circular argument
6. Hasty generalisation
7. Burden of proof/Appeal to ignorance
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

63. 6. Ralph Nader was the best candidate
for president, because he was totally
better than any of the others.
Begging the question/
Circular argument
Assumption -- Nader is better than the other candidates, conclusion -- Nader is the best. This sort of "reasoning" is fallacious because simply assuming that the conclusion is true (directly or indirectly) in the premises does not constitute evidence for that conclusion.
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

64. 1. Redherring/smokescreen 2. Slippery slope/ domino theory
7. If you don't finish your homework you won't get a good grade.  Then you won't be able to get into the college you want.  You will end up cleaning toilets for a living.
1. Redherring/smokescreen
2. Slippery slope/ domino theory
3. Scare tactics /ad bacculum
4. Ad hominem
5. Begging the question/circular argument
6. Hasty generalization
7. Burden of proof/Appeal to ignorance
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

65. Appeal to fear /scare tactics
7. If you don't finish your homework you won't get a good grade.  Then you won't be able to get into the college you want.  You will end up cleaning toilets for a living.
Appeal to fear /scare tactics
It is an appeal to force or threat
instead of trying to convince
someone with facts or a logical
argument
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

66. 8. How could anyone vote for Hilary Clinton for senator
8. How could anyone vote for Hilary Clinton for senator?The fact that she is married to Clinton proves that she has no self respect.
1. Redherring/smokescreen
2. Slippery slope/ domino theory
3. Scare tactics /ad bacculum
4. Ad hominem
5. Begging the question/circular argument
6. Hasty generalization
7. Burden of proof/Appeal to ignorance
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

67. 8. How could anyone vote for Hilary Clinton for senator
8. How could anyone vote for Hilary Clinton for senator?The fact that she is married to Clinton proves that she has no self respect.
Ad hominem
Attacking the person rather than the issue. Ad Hominem" means "against the man" or "against the person.
Ad Hominem is a fallacy because the character,
circumstances, or actions of a person do not (in most cases) have a bearing on the truth of the claim being made (or the quality of the argument being made).
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

68. 1. Redherring/smokescreen 2. Slippery slope/ domino theory
9. UFO must exist because no reputable studies have proven conclusively that they do not.
1. Redherring/smokescreen
2. Slippery slope/ domino theory
3. Scare tactics /ad bacculum
4. Ad hominem
5. Begging the question/circular argument
6. Hasty generalization
7. Burden of proof/Appeal to ignorance
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

69. Burden of proof Causal fallacy
9. UFO must exist because no reputable studies have proven conclusively that they do not.
Burden of proof
Shifts the burden of proof to the other party in order to make a claim.
However, no evidence is given to proof that UFO do exist.
Causal fallacy
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

70. 1. Redherring/smokescreen 2. Slippery slope/ domino theory
10. If you are beautiful, you could live like this, so buy Buty-EZ and become beautiful.
1. Redherring/smokescreen
2. Slippery slope/ domino theory
3. Scare tactics /ad bacculum
4. Ad hominem
5. Begging the question/circular argument
6. Appeal to vanity/flattery
7. Burden of proof/Appeal to ignorance
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

71. Appeal to vanity/flattery
10. If you are beautiful, you could live like this, so buy Buty-EZ and become beautiful.
Appeal to vanity/flattery
Here the appeal is to beautiful people.
This line of "reasoning" is fallacious
because the fact that flattery does not, in general, serve as evidence that the claim is true.
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

72. 11. State the fallacy implied
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

73. Appeal to number /Bandwagon / peer pressure
My friends uses Linux because it makes their PC more powerful & stable. My friend uses Linux so must I.
Appeal to number /Bandwagon / peer pressure
Implies something is right because
everybody believes so. This line of
"reasoning" is fallacious because
peer pressure and threat of
rejection do not constitute evidence for rejecting a claim
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

74. 1. Redherring/smokescreen 2. Slippery slope/ domino theory
12. We can’t allow students any voice in decision making, if we do, it wont be long before they are in total control
1. Redherring/smokescreen
2. Slippery slope/ domino theory
3. Scare tactics /ad bacculum
4. Ad hominem
5. Begging the question/circular argument
6. Appeal to vanity/flattery
7. Burden of proof/Appeal to ignorance
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

75. Slippery slope /domino theory
12. We can’t allow students any voice in decision making, if we do, it wont be long before they are in total control
Slippery slope /domino theory
No middle road is given. Assumes that when the first action is taken, it would subsequently follow through to the last. Is this true?
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

76. 1. Redherring/smokescreen 2. Slippery slope/ domino theory
13. Women need to be either brilliant or beautiful to survive in this world.
1. Redherring/smokescreen
2. Slippery slope/ domino theory
3. False dilemma (black or white/either-or)
4. Ad hominem
5. Begging the question/circular argument
6. Appeal to vanity/flattery
7. Burden of proof/Appeal to ignorance
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

77. False dilemma (black or white/ either – or)
13. Women need to be either brilliant or beautiful to survive in this world.
False dilemma (black or white/ either – or)
Include either…or… . Just gives two opposite extremes instead of allowing for other possibilities. Not all women who survive in this world are brilliant or beautiful.
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

78. 1. Redherring/smokescreen 2. Slippery slope/ domino theory
14. Those who favor gun-control legislation just want to take all guns away from responsible citizens and put them into the hands of the criminals.
1. Redherring/smokescreen
2. Slippery slope/ domino theory
3. False dilemma (black or white/either-or)
4. Ad hominem
5. Begging the question/circular argument
6. Strawman (oversimplification)
7. Burden of proof/Appeal to ignorance
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies

79. Strawman (oversimplification)
14. Those who favor gun-control legislation just want to take all guns away from responsible citizens and put them into the hands of the criminals.
Strawman (oversimplification)
misrepresent an opponent's position to make it easier to attack, usually by distorting his or her views to ridiculous extremes
GXEX1406 Thinking and Communication Skills – Week 12 Logical Fallacies