How to Coach Yourself and Others Beware of Manipulation | Page 64

Bribery (also Material Persuasion, Material Incentive, Financial Incentive).
The fallacy of "persuasion" by bribery, gifts or favors, the reverse of the Argumentum ad Baculam. As
is well known, someone who is persuaded by bribery rarely "stays persuaded" unless the bribes keep
on coming in, and usually increasing with time.
The Complex Question:
The fallacy of demanding a direct answer to a question that cannot be answered without first analyzing
or challenging the basis of the question itself. E.g., "Answer me yes or no! Did you think you could
get away with plagiarism and not suffer the consequences?" Or, "Why did you rob that bank?" Also
applies to situations where one is forced to either accept or reject complex standpoints or propositions
containing both acceptable and unacceptable parts. A corruption of the argument from logos.
Diminished Responsibility
The common contemporary fallacy of falsely applying a specialized American judicial concept (that
criminal punishment should be less if one's judgment was impaired) to logic in general. E.g., "You
can't count me absent on Monday--I was hung over and couldn't come to class--it's not my fault." Or,
"Yeah, I was speeding on the freeway and killed a guy, but I was high and didn't know what I was
doing, so it didn't matter that much." In reality the death does matter very much to the victim, to her
family and friends and to society in general. Whether the perpetrator was high or not does not matter at
all, since the material results are the same.
Either-Or Reasoning
(also False Dilemma, Black / White Fallacy). A fallacy that falsely offers only two possible alternatives
even though a broad range of possible alternatives are really available. E.g., "Either you are 100%
straight or you are queer--it's as simple as that, and there's no middle ground!" Or, “Either you’re with
me all the way, or you’re my enemy and must be destroyed!
”E" for Effort. (Also Noble Effort)
The contemporary fallacy that something must be right, true, valuable, or worthy of credit simply
because someone has put so much sincere good-faith effort or even sacrifice and bloodshed into it. (See
also Appeal to Pity, Argument from Inertia, or Sob Story.).
Equivocation
The fallacy of deliberately failing to define one's terms, or deliberately using words in a different sense
than the one the audience will understand. (E.g., Bill Clinton stating that he did not have sex with "that
woman," meaning no sexual penetration, knowing full well that the audience will understand his
statement as "I had no sexual contact of any sort with that woman.") This is a corruption of the
argument from logos, and a tactic often used in American jurisprudence.
Essentializing
A fallacy that proposes a person or thing “is what it is and that’s all that it is,” and at its core will
always be what it is right now (E.g., "All ex-cons are criminals, and will still be criminals even if they
live to be 100."). Also refers to the fallacy of arguing that something is a certain way "by nature," an
empty claim that no amount of proof can refute. (E.g., "Americans are cold and greedy by nature," or
"Women are better cooks than men.")
False Analogy
The fallacy of incorrectly comparing one thing to another in order to draw a false conclusion. E.g.,
"Just like an alley cat needs to prowl, a normal human being can’t be tied down to one single lover."
Finish the Job
The dangerous contemporary fallacy that an action or standpoint (or the continuation of the action or
standpoint) may not be questioned or discussed because there is "a job to be done," falsely assuming all
"jobs" are meaningless but never to be questioned. Sometimes those involved internalize ("buy into")
the "job" and make the task a part of their own ethos. (E.g., "Ours is not to reason why / Ours is but to

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