Introduction
Fallacies are actually defects, which weaken our arguments. In other words, they are errors in reasoning. It is worth noting that through us learning to look for these fallacies, we can essentially strengthen our ability to critically evaluate arguments that we make, hear, and read. Fallacious arguments are in fact very common and they can appear to be quite persuasive to the casual listener or reader. Additionally, sometimes it is hard to evaluate if a given argument is fallacious. Therefore, it is imperative for us to learn how to avoid fallacies in our arguments.
There are numerous types of fallacies. An ad hominem fallacy is one of them. This occurs when a person instead of responding or answering the argument content attacks the arguer’s irrelevant personal characteristics. Therefore, a person incorporates this fallacy when he or she knowingly or deliberately avoids responding to the arguments content and attacks the irrelevant personal traits of the person he or she is writing about. This person does this because he or she knows the characteristics of the other individual. On the other hand, a person incorporates this fallacy inadvertently or without knowledge when he or she fails to respond to the content of a certain argument and without knowing attacks the personal characteristics of the person he or she is writing about.
Ad populum is the other fallacy in argument. It is particularly easy for us to construct an argument that fall under this fallacy. A person deliberately incorporates this fallacy into his or her writing when he or she makes a certain argument and basically appeals to the popular opinion in order to support it. This person does this because he or she already knows that whatever he or she is writing is popular to the others. Inadvertently, a person incorporates this fallacy in his or her writing when he or she only uses tradition as support of this type of argument. Such a person does this because he or she unknowingly assumes that others know about the tradition that he or she bases his or her argument on.
