What are the most common logical fallacies?

     Don't worry so much about understanding the latin, focus on the ideas.

Argumentum ad antiquitatem- This is when we argue that something should be done because it’s always been done that way.

Dicto simpliciter(simply spoken, generalization)- We give a general statement and then apply it to a specific case.  For example-Most golfers are rich.  John is a golfer, so he is rich.

Argumentum ad logicam- Saying that a position is not right because the argument your opponent used proved to be invalid. It doesn’t mean they are not right it just means they were not yet able to prove it.

Non Sequitur ("It does not follow")-  Sometimes we skip steps in logic, and though it may make sense in our head, it doesn’t make sense to anyone else. We need to explain the step by step logic process.

Complex Question- Asking a question, implying that something is true, so that it confuses the person responding or gets them to admit something they didn’t want to.  Ex.  “Did you start smoking again?” That implies that I had already been a smoker in my past.

Post hoc ergo propter hoc (after this, therefore because of this). This is when you say that X cause Z because it came before.  That can be true sometimes, but this fallacy happens when you just assume so without proving it. Ex.  Brock flunked school because his Mom dropped him on his head when he was little.
 

 

To see more on logical fallacies-

Logical Fallacies and The Art of Debate\
http://www.csun.edu/~dgw61315/fallacies.html