

To counter an argument, either the arguer or a part of the argument itself is associated with Hitler or the Nazis. Unlike the straw man, which involves a distortion of the other partys position, the red herring is a seemingly plausible, though ultimately irrelevant, diversionary tactic. Red Herring is a fallacy that is committed when the intended question or statement is diverted by a similar topic that misleads the audience without them noticing. 4.4 Example 4: Red Herring in political speech.

4.2 Example 2: Red Herring in climate change conversation.

As an informal fallacy, the red herring falls into a broad class of relevance fallacies. 3 Red herring fallacy in literature: 4 Examples: 4.1 Example 1: Red Herring in childcare conversation. The use of a red herring in this context demonstrates how, as a literary device, the red herring can be used in order to create suspense, and make it more difficult for readers to predict the conclusion of the story. Ad hominem means against the man, and this type of fallacy is sometimes called name calling or the personal attack fallacy. Guilt by Association -This red herring fallacy works by associating the author of an argument with a group or belief so abhorrent and inflammatory in the minds of the audience that everyone, author and audience alike, is chasing squirrels up trees-that is, they are occupied by the tainted association to the reviled group-instead of dealing with the merits of the original argument.Įxample: the argumentum ad Nazium, or playing the Hitler card. The argumentum ad populum can be a valid argument in inductive logic. Why is the red herring fallacy bad Here, the fallacious red herring is used to distract viewers from the original topic. In logic and rhetoric, a red herring is an observation that draws attention away from the central issue in an argument or discussion an informal logical fallacy. A red herring, besides being a type of pickled fish, is a fallacious argument style in which an irrelevant or false topic is presented in an attempt to divert attention from the original issue, with the intention of 'winning' an argument by leading attention away from the original argument and on to another, often unrelated topic.
