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Logical Fallacies The following list of logical fallacies is taken from Rise Axelrod and Charles Cooper's The Concise Guide to Writing. Fallacies are errors or flaws in reasoning. Although essentially unsound, fallacious arguments seem superficially plausible and often have great persuasive power. Fallacies are not necessarily deliberate efforts to deceive readers. They may be accidental, resulting from a failure to examine underlying assumptions critically, establish solid ground to support a claim, or choose words that are clear and unambiguous. Here, listed in alphabetical order, are the most common logical fallacies: Begging the question. Arguing that a claim is true by...