The Red herring (fallacy) reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Red herring (fallacy)

A red herring, also known as ignoratio elenchi (Latin: ignorance of refutation) or irrelevant thesis, is a logical fallacy where an irrelevant topic is introduced to divert the attention away from the topic that's being discussed, or an argument where the premisses are not logically connected to the conclusion.

Table of contents

1 Examples 2 Subfallacies 3 Origin 4 External Links

Examples

1. "The premier's tax policies may be popular, but I suspect he had an affair and is paying the woman to keep quiet. The media should investigate that!"

Subfallacies

Subtypes of the red herring include:

• ad hominem
• appeal to emotion
• bandwagon fallacy
• genetic fallacy
• guilt by association
• straw man
• two wrongs make a right
• Wishful thinking

Origin

The phrase red herring is thought to have originated from the use of smoked herring fish to distract dogs following a scent trail. The herring's strong smell could obscure the real trail and lay a false one.

External Links

• About.com: Fallacies of relevance
• Nizkor Project: Red Herring
• Fallacy Files: Red Herring

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