Arguments

Question 0

Argument Flaw Type

NECESSARY VS. SUFFICIENT

Answer 0

Assumes something required to get a result is enough by itself to guarantee the result.

Assumes something guaranteed to get a result is a requirement of the result.

Question 1

Argument Flaw Type

CASUAL

Answer 1

Assumes correlation indicates causation.

Assumes there are no other causes.

Assumes causality is not reversed.

Question 2

Argument Flaw Type

SURVEYS AND SAMPLES

Answer 2

Assumes a survey/small is representative of a larger population.

Assumes a survey/sample is relevant to the conclusion and conducted without flaws in methodology.

Question 3

Argument Flaw Type

COMPARISON

Answer 3

Assumes two things or time periods are comparable in all relevant factors.

Assumes what is true of a part us true of the whole. OR, Assumes what is true of the whole is true of a part.

Question 4

Argument Flaw Type

PERCENTAGES/NUMBERS

Answer 4

Assumes percentages or ratios are based on the same quantities.

Question 5

Argument Flaw Type

ABSENCE OF EVIDENCE

Answer 5

Assumes lack of evidence for a phenomenon is taken as proof it does not exist.

Assumes a flaw in evidence attempting to prove a phenomenon is taken as evidence it does not exist.

Question 6

Argument Flaw Type

APPEALS AND ATTACKS

Answer 6

Assumes something is true because an (often dubious) authority says so.

Assumes a personal characteristic is replace by to the substance of that person’s argument.

Question 7

Argument Flaw Type

SHIFTING MEANINGS

Answer 7

Switches the meaning of a term in the middle if an argument without acknowledging the shift.

Question 8

Argument Flaw Type

CIRCULAR

Answer 8

The conclusion merely restates the premises.

Question 9

The conclusion is no more than a paraphrase of the evidence offered I support of it.

Answer 9

Circular

Question 10

The argument appeals to the emotion of pity rather than addressing the issue raise.

Answer 10

Appeals and Attacks

Question 11

The argument equivocates with respect to a central concept.

Answer 11

Shifting Meaning

Question 12

The argument assumes what it sets out to prove.

Answer 12

Circular Reasoning

Question 13

The term “self interest” is allowed to shift in meaning over the course of the argument.

Answer 13

Shifting Meaning

Question 14

The argument treats something that is necessary for bringing about a state of affairs as something that is sufficient to bring about that state of affairs.

Answer 14

Necessary vs. Sufficient

Question 15

The argument draws a general conclusion from cases selected only on the basis of having a characteristic that favors the conclusion.

Answer 15

Surveys & Samples

Question 16

The argument over-generalizes from a specific example.

Answer 16

Surveys & Samples

Question 17

The argument relies on an analogy between two things that are I sufficiently alike in the respects in which they would have to be alike for the conclusion to be supported.

Answer 17

Comparison

Question 18

The argument confuses a mere coincidence with a casual relationship.

Answer 18

Causal

Question 19

The argument presupposes what it sets out to establish.

Answer 19

Circular