Fallacies - Exam #1

Question 1

We went to three ball games this year and the home team lost each one. They’re losers.

Answer 1

Hasty Generalization - The inference from some specific examples to a general principle.

Question 2

The rooster thinks his crowing brings up the sun each morning because each morning the sun rises shortly after he crows.

Answer 2

Post Hoc - The inference that one thing is the cause of another because the first thing occurs before the second thing.

Question 3

If the Italians had not believed in clocks, we would all be Nazis. (with many similar steps in between)

Answer 3

Hypothesis Contrary to Fact - The “if only fallacy” - if only X were true (which it isn’t), Y would be true.

Question 4

The Stoical scheme of supplying our wants by lopping off our desires is like cutting off our feet when we want shoes.

Answer 4

False Analogy - The usage of an analogy that either does not match the given scenario, or leaves out other possible options.

Question 5

Descartes didn’t say anything about the Masons, so he must have been a Mason.

Answer 5

Argument from Silence - The argument that if a person is silent about X, he believes in X (or there is no X).

Question 6

Because of suicide, increased depression, and more divorce, overall life is getting worse.

Answer 6

Selective Evidence - The usage of particular pieces of evidence to support a point of view and ignoring the rest.

Question 7

Should our children be propagandized in government schools?

Answer 7

Slanting the Question - Obtaining a particular result by asking a question in a certain way.

Question 8

Your argument that birds evolved is wrong because birds didn’t evolve.

Answer 8

Refuting an Argument by Refuting Its Conclusion - The belief that one can beat an argument by negating only its conclusion.

Question 9

Dogs kill babies.
Babies throw tantrums.
Therefore, some dogs whine.

Your conclusion must be wrong because the argument is fallacious.

Answer 9

Assuming That Refuting an Argument Refutes Its Conclusion - Self-explanatory.

Question 10

The Catholic argument for papal infallibility is wrong because the Borgia popes were corrupt.

Answer 10

Ignoring the Argument (Beside the Point) - Ignoring your opponent’s actual argument and arguing something else completely.

Question 11

Natural selection proves that Darwinian evolution is true.

Answer 11

Substituting Explanations for Proofs - Believing that explanations will prove something.

Question 12

Slavery is morally wrong, because it violates a basic human right.

That’s wrong, because slavery is better than death.

Answer 12

Answering Another Argument than the One Given - Self-explanatory.

Question 13

Your brother says he saw a police car crash into the front door of the city library. You ask him to prove it.

Answer 13

Shifting the Burden of Proof - The one with the burden of proof has to prove his case.

Question 14

Donald Trump or Ken Ham

Answer 14

Winning the Argument but Losing the Arguer (or Vice Versa) - Being an idiot.

Question 15

Words are nothing but wind, and learning is nothing but words, therefore learning is nothing but wind.

Answer 15

Reductionism or “Nothing Buttery” - Making an argument that something complex can be reduced to simplicity.

Question 16

A great nose indicates a great man.

Answer 16

The Fallacy of Accident - Confusing the accidental for the essential.

Question 17

Statistics tell us that Pepsi tastes better than Coke.

Answer 17

Confusing Quantity with Quality - Self-explanatory.

Question 18

Plato’s Theory of Forms

Answer 18

The Fallacy of Misplaced Concreteness - Confusing the abstract with the concrete.

Question 19

You “believe” in Santa Claus because it makes you happy.

Answer 19

Confusing Logical, Physical, and Psychological Causes - self-explanatory.

Question 20

Sartre’s claim that man’s essence is simply to exist, that we arbitrarily construct our own essence.

Answer 20

Confusing Essence and Existence - nothing can be unintelligible in itself.

Question 21

Humans have a natural right to health care.

Answer 21

Confusing the Natural with the Common - self-explanatory.

Question 22

“Only men are rational, women are not men, therefore women are not rational.”

Answer 22

Equivocation - the same term is used in two or more different sense in the course of an argument

Question 23

“Guest for lunch one way to solve eating problem”

Answer 23

Amphiboly - not an ambiguous word but ambiguous syntax

Question 24

“I do not choose to run at this time.”

Answer 24

Accent - ambiguity caused by voice inflection, ironic or sarcastic tone

Question 25

“anti-life,” “the Jewish problem,” etc.

Answer 25

Slanting - “question-begging epithet,” exemplified in “propaganda” or “euphemism.” A word or group of words is chosen to create a certain perception

Question 26

“I’m pro-life because of that bumper sticker: ‘A child, not a choice.’”

Answer 26

Slogan - substituting a slogan for an argument

Question 27

“You should clean your room.” “Oh, so you want me to be your slave?”

Answer 27

Hyperbole - “exaggeration”

Question 28

Samuel Johnson refuted Berkeley’s claim that material things were really ideas by kicking a rock”

Answer 28

“Straw Man” - creates a weak version of the opponents argument, and then refutes it.

Question 29

“You are ugly.”

Answer 29

Ad hominem (Appeal to the Man) - attacking the person instead of their argument

Question 30

“You can’t believe him, he’s a Democrat!”

Answer 30

“Poisoning the Well” - Includes slanting or name-calling within the attack, to try to bias against the person making the argument

Question 31

“How can you criticize me for infidelity, you cheated on your wife!”

Answer 31

Tu quoque (You too) - alleging that because someone doesn’t follow their own advice the argument is in valid.

Question 32

“You only say that because you are a man”

Answer 32

The Genetic Fallacy - alleging that the psychological origin of an argument invalidates it.

Question 33

“Ho Chi Minh was not a tyrant.” “How do you know?” “Jane Fonda says so.”

Answer 33

Ad verecundiam (Appeal to authority) - fallicious when the authority appealed to is 1) irrelevant; 2) unreliable; 3) unnecessary; 4) dogmatic; or 5) uncritical, including “snow job,” “appeal to the expert” and “appeal to Big Names”

Question 34

“Before you answer, remember who pays your salary.”

Answer 34

Ad baculum (Appeal to Force) - argument based on fear instead of reason

Question 35

“If you flunk me, my parents will be devastated. They sacrificed all their savings on my tuitions”,

Answer 35

Ad misericordiam (Appeal to pity) - an argument based purely on pity.

Question 36

“What? You’re going to be a lawyer? Is it because you want people to tell jokes on you?”

Answer 36

Ad ignominiam (Appeal to shame) - shame subsituted for an argument

Question 37

“I am not orator, as Brutus is; but as you known me all, a plain blunt man. For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth, action nor uttterance, nor the power of speech, to stir men’s blood; I only speak right on.

Answer 37

Ad populum (Appeal to the masses) - such as snob appeal, the Big Lie, etc. Appeal to the support of group of people

Question 38

“He cannot prove he earned that money, he must have stolen it.”

Answer 38

Ad ignorantiam (appeal to ignorance) - construing that an argument must be true because we do not know that it is not

Question 39

“According to the Greek saying, water is best. So I’ll swap you some water for those diamonds and you’ll come out ahead.”

Answer 39

Dictor simpliciter - applies a general principle to specific case that should clearly be excepted

Question 40

“There are a lot of idiots who can’t pass a logic course. Therefore man is not rational.”

Answer 40

“Special case” - opposite of dicto simpliciter; applies a special case as a general principle

Question 41

Texas has more millionaires than any other states, therefore Texas is the richest start”

Answer 41

Composition - arguing from part to whole

Question 42

“Irishmen are scattered all over the world. Pat is an Irishman. Therefore, Pat is scattered all over the world.

Answer 42

Division - reverse of composition; arguing from whole or part

Question 43

“Do you hate me?” “No.” “Wonderful! You love me!”

Answer 43

“The Black-and-White Fallacy” - allows for no gradiation; might be called “either-or,” or “bifurcation.”

Question 44

“Kennedy said, ‘Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.’ Therefore, he must have been against federal publix health care.”

Answer 44

Quoting out of Context - self-evident

Question 45

“You’re tall; you must play basketball.”

Answer 45

Stereotype - self-evident

Question 46

I hate courthouses; Therefore, you will lose your case in court today.

Answer 46

Non sequitur - it does not follow - the premises do not follow logically from the premises

Question 47

“Poor people die because of lack of medical care, therefore we need single payer healthcare”.

Answer 47

Ignoratio elenchi (Irrelevant conclusion) - a form of non sequiter, where the premises prove something, but not necessarily what the arguer alleges

Question 48

“The accused will be given a fair trial before he is hanged.” “Since everything that God wills is just for the very reason he wills it, the terrible fate of the non-elect does not violate the principles of justice.”

Answer 48

Petitio principi (begging the question) - assumes the conclusion it sets out to prove

Question 49

“Have you stopped beating your wife?”

Answer 49

Complex Question - assumes something in the question asked

Question 50

“The world must be well-ordered.” “Why?” “Because it is the work of divine wisdom.” “How do you know it is a work of divine wisdom?” “How can you doubt divine wisdom? Look how well-ordered the world is!”

Answer 50

Arguing in a circle - uses premises to justify a conclusion and then uses the conclusion to justify the premises.

Question 51

“Truth is subjective.” “I will not tolerate intolerance!”

Answer 51

Contradictory premise - self-evident

Question 52

“I can turn my bedroom light off and leap into bed before the room is dark; yet my light switch is 20 feet away from my bed.” “How do you do that?” “I wait till it’s daytime.”

Answer 52

False assumption - self-evident