Fallacies: Situational Analysis

Question 1

Professor Doogie has argued for more emphasis on music in our F2F classes to facilitate creativity. But Doogie is a selfish bigheaded fool. I absolutely refuse to listen to him.

Answer 1

Ad Hominem

Personal Attack

Question 2

Donald Trump has argued that we need to build a new campus. But Trump is the owner of Trump’s Construction Company. He’ll make a fortune if his company is picked to build the new campus. Obviously, Trump’s argument is a lot of self-serving nonsense.

Answer 2

Attacking the Motive

Question 3

Doctor: You should quite smoking.
Patient: Look who’s talking! I’ll quit when you do, Dr. Smokestack!

Answer 3

Look Who’s Talking

Question 4

“Why pick on me, officer? Everyone else is using drugs.”

Answer 4

Two Wrongs Make a Right

Question 5

I’m sure you’ll agree that we are the rightful rulers of the Iraq. It would be regrettable if we had to send armed forces to demonstrate the validity of our claim.

Answer 5

Scare Tactics

Question 6

I know I missed half your classes and failed all my quizzes and assignments. First my cat died. Then my girlfriend told me she has found someone else. With all I went through this semester, I don’t think I really deserve an F. Any chance you might cut me some slack and change my grade to a C or a D?

Answer 6

Ad Misericordiam

Appeal to Pity

Question 7

All the really cool UNITAR students smoke cigarettes. Therefore, you should, too.

Answer 7

Bandwagon

Question 8

Singh and Karen are arguing about cleaning out their closets:
❑ Suzie: “We should clean out the closets. They are getting a bit messy.“
❑ Singh: “Why, we just went through those closets last year. Do we have
to clean them out everyday?”
❑ Suzie: “I never said anything about cleaning them out every day. You just want too keep all your junk forever, which is just ridiculous.”

Answer 8

Straw Man

Question 9

“I think there is great merit in making the requirements stricter for the graduate students. I recommend that you support it, too. After all, we are in a budget crisis and we do not want our salaries affected.”

Answer 9

Red Herring

Question 10

In the summer of 1940, Londoners were bombed almost every night. To be bombed is to be intoxicated. Therefore, in the summer of 1940, Londoners were intoxicated almost every night.

Answer 10

Equivocation

Question 11

I am entitled to say whatever I choose because I have a right to say whatever I please.

Answer 11

Begging the Question

Question 12

I’m trying hard to understand this guy who identifies himself as a security supervisor and criticizes the police officers in this area. I can only come up with two solutions. One, he is either a member of the criminal element, or two, he is a frustrated security guard who can never make it as a police officer and figures he can take cheap shots at cops through the newspaper.

Answer 12

Ad Hominem

Personal Attack

Question 13

The Red Cross is worried about the treatment of the suspected terrorists held by the U.S. at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. What do they want the U.S. to do with them, put them on the beaches of Florida for a vacation or take them skiing in the Rockies? Come on, let’s worry about the Americans.

Answer 13

Straw Man

Question 14

My dentist told me that aliens built the lost city of Atlantis. So, it’s reasonable to believe that aliens did build the lost city of Atlantis.

Answer 14

Inappropriate Appeal to Authority

Question 15

You should give me whatever I want or else I will tell my father, who is a military general, to arrest you and put you in jail.

Answer 15

Appeal to Power

Question 16

Yoda must exist. No one has proved that he

doesn’t exist.

Answer 16

Ad Ignorantium

Appeal to Ignorance

Question 17

The choice in this MPM election is clear: Either we elect Zubaidah as our next president, or we watch our MPM unity slide into anarchy and frustration. Clearly, we don’t want that to happen. Therefore, we should elect Zubaidah as our next president.

Answer 17

False Alternatives

Question 18

Lee: Are you still friends with that loser Richard?
Ali: Yes.
Lee: Well, at least you admit he’s a total loser.

Answer 18

Loaded Question

Question 19

Sarah gets a chain letter that threatens her with dire consequences if she breaks the chain. She laughs at it and throws it in the garbage. On her way to work she slips and breaks his arm. When she gets back from the hospital she sends out 200 copies of the chain letter, hoping to avoid further accidents.

Answer 19

False Cause

Post Hoc

Question 20

Norwegians are lazy. I have two friends who are from there, and both of them never prepare for class, or do their homework.

Answer 20

Hasty Generalization

Question 21

“The Malaysian militarily shouldn’t get involved in other countries. Once the government sends in a few troops, it will then send in thousands to die.”

Answer 21

Slippery Slope

Question 22

Nobody would buy a car without first taking it for a test drive.
Why then shouldn’t two mature UNITAR students live together before they decide whether to get married?

Answer 22

Weak Analogy

Question 23

Note found in a Forest Service Suggestion box: Park visitors need to know how important it is to keep this wilderness area completely pristine and undisturbed. So why not put up a few signs to remind people of this fact?

Answer 23

Inconsistency

Question 24

They are Senior High School students. You can’t trust

them to do things like a college student.

Answer 24

Composition

Question 25

All broken-hearted are depressed.
All depressed are suicidal.
Therefore, all broken-hearted are suicidal.

Answer 25

Division

Question 26

What’s to say against [cigars]? They killed George Burns at 100. If he hadn’t smoked them, he’d have
died at 75.

Answer 26

False Cause

Post Hoc

Question 27

According to North Korea’s official state-run news agency, “a war between North Korea and the United States will end with the delightful victory of North Korea, a newly emerging military power, in 100 hours. . . . The U. S. [will] be enveloped in flames. . . and the arrogant empire of the devil will breathe its last”. Given that this prediction comes from the official North Korean news agency, it is probably true.

Answer 27

Inappropriate Appeal to Authority

Question 28

Jurors in tobacco lawsuits should award judgments so large that they put tobacco companies out of business. Respecting the right of tobacco companies to stay in business is akin to saying there are “two sides” to slavery…

Answer 28

Loaded Question