Flaws

Question 1

Name and explain the flaw:

“Even non-violent video games are a danger to your child. They start off peacefully racing cars round a track, avoiding banana skins. But before you know it, they haven’t left their bedroom all day because they’re addicted to the virtual thrill of shooting innocent bystanders while hurtling round a city in a stolen vehicle.”

Answer 1

• Slippery slope
• No reason is given to make us accept that playing a childish racing game will lead to an addiction to violent video games.

Question 2

Name and explain the flaw:

“The education system today is entirely focused on how to pass exams. This means exams don’t test the full breadth of a student’s knowledge of a subject - only their knowledge of the specification and assessment objectives. It’s no wonder so many A-level students don’t know how to use an apostrophe correctly.”

Answer 2

• Unrelated conclusion

* The reasons are about an exam-focused system and are not related to the conclusion about punctuation

Question 3

Name the flaw:

When an argument claims that event A caused event B, just because B happened after A.

Answer 3

Post Hoc

Question 4

Name and explain the flaw:

“Everyone has the right to free speech, therefore it’s wrong to try to silence other people’s opinions.”

Answer 4

• Begging the question
• You could only accept the reason “everyone has the right to free speech” if you already believed the conclusion that it’s wrong to silence people’s opinions.

Question 5

Name and explain the flaw:

“Some people argue that it’s best for young children if their mother stays at home, because mothers are instinctively nurturing. But it’s clearly wrong to say that mothers are only good at cooking, cleaning and general domestic drudgery. Mothers have all sorts of skills, so they should be allowed to have a career if they want.”

Answer 5

• Straw person
• The argument misrepresents the counter-argument, because the argument for stay-at-home mothers isn’t claiming that mothers re only good at general domestic drudgery. This means that the counter-argument hasn’t been properly dismissed.

Question 6

Name and explain the flaw:

“It is fair to confiscate his phone because that is a just punishment.”

Answer 6

• Circular argument
• “Fair” and “just” mean the same thing, so the reason just repeats the conclusion -> There’s nothing to persuade us of the conclusion.

Question 7

Name the flaw:

When an argument gets cause and effect the wrong way round.

Answer 7

Confusing cause and effect

Question 8

Name the flaw:

When an argument claims that event A caused event B, when they’re actually both caused by event C.

Answer 8

Simplifying causal relations

Question 9

Name and explain the flaw:

“Benefit application procedures are too strict. Lady Olivia James argues that we need the procedures to be really strict to make it harder to cheat the welfare system. But she’s obviously just a rich snob who has no idea what it’s like to struggle for money and rely on benefits for survival.”

Answer 9

• Ad hominem
• The argument attacks Lady Olivia James without giving any reason to dismiss the counter-argument. The counter-argument may be valid regardless of who made it.

Question 10

Name and explain the flaw:

“I vandalised the politician’s garden, but he deserved it because he was corrupt.”

Answer 10

• Two wrongs don’t make a right

* The politician’s bad actions alone do not justify the author’s bad actions.

Question 11

Name the flaw:

When an argument says that you can do something bad just because someone else has done a different bad thing.

Answer 11

Two wrongs don’t make a right

Question 12

Name the flaw:

When a claim about many things in a group is used to support a conclusion about an individual case.

Answer 12

Sweeping generalisation

Question 13

Name the flaw:

When an argument’s conclusion and reasons are not relevant to each other.

Answer 13

Unrelated conclusion

Question 14

Name and explain the flaw:

“A lot of rugby players are loud, arrogant and rude. I prefer reserved, polite people. Steve is a rugby player - therefore I won’t like him.”

Answer 14

• Sweeping generalisation
• A claim about many rugby players is used to support a conclusion about Steve. This doesn’t work because Steve might be an exception and no evidence is given to suggest that he’s not.

Question 15

Name and explain the flaw:

“Vegetarians are difficult dinner party guests. Either you’ve got to go to the extra hassle of cooking a separate dish for them or disappoint the other guests by not serving meat. I’ve tried asking them to bring their own food - but they seem to find that insulting. I find the best option is just to not invite them.”

Answer 15

• Restricting the options
• The options are restricted to cooking a separate dish for vegetarians, disappointing other guests by not serving meat, or not inviting vegetarians. However, there are alternative options, such as serving vegetarians the same meal but without the meat, or cook fabulous vegetarian food that wouldn’t disappoint anyone.

Question 16

Name the flaw:

When an argument says that you should do something just because someone else does it.

Answer 16

Tu Quoque

Question 17

Name the flaw:

When the conclusion is the same as one of the reasons.

Answer 17

Circular argument

Question 18

Name the flaw:

When an argument claims one thing was entirely responsible for another, when actually several factors combined to cause the result.

Answer 18

Simplifying causal relations

Question 19

Name and explain the flaw:

“All my friends volunteer at charity shops, therefore I should too.”

Answer 19

• Tu Quoque
• There is no reason given to say why you should volunteer at a charity shop, except that others do, which is insufficient.

Question 20

Name and explain the flaw:

“After he started working as an accountant, he lost weight. Therefore, calculating tax rebates and looking at company audits is a good way to lose weight.”

Answer 20

• Post hoc
• The weight loss happened after he started working as an accountant, but there is no reason to suggest that this is what caused the weight loss.

Question 21

Name the flaw:

When two similar words are used as if they mean the same thing.

Answer 21

Conflation

Question 22

Name and explain the flaw:

“Annual figures show that as sales of ice cream go up, the number of drowning incidents also increases. This shows that ice cream affects your ability to swim.”

Answer 22

• Simplifying causal relations
• The argument states that the increase in ice cream sales causes the increase in drowning. However, it is more likely that it is hot summer weather that causes both of these things, so the argument’s conclusion cannot be accepted.

Question 23

Name the flaw:

When a claim about a few things is used to support a claim about lots of things.

Answer 23

Hasty generalisation

Question 24

Name the flaw:

When an argument uses a sufficient condition as if it is necessary (or vice versa).

Answer 24

Confusing necessary and sufficient conditions.

Question 25

Name and explain the flaw:

“Stuart has the flu a lot more than I do - I think it’s because he visits the doctor’s surgery more often than me. The waiting room must be full of germs and that’s why he catches more viruses.”

Answer 25

• Confusing cause and effect
• It’s more likely that Stuart’s frequent visits to the doctor are caused by him having the flu, not that the flu is caused by the visits.

Question 26

Name and explain the flaw:

“The prime minister’s financial policies were over-ambitious, and that’s what caused the economy to collapse. If we’d elected someone else then the economy would still be flourishing.”

Answer 26

• Simplifying causal relations
• Many factors affect the economy, including the economies of other countries and decisions made by banks. It cannot be claimed that the prime minister alone caused the economy to collapse.

Question 27

Name and explain the flaw:

“She has a long history of violence against teachers and other pupils - this is sufficient reason to expel her. I won’t be expelled - even though I did deliberately burn down the science block - because I don’t have a long history of violence against teachers and other pupils.”

Answer 27

• Confusing necessary and sufficient conditions
• It is asides that because a long history of violence is sufficient then it might be necessary as well. Although a history of violence will get you expelled, it’s not necessary because you can get expelled for other things too.

Question 28

Name the flaw:

When a counter-argument is misrepresented or distorted to make it easier to dismiss.

Answer 28

Straw person

Question 29

Name and explain the flaw:

“Nurses are caring, sensitive people, so their argument that hospitals need more investment must be justified.”

Answer 29

• Ad hominem

* The argument uses the character of nurses to justify their claim, rather than explaining why it is correct

Question 30

Name and explain the flaw:

“The Bible says God is always right. We know the Bible is true because it is the word of God. Therefore, God is always right.”

Answer 30

• Begging the question
• To accept the reason “the Bible is true because it is the word of God” you must already accept the conclusion that “God is always right.”

Question 31

Name and explain the flaw:

“To be a comedian it is necessary to be funny. I am funny, therefore I’ll definitely be a comedian, even though I’m terrified of public speaking.”

Answer 31

• Confusing necessary and sufficient conditions
• Being funny is a necessary condition for being a comedian, but it’s not sufficient, as this argument claims. You need other abilities too.

Question 32

Name the flaw:

When you have to already accept the conclusion in order to accept a reason.

Answer 32

Begging the question

Question 33

Name the flaw:

When an argument attacks a person rather than their argument.

Answer 33

Ad hominem

Question 34

Name and explain the flaw:

“Mature people make better decisions. I’m older than you, so you should follow my decisions instead of your own.”

Answer 34

• Conflation
• Being mature is not the same as being older, so the reason and conclusion are about different things -> The conclusion is unsupported.

Question 35

Name and explain the flaw:

“I’ve only met two librarians in my life, but they were both loud, arrogant and rude. Therefore, I try and avoid all librarians now.”

Answer 35

• Hasty generalisation

* A claim about two librarians is too specific to tell us anything reliable about all librarians.

Question 36

Name the flaw:

When an argument presents its conclusion as the best option by only discussing a limited range of choices.

Answer 36

Restricting the options

Question 37

Name the flaw:

When an argument argues that one small event will lead to an extreme result.

Answer 37

Slippery slope

Question 38

Name and explain the flaw:

“After he stopped having burger and chips for breakfast every day, he lost weight. Therefore, eating a burger and chips for breakfast was making him fat.”

Answer 38

• Post hoc
• The weight loss happened after he stopped having burger and chips for breakfast every day, but there is no reason to suggest that this is what caused the weight loss.
• More reasons are needed to support the claim.