LG#2 : Methods of Philosophizing - Informal Fallacies : EXAMPLES (1st Grading Period)

Question 1

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

“I’m the best man for the job. Anyone who says otherwise is in for a world of hurt.”

“I guess you will be testifying that I am innocent tomorrow.
After all, neither of us wants anything to happen to your children, do we?”

Answer 1

Appeal to Force (Argumentum ad Baculum)

Question 2

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

“Student to Professor: “But, I really NEED to pass this class. I need this class in order to graduate this semester, and I can’t afford to pay for more classes in the future. I already work 60 hours a week and supporting four children all by myself, and I’m barely scraping by as it is. You should give me a passing grade.” “

Answer 2

Appeal to Pity (Argumentum ad misericordiam)

Question 3

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

Speaker: “Vote for my candidate! Vote for AMERICA! Everybody say ‘Yeah’!”
Crowd: “Yeah!”
Speaker: “I can’t hear you! I said, Everybody say ‘Yeah’!”
Crowd: “YEAH!!”

Answer 3

Appeal to the People (Direct)

Question 4

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

“Really? You don’t own a car? But EVERYONE owns a car.”

Answer 4

Appeal to the People (Indirect; Bandwagon Argument)

Question 5

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

“You should buy a Ferrari. That’s what Tom Cruise drives.”

Answer 5

Appeal to the People (Indirect; Appeal to Vanity)

Question 6

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

“You should accept the offer at the summer internship.
How many people actually get accepted into that program?
SO many apply, and only a few get in. You’ve got a one in a million opportunity right in front of you—I can’t believe you’re even considering turning it down.”

Answer 6

Appeal to the People (Indirect; Snoberry)

Question 7

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

PEGGY: “I think you should slow down a little bit.”

SUE: “Well, you’re an idiot.”

Answer 7

Argument Against the Person (Abusive)

Question 8

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

“Of COURSE my opponent is arguing against taxation of the rich. Just look at him! He’s the richest person in town. There’s no way someone like that could
argue anything else.”

Answer 8

Argument Against the Person (Circumstantial)

Question 9

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

PEGGY: “You shouldn’t eat fast food. I hear it’s really bad for you and could lead
to health complications.”

SUE: “Whatever! You eat fast food all the time!”

Answer 9

Argument Against the Person (“You Too”, Tu Quoque, Hypocrisy)

Question 10

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

POLICE OFFICER: “Are you lost? Where’s your Mom and Dad? Talk to me.”

CHILD: “I can’t talk to strangers.”’

Answer 10

Accident

Question 11

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

PEGGY: “I’m just saying that nuclear energy would provide a lot of energy in a clean way,
so we should at least consider it as an option.”

SUE: “Oh, so you’re in favor of nuclear war? Is that what you want? For all of the countries to be nuking each other until we’re all dead? How ridiculous!”

Answer 11

Straw Man

Question 12

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

“Our daughter got all D’s this semester at D University. Every single professor there should be fired!”

Answer 12

Missing the Point

Question 13

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

PEGGY: “The scientific community is in unanimous agreement.
We are altering the climate, and if we continue on our present course, the results will be disastrous. Climate change is a real problem in this world.”

SUE: “You know what’s a problem in this world? People just believing everything they hear. People will believe just about anything, as long as it’s said on television.”

Answer 13

Red Herring

Question 14

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

“Dr. Alex Santos, our child’s pediatrician, has stated that the creation of muonic atoms of deuterium and tritium hold the key to producing a sustained nuclear fusion reaction at room temperature. In view of Dr. Santos’ expertise as a pediatrician, we must conclude that this is indeed true.”

Answer 14

Appeal to Unqualified Authority (Argumentum ad Verecundiam)

Question 15

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

“No one has ever been able to prove the existence of extrasensory perception.
We must therefore conclude that extrasensory perception does not exist.”

“No one has ever been able to prove that extrasensory perception does not exist.
We must therefore conclude that extrasensory perception exists.”

Answer 15

Appeal to Ignorance (Argumentum ad ignorantiam)

Question 16

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

“I’ve met three dogs and all of them were friendly. So, all dogs are friendly.”

“Three dogs are simply not a large enough sample set to draw a general conclusion about ALL dogs.”

Answer 16

Hasty Generalization (Converse Accident)

Question 17

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

“It’s raining. And I left my umbrella at home. But, it’s only raining BECAUSE I left my umbrella at home. If I had brought the umbrella with me, it would be bright and sunny.”

Answer 17

Coincidence (Post hoc ergo propter hoc)

Question 18

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

“All of the really fast runners wear Nike shoes. So, if I get some Nike shoes, I will be a really fast runner too!”

Answer 18

Correlation (Non causa pro causa)

Question 19

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

“Throughout the 1960s, the youth culture experimented more and more with sex, drugs, and rock and roll. It’s all The Beatles’ fault.”

Answer 19

Oversimplified Cause

Question 20

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

“Wow, this coin has come up heads 5 times in a row. The next one is BOUND to come up tails!”

“This slot machine hasn’t paid out in over an hour. I’ve got to keep playing though, because it’s SURE to hit the jackpot really soon.”

Answer 20

The Gambler’s Fallacy

Question 21

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

“The government shouldn’t regulate AR-15 assault rifles. If they do that, then pretty soon,
they’ll be regulating ALL guns, and then probably knives too!
And pretty soon, there will be a law for everything and you won’t be able to move an inch without breaking some law or other.”

Answer 21

Slippery Slope

Question 22

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

“Meghan is my best friend. I can’t wait to meet her sister tomorrow. I just know we’re going to hit it off.”

Answer 22

Weak Analogy

Question 23

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

“Obviously, Philosophy should be removed from the curriculum because it’s a really difficult subject.”

Answer 23

Missing Key Premise

Question 24

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

“Prostitution is clearly wrong because any case of selling sex is morally impermissible.”

Answer 24

Conclusion Restates the Premise

Question 25

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

CHILD: “Why is the sky blue?”
PARENT: “Because I said it’s blue.”
CHILD: “But, why do you say it’s blue?”
PARENT: “Because the sky IS blue.”
CHILD: “But, why is the sky blue?”
PARENT: Because I SAID so!

Answer 25

Circular Reasoning

Question 26

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

“When did you decide to stop beating your children?”

“Where did you bury the body parts of your victim?”

Answer 26

Complex Question

Question 27

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

“Either you’ll go out on a date with me, or you clearly hate my guts. But, I know you don’t hate my guts.”

“You’re either against Obamacare, or you’re an evil person. You don’t want to be
an evil person, do you?”

Answer 27

False Dichotomy

Question 28

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

“I would be a great employee. You should hire me. I graduated magna cum laude with a degree in business from Harvard, I know about all of the procedures, and I have extensive experience in this line of work.”

(Information not provided: “I was fired from my last job for being a terrible employee”)

“England has very strict gun control laws and the homicide rate there is very low.
Meanwhile, the United States has much looser gun control laws and the homicide
rate is much higher. So, the evidence indicates that we should regulate guns
more strictly in order to lower the homicide rate.”

(Evidence that is not provided: “Mexico has much stricter gun control than the U.S., but very high homicide rates. Meanwhile, Switzerland has very lax gun control and very low homicide rates.”

Answer 28

Suppressed Evidence

Question 29

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

“The pamphlet for this animal rescue organization says, ‘All former zoo animals are now free’. I think we should go get a free koala bear. After all, they’re just giving them away!””

“Everyone knows that it is wrong to discriminate or treat people differently on the basis of what race they are a part of. So, even though the 100-meter dash and the long-distance marathon are different races, it is clear that we should hold the members of each to the same set of standards.”

Answer 29

Equivocation

Question 30

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

“This newspaper headline says, ‘Local Children Make Nutritious Snacks’. I can’t believe they’re eating children now!”

“They say that Peggy gave a lecture on drugs yesterday. I had no idea she was a junkie!”

Answer 30

Amphiboly

Question 31

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

“If you like cheese, bread, and tomatoes, then you’ll like pizza.”

“Each atom in this teacup is invisible. Therefore, this teacup is invisible.”

“Sodium and chlorine, the atomic components of salt, are both deadly poisons. Therefore, salt is a deadly poison.”

Answer 31

Composition

Question 32

What kind of Fallacy is stated?

“Since the Mona Lisa is a beautiful painting, it follows that
each individual atom of paint in the Mona Lisa is beautiful too.”

“They say that the United States is a very wealthy nation. So, obviously, Sue was lying when she said she was poor. She’s an American citizen, after all.”

Answer 32

Division