Logical Fallacies examples Flashcards

1
Q

It makes no difference if he was guilty of Nazi war crimes. The man is 88 years old and in frail health, so he should not be made to stand trial.

A

ad misericordiam

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2
Q

How could Tom accuse her of being careless? He’s such a slob.

A

ad hominem

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3
Q

Paula is 16 years old and lives on welfare with her mother; she suffers serious depression and functions like a child half her age. She should not be sent to adult court, where she will be tried for robbery, so she can spend her formative years behind bar.

A

ad misericordiam

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4
Q

Of course he doesn’t see anything wrong with violent movies. The guy’s a warmonger.

A

ad hominem

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5
Q

We cannot expect Ms. Lucas to know what it means to feel oppressed; she is the president of a large bank.

A

ad hominem

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6
Q

High school students don’t learn anything these days. Today’s teachers are academically underprepared.

A

ad populum

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7
Q

Everybody’s going to the System of a Down concert.

A

bandwagon appeals

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8
Q

That foolish law should be repealed.

A

begging the question

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9
Q

People who are happy with their work are cheerful because they enjoy what they’re doing.

A

circular reasoning

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10
Q

If torture can save the lives of those who would be killed by terrorists, then the government should employ torture as a preemptive measure of protection.

A

dicto simpliciter

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11
Q

If you want to see the crime rate drop, tell Hollywood to stop making movies that glorify violence.

A

ad populum

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12
Q

Nobody will go along with that proposal.

A

bandwagon appeals

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13
Q

She is compassionate because she’s a woman.

A

begging the question

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14
Q

Smoking is bad for you because it ruins your health.

A

circular reasoning

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15
Q

Exercise is good for people. Now that Bob is out of the hospital, he should get back to the treadmill.

A

dicto simpliciter

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16
Q

Doctors oppose health reform because it will reduce their large incomes.

A

ad populum

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17
Q

The majority of the American people want a constitutional amendment outlawing flag burning.

A

bandwagon appeals

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18
Q

If you haven’t written short stories, you shouldn’t be allowed to criticize them.

A

begging the question

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19
Q

Bank robbers should be punished because they broke the law.

A

circular reasoning

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20
Q

Guns kill. So we cannot allow the average citizen to possess a weapon.

A

dicto simpliciter

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21
Q

The ship of state is about to wreck on the rocks of recession; we need a new pilot.

A

false analogy

22
Q

English should be the official language of the United States, and anybody who doesn’t like it can leave.

A

false dilemma

23
Q

You should buy these vitamins because Lady Gaga recommended them on TV last night.

A

faulty use of authority

24
Q

This whole gun control issue is polarizing the nation the way slavery did people living above and below the Mason-Dixon Line. Do we want another Civil War?

A

false analogy

25
Q

Movies today are full of either violence or sex.

A

false dilemma

26
Q

The American Bar Association states that secondhand smoke is a serious cancer threat to nonsmokers.

A

faulty use of authority

27
Q

Letting emerging nations have nuclear weapons is like giving loaded guns to children.

A

false analogy

28
Q

Either we put warning labels on records and compact discs, or we’ll see more and more teenage girls having babies.

A

false dilemma

29
Q

Americans shouldn’t find hunting objectionable because one of our most popular presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, was an avid hunter.

A

faulty use of authority

30
Q

That shopping mall is unsafe because there was a robbery there two weeks ago.

A

hasty generalization

31
Q

Mr. Thompson has such bad breath that it’s a wonder he sings so well.

A

non sequitur

32
Q

Just two weeks after they raised the speed limit, three people were killed on that road.

A

post hoc, ergo propter hoc

33
Q

I’m failing organic chemistry because the teaching assistant doesn’t speak English well.

A

hasty generalization

34
Q

She’s so pretty; she must not be smart.

A

non sequitur

35
Q

I saw Ralph in the courthouse; he must have been arrested.

A

post hoc, ergo propter hoc

36
Q

This book was written by a Stanford professor, so it must be good.

A

hasty generalization

37
Q

I supported his candidacy for president because his campaign was run so efficiently.

A

non sequitur

38
Q

It’s no wonder the crime rate has shot up. The state legislature voted to lower the drinking age.

A

post hoc, ergo propter hoc

39
Q

Even though that hockey player was convinced of vehicular homicide, he shouldn’t go to jail because he’s such a great athlete.

A

red herring

40
Q

Legalized abortion is a step toward creating an anti-life society.

A

slippery slope

41
Q

Parents should realize that private schools simply encourage elitism in young people.

A

stacking the deck

42
Q

Susan didn’t hire John for the job because his wife is always late for meetings.

A

red herring

43
Q

A ban on ethnic slurs will mean no more free speech

A

slippery slope

44
Q

We cannot take four more years of her in office given the way she voted against the death penalty.

A

stacking the deck

45
Q

The teacher gave me an F in the course she doesn’t like me.

A

red herring

46
Q

If we let them build those condos, the lake will end up polluted, the wildlife will die off, and the landscape will be scarred forever.

A

slippery slope

47
Q

Dickens’s Bleak House is six hundred pages of boring prose.

A

stacking the deck

48
Q

Homeschooling is dangerous because it keeps kids isolated from society.

A

straw man

49
Q

Discrimination in hiring is not unfair. An employer has to discriminate between competent and incompetent, good and bad workers. Otherwise, we’d be hiring people least qualified for the job.

A

straw man

50
Q

People who are opposed to urbanization just want to go back to living in caves.

A

straw man