PHIL Final Sem1 Informal Fallacies

Question 1

ad hominem

Answer 1

attacking the person, not the argument

Question 2

Appeal to authority

Answer 2

claiming something is true because it is an authority’s opinion

Question 3

Hasty Generalization

Answer 3

Drawing a general conclusion from a tiny sample.

Question 4

Ad Populum

Answer 4

claiming something is true because the majority of people believe it

Question 5

Red Herring

Answer 5

Introducing irrelevant material to the argument to distract and lead towards a different conclusion

Question 6

Strawman

Answer 6

Creating a distorted or simplified version of your opponent’s argument, and then arguing against that.

Question 7

Slippery Slope

Answer 7

Assuming a relatively small first step will inevitably lead to a chain of related (negative) events.