101.
Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem
not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of
why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue.
Gays in the military? If we allow that, then next we’ll be letting women into the men’s
barracks. And the next thing you know, women, men, gays, everyone—they’ll all be
showering together and sleeping in the same bunks. Get real.
Slippery slope.
102.
Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem
not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of
why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue.
Gays in the military? Yes. There are no valid grounds for opposing the measure, as can be
seen in the fact that policies of nondiscrimination to gays are common practice throughout
Western democracies.
Mistaken appeal to common practice.
103.
Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem
not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of
why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue.
George, I speak for the rest of the neighbors on our street. Frankly, your front yard is a
mess, and we’d appreciate it if you would do something about it. We put the time and
money into making our places look nice, but the effort is largely ruined by one awful
looking place right here in the middle of the block. We hope you’ll do something about it.
This might look like peer pressure or common practice, but we don’t believe it’s a fallacy
at all.
104.
Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem
not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of
why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue.
This river has been changing its course every couple of years for the past few thousand
years. Now they’ve decided that the banks need to be stabilized. Who do the Army Corps
of Engineers think they are to come in here and decide they know something Mother
Nature doesn’t?
This kind of fallacy is of the “if it’s been going on like this for a long time, then this is the
way it should continue” variety, which is close to our “argument from tradition,” but
“tradition” doesn’t seem to apply comfortably when it’s nature and not people that is
responsible for the situation. In any case, sometimes the mere fact that something has
happened in a certain way can provide reasons for leaving well enough alone, but the
mere fact that this is the way it has happened is not itself such a reason.
105.
Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem
not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of
why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue.
So they came along and made me take my sign down because it was in violation of the city
sign code. But look at the signs down in the next block, will you? They’re under the same
code, and they’re just like the one I had to take down.
This may be an appeal to common practice, but there may be a reasonable appeal here as
well, an appeal to fair play or equal treatment.
106.
Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem
not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of
why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue.
Sure, driving after you’ve been drinking can get you into trouble with the law, but if you’re
careful I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. After all, everyone does it, right?
Mistaken appeal to common practice.
107.
Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem
not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of
why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue.
From a letter to the editor: “They’re wrong again, the doctors who say that the sun causes
cancer. The four substances for all life are water, food, air, and sun. Everybody knows the
sun opens the pores of your skin to poisons; it cannot cause cancer. Cancer is caused by
the toxins man puts in the air, not by sunlight.”
—Cascade News
Appeal to popularity (“Everybody knows”), although this probably fits the proof surrogate
(Ch. 5) model better.
108.
Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem
not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of
why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue.
Toads do cause warts. People have known that for centuries.
A version of appeal to popularity.
7-42
109.
Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem
not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of
why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue.
Overheard during a recent Olympics: “Oh, I don’t know. All athletes use some type of
steroids in training and competition.”
Mistaken appeal to common practice.
110.
Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem
not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of
why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue.
In its July 1988 issue,
Consumer Reports
criticized the Suzuki Samurai as unsafe and
dangerously easy to roll over. In the next issue, a reader wrote in response, “In order to
completely idiot-proof our society, we would have to surrender all freedom. Your
suggestion that the government protect us from this evil vehicle is just another step in a
journey that could ultimately lead to an erosion of freedom in this country.”
This could be viewed as a slippery slope combined with a straw man, a false dilemma, or
both.
7-43
111.
Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem
not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of
why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue.
Obviously it was right for the United States to attack Iraq in 1991. Polls at the time showed
that over 90 percent of Americans thought the war was justified.
Appeal to popularity.
112.
Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem
not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of
why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue.
He: They’re nice speakers, but we can’t really afford them.
She: Why in heaven not?
He: If we buy them, next thing you know we’ll want to buy a new receiver to go with them,
then a CD player, then a new tape deck, and on and on. We can’t afford all that stuff.
Slippery slope.
113.
Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem
not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of
why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue.
Big L: I like the new civil rights bill, especially the provision that prohibits indirect
discrimination practices, such as height and weight requirements that could exclude
women.
Little C: It may sound fine to you, but not to me. We are almost to the point already that
employers are forced to hire blacks just because they are black and women just because
they are women, and that’s just reverse discrimination.
Could be analyzed as a straw man (Little C is distorting the provision that Big L supports)
or as a slippery slope (if Little C is arguing that the provision will lead to the situation he
describes) or as a red herring.
114.
Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem
not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of
why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue.
From an ad for APC (a power supply brand): 30 million computer users don’t trust the
power grid. They do trust APC. Shouldn’t you?
Mistaken appeal to popularity.
7-45
115.
Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem
not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of
why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue.
There must be a God. After all, people and cultures have always believed in some sort of a
deity going back to the beginning of humankind.
Mistaken appeal to tradition.
116.
Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem
not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of
why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue.
“Paranoia is rampant in Chico again. The latest lie is that wood stove and fireplace burning
is extremely detrimental to your health. People, stop being so gullible and think hard, look
at all the locals that have lived here all their lives—some well into their 90s. They, as well
as all humans for the last 6,000 years have lived with wood smoke. Our locals in addition
have grown up during the rice burning and smudge pot years. Why don’t you wood
burning-a-phobics worry about how fat and sanitary you and your children are. Your
alcohol use and your SUVs are polluting the air daily, not just during the winter months. All
those things are the real killers of today’s society.”
Appeal to tradition in the first half, with some personal attack ad hominem and a red
herring at the end.
117.
It is widely believed that chocolate causes acne, since people susceptible to acne
frequently assert that eating chocolate is invariably followed by an outbreak of the skin
condition. However, Donald G. Bruns, in a letter to
Science News
, wondered whether
those who have the belief that chocolate causes acne might not have things backwards.
Some studies indicate that hormonal changes associated with stress may cause acne, he
notes. Other studies indicate that people fond of chocolate may tend to eat more
chocolate when under stress. Given these studies, Bruns comments, it may be easy to
confuse which, the chocolate or the acne, is the cause—and which is the effect.
In a brief essay, explain what pattern of reasoning seems to underlie the belief that
chocolate causes acne
(probably the paired unusual events principle—the relevant
difference between this situation, where there were an outbreak of acne, and situations in
which there was none is that in this situation the person ate chocolate)
, and then answer
this question: Bruns complains that those who believe that chocolate causes acne may be
guilty of the fallacy of reversed causation. Given the studies he cites, has Bruns correctly
identified the mistake?
No. The mistake is ignoring an underlying third cause.
118.
Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.
“This antique dealer should know what’s wrong with this old car of ours.”
Mistaken appeal to authority.
119.
Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.
“The sign said no left turn, so I didn’t turn left to avoid the accident.”
Accident.
120.
Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.
“Officer, I had the right of way. So it didn’t matter that he was in the intersection.”
Accident.
121.
Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.
“As the percentage of female drivers has gone up, so has the traffic accident rate, proof
right there that women aren’t good drivers.”
Cum hoc, ergo propter hoc.
7-48
122.
Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.
“Everyone takes his or her eyes off the road now and then. Nothing wrong with that. So it
is okay for me to do it while brushing my teeth.”
Accident.
123.
Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.
“It is hazardous to use a cell while driving, so you shouldn’t have called 911 on your cell.”
Accident.
124.
Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.
“We are having such a wet winter. I wonder what the cause is?”
Post hoc, ergo propter hoc (Overlooking the possibility of random variation).
125.
Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.
“It’s unlike to Jamal to miss two free throws in a row like that. I bet it’s because his father
passed away.”
Post hoc, ergo propter hoc (Overlooking the possibility of random variation).
126.
Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.
“People who read a lot are less apt to suffer from dementia. So we recommend reading for
all our older patients.”
Cum hoc, ergo propter hoc (Overlooking the possibility of reversed causation).
127.
Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.
“Never trust that TV manufacturing company. I bought a TV from them and it got spoilt
within a month!”
Hasty generalization/generalizing from exceptional cases.
7-50
128.
Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.
“Playing basketball causes you to grow taller. Ask anyone.”
Mistaken appeal to popularity.
129.
Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.
“There is only one way to solve this problem; that is the way our forefathers solved it.”
Mistaken appeal to tradition.
130.
Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.
“Wear a suit. Everyone knows it is the most fashionable attire for men.”
Mistaken appeal to popularity.
131.
Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.
“My brother told me it is unwise to buy that phone. Therefore, that phone is bad.”
Mistaken appeal to authority.
132.
Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.
“He is very reliable. You can count on him if you need a ride home.”
Accident.
133.
Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.
“I’m sure he makes great music, judging from his latest song.”
Hasty generalization.
7-52
134.
Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.
“When I fell off my bike in that city, no one around offered to help. I guess everyone in that
city is unfriendly.”
Hasty generalization.
135.
Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.
“The Alps are like the Rockies. I enjoyed the Rockies; therefore, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the
Alps.”
Weak analogy.
136.
Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.
“I don’t believe that poverty is a problem. Nobody I know faces this problem. It is just
something the media wants you to fear. It is not real.”
Fallacy of small sample, hasty generalization.
137.
Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.
“Everyone knows that sports is the best way to maintain physical health.”
Mistaken appeal to common belief (popularity).