Practice Quiz, Informal Fallacies

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Practice Quiz, Informal Fallacies
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Remember these steps

• Arguments are the assertion of a conclusion from
  reasons that are better known than the
  conclusion.
• 3 Steps!
• Ask yourself Is this good reasoning does it
  sound reasonable? If it sounds reasonable, No
  Fallacy.
• If it sounds unreasonable, ask Why does it sound
  unreasonable or screwy? If it sounds
  unreasonable because the premise or reason
  offered is rude, mean, silly, impossible or
  improbable, etc., the reasoning might still be
  good! Check again.
• If the reasoning still seems screwy after
  consciously accepting even rude, silly, or
  improbable reasons, then you have a fallacy
  find the best bucket to drop the fallacy in.

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Classification of Fallacies

• Fallacies of Relevance
• Appeal to Force
• Appeal to Pity
• Appeal to the People
• Ad Hominem
• Accident
• Straw man
• Missing the Point
• Red Herring

Weak Induction Appeal to Unqualified
Authority Appeal to Ignorance Hasty
Generalization False Cause Slippery Slope Weak
Analogy
Fallacies of Ambiguity Equivocation Amphibole
Fallacies of Presumption Begging the
Question Complex Question Faulty Dilemma
Fallacies of Grammatical Analogy Composition Divi
sion
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• Anyone who shoots a gun at another person should
  go to jail, so, those police officers returning
  fire at those bank robbers should be arrested,
  pronto!

Begging the Question Argument to the Person, abusive Hasty Generalization Accident (Misapplying a Rule) No Fallacy
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2

• Betty is a real gem she has violent,
  unpredictable outbursts, and then cries for hours
  afterwards. I think you should ignore her ideas
  about which car to buy.

Appeal to Unqualified Authority Argument to the Person, abusive False Cause, post hoc Accident (Misapplying a Rule) No Fallacy
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3

• Betty is a real gem she has violent,
  unpredictable outbursts, and then cries for hours
  afterwards. I think you should think twice about
  dating her.

False cause, mere contributive cause Argument to the Person, abusive Begging the Question Accident (Misapplying a Rule) No Fallacy
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• Sean Hannity says he doesnt want the government
  regulating speech with hate speech laws. But
  really, no government at all is what he wants!
  American!? Patriot!? True Americans love our
  system of government Hannity is a anarchist!

Division Argument to the Person, abusive False cause, post hoc Straw Man (Straw Position) No Fallacy
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• I hear the Vikings cut their backup left tackle
  after he expressed his support for gay marriage.
  I guess we know the franchise is run by a bunch
  of homophobic, bigoted jerks.

False cause, post hoc Argument to the Person, abusive Complex Question Straw Man (Straw Position) No Fallacy
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• You know, I can hear your stereo all the way in
  the basement, so its given me a splitting
  headache and you can just run yourself to the
  store and get me some Ibuprofen.

False cause, post hoc Argument to the Person, abusive False cause, mere contributive cause Faulty Dilemma No Fallacy
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• Alan is a social clod with no verbal filter. He
  once told a complete stranger, I think I can
  smell you. Probably not the guy we send to
  invite those girls over for a drink.

Faulty Dilemma Argument to the Person, abusive Slippery Slope Straw Man (Straw Position) No Fallacy
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• Saw you carrying a case of Heineken into your
  house. So, are you still fighting with alcoholism?

Begging the Question Composition Complex Question Straw Man (Straw Position) No Fallacy
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9

• A ban on guns would make us so much safer!
• Really? Why?
• Well, duh! it would reduce our exposure to
  danger!

Begging the Question Argument to the Person, abusive Complex Question Straw Man (Straw Position) No Fallacy
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10

• You do those dishes or go to your room!

Slippery Slope Argument to the Person, abusive Faulty Dilemma Straw Man (Straw Position) No Fallacy
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• Sit down and eat! If you skip dinner, youll be
  hungry later, then youll be cranky, next thing
  you know well be arguing!

Begging the Question Argument to the Person, abusive Faulty Dilemma Slippery Slope No Fallacy
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• Each member of our relay team is super-fast, so,
  our relay team will totally kick butt this year!

Appeal to Force Division Faulty Dilemma Composition No Fallacy
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• One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How
  he got into my pajamas I'll never know.

Equivocation Division Amphibole Composition No Fallacy
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• Our district has dumped thousands into math
  education. I just talked to my niece she
  couldnt multiply or divide, and shes in 3rd
  grade! I guess none of our kids is getting what
  were paying for!

Equivocation False cause, post hoc Accident (Misapplying a rule) Hasty Generalization No Fallacy
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15

• Congresswoman Bunger has argued the traditional
  family is important for the health of the nation,
  but she was recently caught in a lesbian affair
  with a congressional page! Clearly her arguments
  cant be trusted.

Equivocation False cause, post hoc Argument to the Person, Tu Quoque (you too) Hasty Generalization No Fallacy
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• You take a hit of that Mary Jane, next its
  cocaine, heroine, then youre a prostitute or a
  burglar, embezzler, probably end up shot!

False cause, confused causal chain False cause, post hoc Slippery Slope Appeal to Pity No Fallacy
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• Every member of the Jazz Dance club is over 50,
  so, the club must be over 50, too.

Composition Hasty Generalization Amphibole Division No Fallacy
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• When you execute the innocent, you know youve
  made a terrible mistake. But every fetus is
  innocent clearly, abortion is a terrible
  mistake, too.

Composition Hasty Generalization Equivocation Division No Fallacy
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• You really dont want to argue that animal lives
  have less value than human lives, do you? Youll
  cause an uproar from those wacky PETA types on
  campus!

Composition Appeal to the People, indirect Equivocation Appeal to Force No Fallacy
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• Senator Parks wants to ban the pesticide
  Xandipytheldip, just because it will kill a few
  people each year. But if that was a good reason,
  wed be banning cars, which kill thousands! Lets
  leave Xandipytheldip alone!

Composition Appeal to the People, indirect Argument to the Person, Tu Quoque (you too) Weak Analogy No Fallacy
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• I think you should give God a chance, Mr.
  Thornbuckle. The majority of the worlds
  population believes in a higher power, after all.

Composition Appeal to the People, indirect Argument to the Person, Tu Quoque (you too) Weak Analogy No Fallacy
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• Albert Einstein said years ago, God doesnt not
  play dice with the universe I think if a
  brilliant guy like Einstein says something like
  that, believing in God is pretty reasonable.

Weak Analogy Appeal to the People, indirect Division Appeal to Unqualified Authority No Fallacy