Fallacies
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NOTE: MOVED FROM PHYSIOLOGY TO PHILOSOPHY BY ADMIN
The arguments below contain various kinds of fallacies. Evaluate each and identify the fallacy using the matching list on the last page.Write the complete sentence and place the name of the fallacy at the end of the sentence. The matches are at the end of the page they also need to be matched thanks
1. We can recognize that athletes that participate in sports must be given special consideration within our grading system, or we can let the university sink into athletic oblivion.
2. I don't know what colleges are teaching these days! I have just received a letter of application from a young man who graduated from the state university last June. It was a wretched letter--badly written, with elementary errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar. The state university does not deserve the tax support that it is getting.
3. All right-thinking people will support the Board of Education's decision to destroy novels in the school libraries that are offensive to the moral standards of the community. If there were an epidemic of typhoid, the health authorities would be expected to do everything in their power to wipe it out. Pornography is worse than typhoid, since it corrupts the minds and morals of the young, not just their bodies. The school board is to be applauded for their prompt action in wiping out this moral disease.
4. Despite endless efforts, no one has been able to prove that God exists; we may just as well stop trying and accept the truth: there is no God.
5. Alicia started gaining more weight than ever when she started taking Slimdown; the stuff must be fattening!
6. No sensible person would support the Equal Rights Amendment. If it were to pass, we would have women in combat and unisex bathrooms. Eventually, we would not even be able to tell the women from the men!
7. How can Clinton be leading this country! He's a draft-dodging, pot-smoking, womanizer!!
8. Michael Jordan wore that brand, so those must to be the best basketball shoes.
9. The difference in the outcome was Jefferson's missed field goal. If he had put it through, we'd be going to the Super Bowl.
10. Don't ignore the woman who gave you birth, raised you, loved you then, and loves you still. Remember your mom on Mother's Day.
11. So what if I didn't claim all of the money I earned on my taxes? Lots of people under-report their income.
12. That's gotta be a great line of clothes. Have you seen the prices and the people endorsing it?
MATCHING LIST FOR FINAL
Each argument commits only one fallacy, and each fallacy is only used once.
a. False analogy.
b. Appeal to authority.
c. Post hoc ergo propter hoc.
d. Attacking the person.
e. Two wrongs.
f. Non sequitur.
g. Equivocation.
h. False dilemma.
i. Black and white (slippery slope).
j. Hasty generalization.
k. Contrary-to-fact hypothesis.
l. Ad ignorantium.
m. Appeal to emotion.
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Hi there. I've provided some ways you can access the material, and I hope you find it helpful. Try to identify the fallacy based on the characteristics of each.
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<br>a. False analogy.
<br>here an analogy is made between two things that are too dissimilar to be compared.
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<br>b. Appeal to authority.
<br>here an expert's opinion is given in an area that expert has no knowledge.
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<br>c. Post hoc ergo propter hoc.
<br>also known as false cause. here a causal relationship is asserted where it's too weak to be proven. "take my magic potion and your cold will go away in 5-7 days."
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<br>d. Attacking the person.
<br>instead of addressing a person's argument, the person him or herself is attacked.
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<br>e. Two wrongs.
<br>a conclusion is defended on the basis that other (bad) things are justified or done, so the conclusion should be accepted as well.
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<br>f. Non sequitur.
<br>a conclusion that doesn't follow in any way from the premises.
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<br>g. Equivocation.
<br>one word is meant in two different ways in each use. sometimes, the word is used once, but there are two senses that can be interpreted, so the meaning is ambiguous.
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<br>h. False dilemma.
<br>here two options are presented (typically in "either-or" form) as the only possibilities, when in fact other alternatives are possible.
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<br>i. Black and white (slippery slope).
<br>take one step and you'll slide down the slope, landing in a crumpled heap. the idea here is that you'd better not take this first step because the results will be disastrous. this fallacy comes in the form of a series of conditional statements, at least one of which is ...
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