Fallacies Worksheet #1
1. Man is the highest being on the evolutionary ladder, according to biology. That’s
why women are inferior because they are not men.
2. We know that the delicate membranes of the stomach are like the delicate
membranes of the eye, and if you want to see what alcohol does to the stomach,
just pour some gin in your eye.
3. Why do I call him a liar? Because he never tells the truth, that’s why!
4. If men like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt were
alive today, I know that they would agree entirely with the program I represent.
5. Miracles can’t happen, for miracles are impossible, and impossible things can’t
happen.
6. I want to live as long as possible so I’m going to move to Nebraska. Statistics
show that women in New York have an average life span of 67.03 years and in
Nebraska an average of 70.04.
7. After I started talking sweetly and lovingly to my plants, they started growing
beautifully, so there is the solution to getting beautiful plants.
8. I see no reason to listen to Smith. Anything he says will be influenced by his
interest in civil rights. His statements are bound to be distorted and unreliable.
9. Everything subject to law is subject to lawgiver. The natural order is subject to
law. Therefore, the natural order is subject to the lawgiver.
10. Mrs. Kobrains said this was the best class in logic that she has ever taught.
Obviously, I am one of the best students of logic that she has ever had.
11. Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, pointed out that God is only a projection of a
father-image into the universe, so how can anyone doubt the point?
12. I hope you’re not still going to Doctor Butcher. The newspaper told all about his
being involved in a nightclub brawl, and I happen to know that he has been
divorced three times and is now dating his receptionist. He can’t be much of a
doctor.
13. Did you finish that report you promised the committee you would have by today?
(A) This has been the worst week of my life! My mother-in-law dropped in from
Wichita for several days, and I caught the cold she brought with her. On top of
that, I had a car wreck, and my neck still bothers me when I try to turn my head. I
was on my way to see the psychologist at the time, by the way. And if I didn’t
have enough to worry about, he seems to think that kid of mine has some kind of
mental problems relating to his environment.
14. If I hadn’t been so upset by the school psychologist’s calling me yesterday, I
never would have had that car wreck.
Fallacies Worksheet #2
1. No news is good news. People-getting divorces is no news. Therefore,
people-getting divorces is good news.
2. Vitamins are essential to good health. Everyone should take vitamins each
day.
3. If the Founding Fathers, had wanted women to have the vote, they would have
written it into the Constitution.
4. Do you intend to go to college or dig ditches all your life?
5. It’s not difficult to understand the rising rate in juvenile crime. These kids
spend hours watching violence on television.
6. So what if I do shoplift? What about all those corporate executives who cheat
on their income tax returns?
7. Mary sets a beautiful table. She should be a good hostess.
8. I know that it finally stopped snowing. I put my snow tires on the car.
9. The Lincoln school district is the best in the nation. Therefore, Lincoln East
must be one of the best schools in the nation.
10. Makeup enhances beauty. Every girl should wear it.
11. Sure, it’s ok to see R-rated movies when you are sixteen. My dad said so.
12. Of course you feel sick. Who wouldn’t after the lunch we had today?
13. If I hadn’t overslept yesterday morning, I would have made an A on that test
in trigonometry.
14. His untidy appearance makes him look so sloppy.
15. A tan makes a person healthy looking. Therefore, everyone should get a tan.
16. Tom never looks at other girls or talks to them. He’ll make a good boyfriend.
17. How can you move to a smaller house? After you have driven a Cadillac, you
can’t expect to enjoy a VW.
18. If Carter hadn’t been elected President, we wouldn’t have such a high rate of
inflation now, under the Reagan administration.