Practice Quiz, Informal
Fallacies
Remember these steps…
Arguments are the assertion of a conclusion from reasons that are better
known than the conclusion.
3 Steps!
1.
Ask yourself: “Is this good reasoning … does it sound reasonable?” If
it sounds reasonable, No Fallacy.
2.
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.
3.
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.
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
Fallacies of Presumption:
Begging the Question
Complex Question
Faulty Dilemma
Weak Induction:
Appeal to Unqualified Authority
Appeal to Ignorance
Hasty Generalization
False Cause
Slippery Slope
Weak Analogy
Fallacies of Ambiguity:
Equivocation
Amphibole
Fallacies of Grammatical Analogy:
Composition
Division
1
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!
A. Begging the Question
B. Argument to the Person,
abusive
C. Hasty Generalization
D. Accident (Misapplying a Rule)
E. No Fallacy
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.
A. Appeal to Unqualified
Authority
B. Argument to the Person,
abusive
C. False Cause, post hoc
D. Accident (Misapplying a Rule)
E. No Fallacy
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.
A. False cause, mere
contributive cause
B. Argument to the Person,
abusive
C. Begging the Question
D. Accident (Misapplying a Rule)
E. No Fallacy
4
Sean Hannity says he doesn’t 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!
A. Division
B. Argument to the Person,
abusive
C. False cause, post hoc
D. Straw Man (Straw Position)
E. No Fallacy
5
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.
A. False cause, post hoc
B. Argument to the Person,
abusive
C. Complex Question
D. Straw Man (Straw Position)
E. No Fallacy
6
You know, I can hear your stereo
all the way in the basement, so
… it’s given me a splitting
headache and you can just run
yourself to the store and get me
some Ibuprofen.
A. False cause, post hoc
B. Argument to the Person,
abusive
C. False cause, mere
contributive cause
D. Faulty Dilemma
E. No Fallacy
7
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.
A. Faulty Dilemma
B. Argument to the Person,
abusive
C. Slippery Slope
D. Straw Man (Straw Position)
E. No Fallacy
8
Saw you carrying a case of
Heineken into your house. So,
are you still fighting with
alcoholism?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Begging the Question
Composition
Complex Question
Straw Man (Straw Position)
No Fallacy
9
A ban on guns would make us so
much safer!
Really? Why?
Well, duh! … it would reduce our
exposure to danger!
A. Begging the Question
B. Argument to the Person,
abusive
C. Complex Question
D. Straw Man (Straw Position)
E. No Fallacy
10
You do those dishes or go to your
room!
A. Slippery Slope
B. Argument to the Person,
abusive
C. Faulty Dilemma
D. Straw Man (Straw Position)
E. No Fallacy
11
Sit down and eat! If you skip
dinner, you’ll be hungry later,
then you’ll be cranky, next
thing you know we’ll be
arguing!
A. Begging the Question
B. Argument to the Person,
abusive
C. Faulty Dilemma
D. Slippery Slope
E. No Fallacy
12
Each member of our relay team is
super-fast, so, our relay team
will totally kick butt this year!
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Appeal to Force
Division
Faulty Dilemma
Composition
No Fallacy
13
One morning I shot an elephant in
my pajamas. How he got into
my pajamas I'll never know.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Equivocation
Division
Amphibole
Composition
No Fallacy
14
Our district has dumped
thousands into math education.
I just talked to my niece … she
couldn’t multiply or divide, and
she’s in 3rd grade! I guess none
of our kids is getting what
we’re paying for!
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Equivocation
False cause, post hoc
Accident (Misapplying a rule)
Hasty Generalization
No Fallacy
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 can’t be trusted.
A. Equivocation
B. False cause, post hoc
C. Argument to the Person, Tu
Quoque (you too)
D. Hasty Generalization
E. No Fallacy
16
You take a hit of that Mary Jane,
next it’s cocaine, heroine, then
you’re a prostitute or a burglar,
embezzler, probably end up
shot!
A. False cause, confused
causal chain
B. False cause, post hoc
C. Slippery Slope
D. Appeal to Pity
E. No Fallacy
17
Every member of the Jazz Dance
club is over 50, so, the club
must be over 50, too.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Composition
Hasty Generalization
Amphibole
Division
No Fallacy
18
When you execute the innocent,
you know you’ve made a
terrible mistake. But every fetus
is innocent … clearly, abortion
is a terrible mistake, too.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Composition
Hasty Generalization
Equivocation
Division
No Fallacy
19
You really don’t want to argue that
animal lives have less value
than human lives, do you?
You’ll cause an uproar from
those wacky PETA types on
campus!
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Composition
Appeal to the People, indirect
Equivocation
Appeal to Force
No Fallacy
20
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, we’d be banning
cars, which kill thousands!
Let’s leave Xandipytheldip
alone!
A. Composition
B. Appeal to the People, indirect
C. Argument to the Person, Tu
Quoque (you too)
D. Weak Analogy
E. No Fallacy
21
I think you should give God a
chance, Mr. Thornbuckle. The
majority of the world’s
population believes in a higher
power, after all.
A. Composition
B. Appeal to the People, indirect
C. Argument to the Person, Tu
Quoque (you too)
D. Weak Analogy
E. No Fallacy
22
Albert Einstein said years ago,
“God doesn’t not play dice
with the universe” … I think if
a brilliant guy like Einstein says
something like that, believing
in God is pretty reasonable.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Weak Analogy
Appeal to the People, indirect
Division
Appeal to Unqualified
Authority
E. No Fallacy