FALLACY WORKSHEET
Fallacy
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Example
A government official said today that the new gun law will
be proposed tomorrow.
A reasonable person would agree that the use of animals in
research is inappropriate
America: Love it or leave it
Billy Joe Don Basker, the football star, flunked my course.
Athletes are all such poor students!
Don’t believe anything Rush Limbaugh says, because he is
a big, fat idiot!
Education is like a business. In business, everyone knows
the customer is always right. Therefore, students should
have more input into the curriculum.
Experts agree that the best way to prevent nuclear war is to
prepare for it.
Fred, the Australian, stole my wallet. Those Australians are
a bunch of thieves!
I asked the people in my study group, and we all agreed that
we love our courses this quarter. YVCC is great!
I believe ghosts exist. In fact, one lived in my house. What?
You say that there is no such thing as a ghost? Can you
prove it? I didn’t think so. So they DO exist!
I took EZ-No-Cold, and two days later my cold
disappeared. Wow! Is that medicine great or what??
If we pass laws against fully-automatic weapons, then it
won’t be long before we pass laws on all weapons, and then
we will begin to restrict other rights, and finally we will end
up living in a communist state. Thus, we should not ban
fully-automatic weapons.
Immigration to Alberta from Ontario increased. Soon after,
the welfare rolls increased. Therefore, the increased
immigration caused the increased welfare rolls.
Last night I shot a burglar in my pajamas.
My friend heard on the news the other day that Canada will
declare war on Serbia.
Noted psychologist Dr. Frasier Crane recommends that you
buy the EX-Rest Hot Tub, so you do on his
recommendation.
Right thinking Canadians will agree with me that we should
have another free vote on capital punishment.
I heard somewhere that YVCC is planning to become a
four-year school.
Save soap and waste paper!
* indicates that we haven’t covered this fallacy yet. Try to figure out the problem.
FALLACY WORKSHEET
Fallacy
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Example
Scientists cannot prove that global warming will occur.
Therefore, it probably won’t.
We are at war with terrorism. Countries are either for us or
against us.
We hope you’ll accept our recommendations. We spent the
last three months working extra time on it.
We should disregard what Bush says about taxation because
he won’t be affected by it.
What do you mean it is an “F”! I worked all weekend on it!
You must believe in God, for otherwise life would have no
meaning.
You say I shouldn’t drink, but you haven’t been sober for
more than a year!
You should never gamble. Once you start gambling, you
find it hard to stop. Soon you are spending all your money
on gambling, and eventually you will turn to crime to
support your earnings.
Uri Geller can’t locate which container has the hidden
water. He attributes this to the negative energy in the room.
“You are either against abortion or you’re a baby-killer.
Which is it, you moron?”
Al Gore’s son gets better after receiving a teddy bear from
Uri Geller. Geller claims that his psychically-charged teddy
bear healed little Albert.
Schools shouldn’t teach kids about sex. If they know about,
they’ll be having sex all the time and then, before you know
it, the teen pregnancy rate will skyrocket.
I saw Ray bend a spoon with his mind. I didn’t believe in
psychic powers until I saw that.
You don’t need to eat healthy to lose weight. Just try our
little fat-melting pills and watch the fat melt off those
thighs!
Who are you to tell me that taking drugs is bad? You took
them when you were my age!
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Many of the above examples come from Downes, S. (1995-2001). Stephen Downes Guide to
Logical Fallacies. email: stephen.downes@ualberta.ca
* indicates that we haven’t covered this fallacy yet. Try to figure out the problem.