FALLACY FEUD
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If we attacked Iraq because we thought Saddam
Hussein had nuclear weapons, then the U.S. should
also invade Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Israel, and
South Africa.
A. appeal to extremes
B. non-sequitur
C. post hoc
D. sweeping generalization
E. faulty sign
I’m going to wash my car. That way I know it
will rain.
A. post hoc
B. slippery slope
C. hasty generalization
D. equivocation
If the government can ban smoking, what’s
next? Will they ban hang-gliding, or bungee
jumping too? Will they ban overweight people
from eating Hostess Twinkies and Ding Dongs?
A. post hoc
B. slippery slope
C. equivocation
D. false dilemma
Naomi drives a hybrid car, so she is undoubtedly
an environmentalist.
A. faulty sign
B. faulty cause
C. tautology (circular reasoning)
D. tu quo que
E. slippery slope
Capital punishment should be abolished in favor
of intensive efforts aimed at rehabilitation.
After all, a dog who bites once shouldn't be put
to sleep, the dog should be sent to obedience
school.
A. hasty generalization
B. sweeping generalization
C. faulty analogy
D. begging the question
Ernie makes a new year’s resolution to
exercise every morning. When his wife
notices him reading the newspaper the next
morning, she asks why he isn’t exercising.
“I’m exercising my mind right now,” he
replies.
A. sweeping generalization
B. non sequitur
C. equivocation
D. to quo que
Ms. Farnsworth, a 3rd grade teacher, can’t
believe Biff did so well on his math test.
“Which student’s paper did you look at?” she
asks him.
A. equivocation
B. begging the question
C. straw man
D. sweeping generalization
Babbs got a laptop computer last fall and her
grades went up. I think I’ll get a laptop too.
A. hasty generalization
B. post hoc (faulty cause)
C. begging the question
D. straw man
Mom: We’re having turkey for
Thanksgiving, because that’s what the
pilgrims and Indians had.
Child: Yeah, but the pilgrims also had
smallpox and it killed most of the Indians.
Let’s have pizza instead.
The child’s argument is:
A. equivocation
B. begging the question
C. non-sequitur
D. tautology
Fallacy Feud
Round Deux
Fifi has just tried a new cleaning product called
Amazo Clean. “It worked great on my windows
and my stainless steel countertop,” she says, “so
it will probably work well on my leather couch
too!”
A. begging the question
B. appeal to the crowd
C. appeal to authority
D. hasty generalization
Mom to son, “I’m not buying you a ‘Spider
Man’ lunch pail. If a brown paper bag was
good enough for me when I was a kid, it’s
good enough for you.”
A. faulty analogy
B. faulty sign
C. red herring
D. appeal to tradition
E. inconsistency
If Bush had sent more troops to Iraq to begin
with, the country would be stabilized and
peaceful by now.
A. inconsistency
B. ad hominem
C. hypothesis contrary to fact
D. appeal to the crowd
A burglar is caught in the act of burglarizing a
home. He tells the police, “Hey, its a good thing I
was here. They left the iron on, which could have
burned the whole house down.”
A. red herring
B. appeal to ignorance
C. faulty sign
D. sweeping generalization
Traffic court defendant: Judge, the sign said
“fine for parking here,” so I figured it was
O.K. to park there.
Judge: Good thing it didn’t say “tear across
dotted line.”
A. equivocation
B. appeal to authority
C. tu quo que
D. bifurcation
Biff played soccer at Damien high school, and
they were the best team in their league. So you
can bet Biff is a pretty good soccer player.”
A. bifurcation
B. sweeping generalization
C. appeal to the crowd
D. straw man
Quexotl, an Aztec warrior, tells his chief, “Since
we started sacrificing virgins the volcano god has
been very happy. There hasn’t been a single
eruption.”
A. slippery slope
B. post hoc (faulty cause)
C. false dilemma
D. hypothesis contrary to fact
If you have a passenger side airbag, a child
can get killed. It you don’t have one, an adult
can get killed. You can’t win.
A. post hoc
B. appealing to extremes
C. false dilemma
D. appeal to authority
The NRA is opposed to just about every form of
gun control. I suppose they’d get mad if Bush
tried to stop North Korea from selling nuclear
weapons to Iran.
A. post hoc (faulty cause)
B. appealing to extremes
C. begging the question
D. tautology
Biff: “Homosexuality is wrong. The Bible says
so.”
Rex: “Yeah, but the Bible also says we should
stone adulterers.”
Biff: “That part doesn’t apply nowadays.”
A. post hoc (faulty cause)
B. faulty sign
C. straw man
D. inconsistency
Fallacy Feud
Round the Third
Juno is a great movie. It won an Oscar for
best screenplay and was nominated for three
other Oscars.
A. equivocation
B. false dilemma
C. appeal to tradition
D. appeal to authority
Proposition 409 is backed by oil companies, so you
know it has to be bad for consumers.
A. faulty analogy
B. ad hominem
C. appeal to ignorance
D. straw man
Timmy to his teacher: “Mrs. Boswell you
wouldn’t punish me for something I didn’t do
would you?”
Mrs. Boswell, “Why no Timmy, of course not.”
Timmy: “Good, because I didn’t do my
homework last night.”
A. sweeping generalization
B. non sequitur
C. equivocation
D. to quo que
Southerners tend to be bigoted, and Biff is from
Alabama, so Biff is probably a bigot.
A. appeal to ignorance
B. tu quo que
C. sweeping generalization
D. hasty generalization
A corporate CEO tells a representative from the
A.C.L.U. "Let me assure you, there's no sexual
harassment going on in our workplace. We have
over 300 female employees and not one has filed a
grievance."
A. red herring
B. faulty analogy
C. appeal to ignorance
D. post hoc
Biff Sr: "I want you to share that candy bar with
your little brother, Rex." "
Biff Jr: O.K., but when I had measles last
month, you didn't want me to share them with
Rex."
A. faulty analogy
B. appeal to ignorance
C. slippery slope
D. bifurcation