CHAPTER 4
FALLACIOUS REASONING—2
I.
Brief Chapter Outline
1. Ad Hominem Argument
Attacks on Character or Credentials Sometimes Are Relevant
Guilt by Association
2. Two Wrongs Must Make a Right
Fighting Fire with Fire
Two Wrongs and Hypocrisy
Common Practice and Traditional Wisdom
3. Irrelevant Reason (Non Sequitur)
4. Equivocation
But Ambiguity Often Serves Useful Purposes
5. Appeal to Ignorance
6. Composition and Division
7. Slippery Slope
Summary of Chapter 4
II.
List of Key Terms
Ad hominem
Ambiguity
Appeal to ignorance
Argumentum ad ignorantiam
Common practice
Composition
Consumer’s fallacy
Division
Equivocation
Fighting fire with fire
Guilt by association
Irrelevant reason
Non sequitur
Salesman’s fallacy
Slippery slope
Traditional Wisdom
Two wrongs make a right
III.
Chapter Summary
This Chapter provides a discussion of further types of fallacious reasoning. The
authors begin with discussing ad hominem arguments, noting that attacks on persons’
characters or credentials are sometimes relevant. They then consider the variant of
this fallacy known as guilt by association, noting that it could be rational to judge
someone in this way, up to a point. They then discuss the fallacy of “two wrongs
make a right”, noting that this fallacy is made plausible by its similarity to a more
legitimate way of reasoning, known as “fighting fire with fire”, and by the fact that it
could be used by someone to imply that their opponents are being hypocritical. They
then discuss the fallacies of common practice and traditional wisdom.
The third type of fallacy that the authors consider in this Chapter is that of
irrelevant reason, or non sequitur, while the fourth is the fallacy of equivocation. The
authors note that ambiguity can often serve useful purposes. The next four fallacies
that they consider are the appeal to ignorance fallacy, the fallacies of composition and
division, and the slippery slope fallacy.
IV.
Practice Questions
A. Objective Multiple Choice
1. The type of fallacy that is “to the person” is the
a. Slippery slope fallacy
b. Ad hominem fallacy
c. Non sequitur fallacy
d. Composition fallacy
2. Rush Limbaugh’s referring to Barack Obama as “Obama Osama” is an
example of
a. Slippery slope fallacy
b. Ad hominem fallacy
c. Non sequitur fallacy
d. Composition fallacy
3. It is rational to judge people’s actions by the company they keep
a. Never
b. Always
c. Sometimes
d. Only when it is to their detriment
4. The colloquial name of the tu quoque fallacy is
a. Two wrongs make a right
b. Two wrongs never make a right
c. Straw man fallacy
d. To the person fallacy
5. The type of fallacy that might be used to justify revenge is the
a. Tu quoque fallacy
b. Ad hominem fallacy
c. Straw man fallacy
d. Composition fallacy
6. Killing in self-defense illustrates
a. Fighting fire with fire
b. Two wrongs make a right
c. Two wrongs don’t make a right
d. Straw man fallacy
7. According to retributivists
a. We are never justified in punishing the guilty
b. We can punish the guilty even if we fail to fight the original harm
c. People can be punished to deter others
d. We should only fight the original harm
8. The two wrongs fallacy might be used by people
a. Who wish to harm their opponents unjustly
b. Who intend to imply that their opponents are hypocrites
c. Who are hypocrites themselves for using it
d. Who are intending to deceive themselves
9. The fallacy of common practice is committed when
a. A wrong is justified on the grounds that it is expedient
b. A wrong is justified on the grounds that it will not be discovered
c. A wrong is justified by appeal to religion
d. A wrong is justified by appeal to the fact that lots of others do it
10. The fallacy of justifying an action on the grounds that it is an accepted way of
doing things is the fallacy of
a. Common practice
b. Composition
c. Division
d. Traditional wisdom
11. Traditional wisdom would not justify
a. Forcing “untouchables” to do the dirty work in India
b. Slavery in the Sudan
c. Deeper-furrow plowing in North America
d. Gender bias in the United States
12. The fallacy of non sequitur is also known as the fallacy of
a. Composition
b. Division
c. Irrelevant Reason
d. Straw man
13. Non sequitur literally means
a. “It does not follow”
b. “This is false”
c. “Wrong reason”
d. “Not relevant”
14. In common use, “equivocation” has connotations of
a. Irrelevance
b. Irrationality
c. Argumentativeness
d. Deception
15. When a term is used in an argument to mean one thing in one place and
another thing in another place, it is used
a. Equivocally
b. Sinfully
c. Bilaterally
d. Unilaterally
16. The fallacy argumentum ad ignorantiam is also known as
a. The fallacy of appeal to ignorance
b. The fallacy of composition
c. The fallacy of division
d. The fallacy of equivocation
17. Taking the absence of evidence of P to show that not-P is true is an example
of
a. The fallacy of appeal to ignorance
b. The fallacy of composition
c. The fallacy of division
d. The fallacy of equivocation
18. The salesman’s fallacy is also known as
a. The consumer’s fallacy
b. The straw man fallacy
c. The fallacy of equivocation
d. The fallacy of composition
19. If I assume that my monthly payments for a car are low, the total cost will be
low, also, I am guilty of
a. The fallacy of division
b. The fallacy of equivocation
c. The fallacy of composition
d. The fallacy of appeal to ignorance
20. The fallacy that is the mirror image of the fallacy of the salesman’s fallacy is
a. The fallacy of division
b. The fallacy of equivocation
c. The fallacy of composition
d. The fallacy of appeal to ignorance
B. True/False
1. Attacks on a person’s character are never relevant.
2. It is never rational to judge people by the company they keep.
3. That a man is frequently seen around prostitutes proves that he is immoral.
4. In the 1996 Presidential election over 15,000 ballots were invalidated because
the voters voted for two candidates for the same office, and so it does not
matter that in 2000 1,900 ballots were invalidated for the same reason.
5. Justifying retaliation in sports is an example of the “two wrongs make a right”
fallacy.
6. Killing in self-defense illustrates the claim that two wrongs do not make a
right.
7. Traditional alone can justify keeping old practices.
8. Traditional beliefs never need to be reassessed.
9. “Tradition is a guide, not a jailer” is a good view to have.
10. “Rich” and “poor” are absolute terms.
11. If a lawyer who has no case simply abuses the plaintiff’s attorney he is guilty
of a straw man attack .
12. We should never fight fire with fire.
13. It is uncontroversially immoral to kill in self-defense.
14. According to Bentham, abuse of power can only be defended by fallacy.
15. It is acceptable for Barry Bonds to have taken steroids because this is common
practice.
C. Fill-in-the-Blanks
1. Ambiguity can _____ serve a useful purpose.
2. Character judgments provide grounds for ______ a person’s testimony.
3. Suspicion is different from ______ .
4. The fallacy known as “you’re another” is also known colloquially as _____ .
5. _________ is a more legitimate way of reasoning that is similar to the fallacy
of two wrongs make a right.
6. The fallacy of _____ is related to the fallacy of traditional wisdom.
7. Changes bring with them _____ .
8. In a strict sense, any fallacy in the broad category of “invalid inference” can
be considered to be a _____ .
9. The argument that there is no intelligent life on other planets because we have
not been able to prove that there is, is an example of _________ .
10. When we assume that some of the parts of an item have a property because
the whole of the item does, we commit the _____ .
D. Essay Questions
1. In what ways can ambiguity be useful? Explain your answer, and illustrate it
with examples. Is logical reasoning the only way to convey ideas? Discuss in
the light of your answer to the first part of this question.
2. In what sense is the relevance of reasons dependent upon the circumstances in
which they are offered? Explain and illustrate your answer.
3. Why is it important to recognize that politicians often use fallacious
reasoning? In answering this question, draw upon some examples of fallacious
reasoning used by politicians that are not given in this textbook.
4. Is tradition useful in any way? Explain your answer, drawing upon the
quotation from W. Somerset Maugham given in the text, as well as in light of
the discussion of the fallacy of traditional wisdom.
5. Outline the fallacy of “two wrongs make a right”, and compare and contrast it
with similar forms of reasoning that might be more legitimate than it.
V.
Additional Sources for Study
A. InfoTrac Search Terms
Agnostic, Atheist, Theist, Jeremy Bentham, Anarchical Fallacies, Fallacies,
Knowledge, Poverty, Straw Man.
B.Internet Sites
Wikipedia: fallacy of composition
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy_of_composition
Wikipedia: fallacy of division
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy_of_division
Fallacy files: two wrongs make a right
http://www.fallacyfiles.org/twowrong.html
Equivocation
http://www.drury.edu/ess/Logic/Informal/Equivocation.html
VI.
Answer Key
A.Objective Multiple Choice
1. b
2. b
3. c
4. a
5. a
6. a
7. b
8. b
9. d
10. d
11. c
12. c
13. a
14. d
15. a
16. a
17. a
18. a
19. c
20. a
B.True/False
1. F
2. F
3. F
4. F
5. T
6. F
7. F
8. F
9. T
10. F
11. F
12. F
13. F
14. T
15. F
C.Fill-in-the-Blanks
1. Sometimes
2. Assessing
3. Certitude
4. Two wrongs make a right
5. Fighting fire with fire
6. Common practice
7. Risks
8. Non sequitur
9. Appeal to ignorance
10. Fallacy of division