Fun with Fallacies Activity For each argument below, please identify the fallacy
ID: 3485994 • Letter: F
Question
Fun with Fallacies Activity
For each argument below, please identify the fallacy used. Write 1-2 well thought out sentences explaining the dangers of using this fallacy and offer steps to help avoid falling victim to the fallacy.
FALLACIES
*False Dichotomy (reducing multiple possible positions to only two)
*Hasty Generalization (drawing a conclusion from limited evidence; cherry picking)
*Slippery Slope (turning an unlikely chain of events into the most probable)
*Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc (“after this therefore because of this”, confusing correlation with causation)
*Ad Hominem (“to the person”, attacking the messenger rather than addressing the message)
*Appeal to Irrational Premise (reason given may have no basis in logic; appeal to status quo or popular opinion)
*Appeal to Ignorance (offering evidence the audience can’t examine; argument that your conclusion must be true because there is no evidence against it)
*Tu Quoque (“you too”, accusing the critic of the thing you are accused of; appeal to hypocrisy)
1. “Either you’re with us, or you’re with the terrorists.”
Fallacy:
Problems/Steps:
2. “That’s the second time today that I’ve seen someone wearing Birkenstocks. I guess everyone wears Birkenstocks.”
Fallacy:
Problems/Steps:
3. “I was wearing rain boots when tragedy struck so I stopped wearing them and I’ve never been happier!”
Fallacy:
Problems/Steps:
4. “I think I’m the better candidate for this position and you should hire me because have you seen him? He wears a brown belt with black shoes and has no sense of humor.”
Fallacy:
Problems/Steps:
5. “What if one day you get stung by a bee, and you have no idea that you’re allergic to them, and you end up getting admitted into the ER but they’re short-staffed that day so you have to wait for hours and hours to be seen and then by the time you’re seen, you’ve gone into cardiac arrest and died? That is why you should live in the safety of your home and never go outside.”
Fallacy:
Problems/Steps:
6. “We should cheat on this test because everyone else is going to!”
Fallacy:
Problems/Steps:
7. “I don’t think men should be stay-at-home dads because it’s always been the woman’s role to raise the kids.”
Fallacy:
Problems/Steps:
9. “Donald Trump shouldn’t be criticized for sexual harassment because Bill Clinton was also accused of sexual misconduct.”
Fallacy:
Problems/Steps:
10. “An environmental group illegally blocked loggers and workers at a nuclear plant. Therefore, environmentalists are radicals who take the law into their own hands.”
Fallacy:
Problems/Steps:
11. “People who drink more than six alcoholic beverages a day are more likely to have health problems than people who do not drink alcohol. After one drink, people lose their ability to make good decisions and end up drinking more and more until they are drinking more than six drinks each day. Therefore, all consumption of alcohol should be banned.”
Fallacy:
Problems/Steps:
12. “Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his cave saw his shadow, and we had six more weeks of winter! What a prescient rodent.”
Fallacy:
Problems/Steps:
13. “Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server for official government business is not a problem because Colin Powell and others in the State Department have done the same.”
Fallacy:
Problems/Steps:
14. “Please raise my grade from a B+ to an A. I worked really hard on the final project. 88% is very close to 90%. If I don’t get an A, then I could lose my scholarship. I need an A to get into the Business school.”
Fallacy:
Problems/Steps:
15. "This winter had more snowfall and rain than last year; therefore, global warming is obviously a myth."
Fallacy:
Problems/Steps
Explanation / Answer
1) ''Either you're with us or you're with the terrorists''
FALLACY: False dichotomy (reducing multiple possible positios to only two)
PROBLEMS: In this type of fallacy the person gets limited to only two choices, whereas there are other choices available too. In this example he could neither be with them nor with the terrorists, but this type of fallacy would make him feel like there are only two choices
SOLUTION: One must look at the broader options and not focus on the two options given, rather think and look if other options are possible too or not.
2) ''That's the second time today that I have seen someone wearing Birkenstocks. I guess everyone wears Birkenstocks.''
FALLACY: Hasty Generalization (Drawing a conclusion from limited evidence; cherry picking)
PROBLEM: There is limited evidence and not a full proof proper evidence to generalize something to the whole population. If two or more people are seen doing the same thing, for example, it does not necessarily mean that everyone does the same thing.
SOLUTION: Not to draw conclusions from limited evidence and look at the other factors before reaching any judgement.
3) ''I was wearing rainboots when tragedy struck so I stopped wearing them and I've never been happier!''
FALLACY: Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc (''After this therefore because of this'', confusing correlation with causation)
PROBLEM: There is an association between two things which one creates but they might be completed unrelated to each other.
SOLUTION: Looking at the rationality of things and not unecessarily correlating two things together just because they happen to occur one after the other.
4) ''I think I am the better candidate for this position and you should hire me because have you seen him? He wears a brown belt with black shoes and has no sense of humor.''
FALLACY: Ad Hominem (''to the person'', attacking the messenger rather than addressing the message)
PROBLEM: The main point is not considered, rather the counter argument involves personal attacks rather than justifying the argument at hand, for example, in this case reasons why he is a better candidate.
SOLUTION: Addressing the message or issue at hand rather than attacking on the other person.
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