Name the logical fallacy in each statement below and explain why it is fallaciou
ID: 3493399 • Letter: N
Question
Name the logical fallacy in each statement below and explain why it is fallacious:.....
1. The best restaurant in New York City is either Buddy’s Bistro or Clyde’s Emporium.
2. Everyone is going to Buddy’s Bistro! You have to make reservations five weeks in advance. It must be a great place!
3. I know why Buddy’s Bistro is so successful! It's the lunar eclipse that happened the night they first opened..
4.I know the Buddy’s Brown Buttered Buffalo Bisque isn't so great. But we have to keep it on the menu. It's been there since the beginning!
5. If we start using genetically altered potatoes at Buddy’s Bistro, the next thing you know we'll be using cloned cows, and then hiring robots to serve our customers.
6. Today's prices are far too high. A couple spends $100 an hour at Buddy’s Bistro, while the average salary is $10 an hour.
7. "Of course you don't like Buddy’s Bistro – you’re a hick from the Midwest!
8. If you want to go to Buddy’s Bistro and eat the disgusting bloody ground up remains of defenseless brutally-slaughtered animals, that's fine with me! But I won't be joining you!
9. I’ve eaten at a couple of fancy restaurants before and didn’t like the food they served. Buddys Bistro is just like the others, so I will never eat there. 10.You vegetarians complain about the meat dishes at Buddy’s all the time. Well, I'll have you know that we only serve fresh Grade A beef from free-range cows fed a vegetarian diet. And the meat is prepared according to kosher tradition.
Explanation / Answer
Following are the logical fallacies in the mentioned statements, as well as the explanation for why it’s fallacious:
1. The best restaurant in New York City is either Buddy’s Bistro or Clyde’s Emporium.
Fallacy: Either-Or Fallacy
Explanation: The fallacy assumes just two options, while there are multiple options available. Either Buddy’s Bistro is best or Clyde’s Emporium – totally discards other available options that can be considered as the best. Thus, this fallacious statement is very nonsensical.
2. Everyone is going to Buddy’s Bistro! You have to make reservations five weeks in advance. It must be a great place!
Fallacy: Argumentum ad Populum (bandwagon approach)
Explanation: It’s like joining a bandwagon or a popular belief. It’s fallacious because it’s a false belief based on what a majority of people are doing. If everyone is going to Buddy’s Bistro and making advanced reservations, that doesn’t prove it to be a great place. The majority can also be incorrect.
3. I know why Buddy’s Bistro is so successful! It's the lunar eclipse that happened the night they first opened.
Fallacy: False Cause (Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc)
Explanation: Under this fallacy, it’s believed that the first event that occurred caused the second. However, that may be the false cause. Just because the lunar eclipse first occurred, it doesn’t mean that it made the bistro successful. It’s just a start to a superstition.
4. I know the Buddy’s Brown Buttered Buffalo Bisque isn't so great. But we have to keep it on the menu. It's been there since the beginning!
Fallacy: Argumentum Ad Misericordiam or Appeal to Emotion
Explanation: In this case, the statement is being made on the basis of emotions, which are connected to the brown-buttered buffalo bisque. It’s not making logic to keep it on the menu due to its poor quality, but it is still being done because it has always been there. That is simply an emotional appeal.
5. If we start using genetically altered potatoes at Buddy’s Bistro, the next thing you know we'll be using cloned cows, and then hiring robots to serve our customers.
Fallacy: Slippery Slope
Explanation: This fallacy is about the belief that if one step is taken, then it will lead to the next and the next step. It’s like sliding to the bottom on an incline. It’s fallacious because there is no proof that using genetically altered potatoes will later lead to the use of clones cows and then to hiring robots.
6. Today's prices are far too high. A couple spends $100 an hour at Buddy’s Bistro, while the average salary is $10 an hour.
Fallacy: Hasty Generalization
Explanation: The statement is fallacious due to misleading statistic. An average salary of a large population is no explanation to a couple’s expenditure. It’s simply a hasty generalization that is made.
7. Of course you don't like Buddy’s Bistro – you’re a hick from the Midwest!
Fallacy: Genetic Fallacy
Explanation: Here, the idea of a person is not trustworthy due to his/her ethnic or geographic origin. It’s fallacious, as the person is from the Midwest and that determines that Buddy’s Bistro is unlikeable. The speaker does not want to pay heed to his/her view due to him/her being from the Midwest.
8. If you want to go to Buddy’s Bistro and eat the disgusting bloody ground up remains of defenseless brutally-slaughtered animals, that's fine with me! But I won't be joining you!
Fallacy: Argumentum Ad Baculum or Appeal to Force
Explanation: This fallacy is based on a threat given to a person to accept a conclusion made by the speaker. Here, the conclusion of the speaker is that Buddy’s offers disgusting bloody ground up remains of defenseless brutally-slaughtered animals. The threat is that if the person goes to eat there, the speaker will not join him/her.
9. I’ve eaten at a couple of fancy restaurants before and didn’t like the food they served. Buddy’s Bistro is just like the others, so I will never eat there.
Fallacy: Undistributed Middle Term
Explanation: The fallacy is about making a mistake in deductive reasoning. It’s like – ‘All fancy restaurants had bad food. Buddy’s Bistro is also a fancy restaurant. Buddy’s Bistro has bad food.’ Thus, the middle term of ‘having bad food’ may not overlap both the statements. It’s simply an assumption due to which one doesn’t want to eat at Buddy’s.
10. You vegetarians complain about the meat dishes at Buddy’s all the time. Well, I'll have you know that we only serve fresh Grade A beef from free-range cows fed a vegetarian diet. And the meat is prepared according to kosher tradition.
Fallacy: Stacking the Deck
Explanation: The statement stacks the deck here. It means that any examples that disprove one’s point are ignored and only those examples are used that can strengthen the case. It’s shown that meat is from cows who are fed a veg diet and preparation is done per kosher tradition. However, these are only supportive examples to claim that the dish is suitable for vegetarians, while it’s still meat in any case.
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