Fallacy exam

Questionable premise

Accepting a premise or piece of evidence when there is no good reason for doing so; offering premises that are actually untrue, or that we should at least fact check EX: When New York Knicks' star forward Amar'e Stoudemire visited Israel in 2011, he said it was a "spiritual and educational" experience that motivated him to practice Judaism for cultural and spiritual reasons, not religious ones. "For me," he said, "it's about learning the total culture. If you research history, I think we're all Jewish. I's the original culture."

Hasty conclusion

Accepting an argument on the basis of relevant but insufficient information or evidence EX:Football player Roger Craig, on George Seifert's promotion to head coach of the National Football League's San Francisco 49ers: "I think George will do an excellent job, because he's been searching for a head coaching job for some time, and what better place to start his head coaching job." (In fact, Seifert did have an excellent record with the '9ers before being fired.)

Ad hominem

An irrelevant attack on an opponent rather than on the opponent's evidence and arguments EX: George Meany, former president of the AFL-CO, in 1968 said: "To these people who constantly say 'you've got to listen to these younger people, they have something to say,' I just don't buy that at all. They smoke more pot than we do and if the younger generation are the hundred thousand kids that lay around in a field up in Woodstock, New York, I am not going to trust the destiny of the country to that group."

Appeal to ignorance

Arguing that the failure to find evidence refuting a claim justifies believing that it is true. This fallacy occurs when you argue that your conclusion must be true, because there is no evidence against it -

Questionable analogy

Drawing an analogical conclusion when the cases compared are not relevantly alike. This fallacy consists in assuming that because two things are alike in one or more respects, they are necessarily alike in some other respect. EX:A doctor can consult books to make a diagnosis, so a medical student should be able to consult books when being tested.

Small sample

Drawing conclusion about a population on the basis of a sample that is too small to be a reliable measure of that population EX: I know three redheads who have terrible tempers, and since Annabel has red hair, I'll bet she has a terrible temper, too.

Suppressed, overlooked, or ignored evidence

Failing to bring sufficient, relevant evidence, or reasons, to support an argument EX: Argument in a student essay: "Prostitution should not be legalized because it encourages the breakdown of the family. Nevada, where prostitution is legal in ten counties, has the highest divorce rate in the nation, almost twice as high as the national average."

2 wrongs make a right

Justifying a wrong by pointing to a similar wrong committed by others. Using the fact that your opponent also engages in the behavior he/she speaks against as evidence that the argument is invalid -

Questionable cause or Post Hoc fallacy

Labeling A as the cause of B on evidence that is insufficient, negative unrepresentative, or in serious conflict with well-established high-level theories. Assuming that just because there is a correlation between two events, there is also a causal relationship EX:"You see, the priests were right. After we threw those human sacrifices into the volcano, it quit erupting."

Faulty Appeal to Authority

Master: Questionable Premise Accepting an authority that is irrelevant, misleading, or inappropriate, as a source to support our arguments and claims From Galileo's work, Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences: "But can you doubt that air has weight when you have the clear testimony of Aristotle affirming that all elements have weight, including air, and excepting only fire?"

Tokenism

Master: Questionable Premise Offering or accepting a small, or merely symbolic, gesture instead of the a genuine attempt to remedy something. Being satisfied with campaign rhetoric when there is little likelihood of serious intent to carry through EX: Mr. McBoss' company consists of 50 executives who are all men, and 50 secretaries who are all women. To show he is all about equal opportunity, he has agreed to hire a woman executive.

Begging the question—Master: Questionable Premise (also) Evading the issue circular reasoning

Master: Questionable Premise (also) Evading the issue circular reasoning Trying to prove a conclusion with a premise that essentially says the same thing as the conclusion EX: The presiding judge of a revolutionary tribunal (court of law), on being asked why people were being executed without trial said: "Why should we put them on trial when we know that they're guilty?" Physical education should be required because physical activity is healthful.

Slippery slope

This fallacy invites us to accept the claim that a first step taken, in a particular action or issue, must be avoided because it would lead to another action, and another, and another—in a never ending downward spiral and always ending in producing unwanted consequences EX: Robert Brustein, artistic director of the American Repertory Theatre, commenting on a threat by Congress in 1989 to withhold funding from an offensive art show, said: "Once we allow lawmakers to become art critics, we take the first step into the world of Ayatollah Khomeini, whose murderous review of The Satanic Verses still chills the heart of everyone committed to free expression." (The Ayatollah Khomeini was an Islamic religious leader in Iran during the late 1980's who called for the death of the author, Salman Rushdie, because he had allegedly committed blasphemy against Islam in his novel, The Satanic Verses, 1988.)

Non sequitur or irrelevant reason

Trying to prove something with evidence that is, or comes close to being, irrelevant. EX: That candidate was poor when he was a child, so he will certainly be sympathetic to the poor if he is elected.

Questionable statistics

Using statistics to support a conclusion that we should either question or statistic s that are used without further support or explanation EX: -

inconsistency

—Master: Questionable Premise Making, or accepting, an argument that has self-contradictory statements or statements that contradict each other EX: Comment from columnist Molly Ivins during the Democratic challenge to the Florida vote, November 2000: "George [W] Bush claim[ed] throughout the campaign 'we trust the people,' then complain[ed] after election": 'no way can you trust the people. What idiots are counting these votes?'"

Straw man

—Master: Suppressed Evidence Misrepresenting an opponent's position to make it easier to attack his argument or focusing only a small, less important, aspect of an opponent's larger argument. Intentionally presenting your opponent's position as weaker than it is (or more extreme) in order to make it easier to disprove EX: In attacking a proposed equal rights amendment to the state constitution of Iowa, Pat Robertson argued that the proposal was part of a "feminist agenda...a socialist, anti- family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians."

False dilemma, either-or fallacy

—Master: Suppressed Evidence Narrowing a situation down to two choices which don't actually represent all possibilities, or, other alternatives are suppressed. Ignoring the fact that there could be a third, or more alternatives, to solve a problem EX: We should encourage a return to arranged marriages in this country since marriages based on romantic love haven't been very successful.