Deck 5: Informal Fallacies

Question 1

Which of the following best describes the slippery slope fallacy?

A)attacking an individual's character rather than considering his or her arguments.
B)drawing a general conclusion from an unrepresentative sample.
C)arguing that if something is accepted in one case,then it must be accepted in all cases.
D)an argument with the following form: "If A,then B.Not A.Therefore,not B."

Answer 1

C
Explanation: An argument that commits the slippery slope fallacy claims that we must accept something in all cases (no matter how extreme) if we accept it in even one case. For instance, if someone argues that if we allow abortions then we will also have to allow infanticide (the killing of children who have been born) and even the murder of adults, then that person has committed the slippery slope fallacy.

Question 2

Which of the following displays the informal fallacy of appeal to pity?

A)A man argues that you should believe that he is rich because,if you do not,he will punch you in the face.
B)A classmate concedes a disagreement with you,but only because she believes you are not smart enough to win a debate with her.
C)A student asks a teacher to give him an A in a course because,if he gets anything less,he will not get into medical school.
D)A woman argues that you must be wrong because you are a jerk.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following is a fallacy of relevance?

A) modus ponens
B) the straw man fallacy
C) the fallacy of equivocation
D) affirming the consequent

Answer 3

B
Explanation: A fallacy of relevance is a fallacy in which one or more premises are simply irrelevant to the issue at hand. There are a number of types of fallacies of relevance. The straw man fallacy, the ad hominem fallacy, and red herrings are each examples of fallacies of relevance. Each is a fallacy because it fails to address the substance of whatever issue is under consideration. An ad hominem fallacy is committed when someone attacks the character or background of another person, rather than respond to the content of that person's argument. A straw man fallacy attempts to refute an opponent by misrepresenting his or her argument. A red herring simply changes the topic of discussion.

Question 4

Which of the following is an instance of snob appeal?

A) an argument that claims Smith is the best candidate for office on the grounds that he has a ninety-two percent approval rating in the latest poll
B) an argument that you should vote for Smith on the grounds that if you do not, Smith will have you killed
C) an argument that you should vote for Smith on the grounds that a movie star has endorsed him
D) None of these answers is an example of snob appeal.

Question 5

Which of the following best describes the fallacy of accent?

A) an argument where there is misunderstanding someone due to a person's foreign accent
B) seeking out only information that confirms your opinion
C) ignoring information that disconfirms your opinion
D) an argument that relies on a change of meaning due to focusing on one word or phrase inappropriately

Question 6

Which of the following is true of making a negative claim about a person's character?

A) Doing so always results in committing the ad hominem fallacy.
B) Such attacks can only benefit a personal relationship.
C) Such claims can be a relevant consideration in an argument.
D) None of these answers is true of making negative claims about a person's character.

Question 7

Claiming that a member of a group must have some characteristic of that group is which informal fallacy?

A) the fallacy of amphiboly
B) appeal to ignorance
C) the fallacy of division
D) the fallacy of accent

Question 8

Which of the following arguments commits the fallacy of appeal to ignorance?

A) an argument that we should believe a claim because only a stupid person would deny it.
B) an argument that we should not believe a claim because only a stupid person would accept it.
C) an argument that some claim must be false because no one can prove that it is true.
D) an argument that claims we should not believe something because the person making the argument is not an authority in that field.

Question 9

Which of the following involves the fallacy of hasty generalization?

A) drawing a general conclusion from a sample that is too small
B) concluding something about an entire group based on a study of every member of the group
C) drawing a general conclusion from a randomly selected sample
D) All of these are ways of committing the fallacy of hasty generalization.

Question 10

Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Association believes that the best way to keep schools safe is to:

A) Make schools gun-free zones
B) Allow children over the age of fourteen to carry guns to school
C) Have armed guards in schools
D) Ban handguns altogether

Question 11

Careful attention to grammar can help you avoid which fallacy?

A) the fallacy of amphiboly
B) appeal to force
C) confirmation bias
D) the fallacy of equivocation

Question 12

Which of the following commits the fallacy of popular appeal?

A) an argument that we should believe that evolutionary theory is correct on the grounds that almost all biologists believe it
B) an argument that you should vote for Smith because everyone else is going to vote for him
C) an argument that we should believe that the Earth is flat on the grounds that the Earth certainly does not look round when you are standing on it
D) All of these answers describe arguments that commit the fallacy of popular appeal.

Question 13

Which of the following is a fallacy that does NOT involve making an unwarranted assumption?

A) begging the question
B) slippery slope
C) inappropriate appeal to authority
D) red herring

Question 14

Which of the following commits the naturalistic fallacy?

A) an argument that we should not eat meat on the grounds that it will help the environment
B) an argument that birth control should be widely distributed because it would help end poverty
C) an argument that we should try to eat more natural foods because of the overuse of pesticides in farming
D) an argument that birth control is wrong because it is unnatural

Question 15

An argument contains a fallacy when it appears to be a good argument but is not.

Question 16

Which of the following is a strategy for avoiding informal fallacies?

A) Determine which fallacies others are likely to fall for and use these fallacies in your argument.
B) Focus on winning when presenting the argument.
C) Learn to listen carefully.
D) Draw conclusions before doing research.

Question 17

Which of the following best describes an argument that commits the informal fallacy of equivocation?

A) an argument that fails because it relies on words that are ambiguous
B) an argument that is invalid
C) an argument that is valid but relies on a false premise
D) an argument in which a grammatical mistake allows more than one conclusion to be drawn

Question 18

Which of the following best describes the red herring fallacy?

A) slapping someone with a large fish
B) bringing up information that is completely irrelevant to the point at hand
C) seeking only information that confirms the opinion you hold
D) ignoring information that would disconfirm your opinion

Question 19

Which of the following best describes an informal fallacy?

A) an argument that at first appears to be correct but has a false premise
B) an argument that has a structure that renders it invalid
C) an argument that is psychologically appealing, but provides no support for its conclusion
D) an argument that does not provide enough detail for you to determine whether it provides support for its conclusion or not

Question 20

Which of the following fallacies is a fallacy of ambiguity?

A) the fallacy of equivocation
B) hasty generalization
C) modus tollens
D) the ad hominem fallacy

Question 21

A loaded question is a fallacy involving an unwarranted assumption.

Question 22

If something is natural,then it is good.

Question 23

If most people believe something,then you should believe it too.

Question 24

An appeal to ignorance is a fallacy of relevance.

Question 25

An argument contains an informal fallacy only if it begs the question.

Question 26

A famous person appearing in an ad for a product completely unrelated to the person's fame or expertise commits a fallacy of popular appeal.

Question 27

The following argument commits the ad hominem fallacy: "John believes the Earth is flat,but you should not believe him.He smells funny."

Question 28

An argument that forces you to choose from a small set of the possible choices commits the fallacy of ambiguity.

Question 29

The following is an example of an argument that contains a fallacy of equivocation: "If you do not believe in God,then the Crusaders will kill you.So you should believe in God."

Question 30

The following argument commits the post hoc fallacy: "I stepped on a crack in the sidewalk and then my mother's back was broken.So my stepping on the crack caused her back to be broken."

Question 31

If I conclude that Brad Pitt is wealthy on the grounds that actors are wealthy,I have committed the fallacy of division.

Question 32

Evoking a person's pity is always to invoke an irrelevant consideration.

Question 33

Avoiding verbal disputes can require careful attention to the meaning of words.

Question 34

If I conclude that all actors are wealthy on the grounds that Brad Pitt is an actor and wealthy,then I have committed the fallacy of amphiboly.

Question 35

We can assume that there is a causal connection between two things if a correlation can be found between them.

Question 36

One strategy for avoiding informal fallacies is to have a generally skeptical attitude.

Question 37

The following argument contains a formal fallacy: "The Earth is round.Therefore,the Earth is round."

Question 38

A formal fallacy occurs is when the form of the argument itself is invalid.