Exam 3: Informal Fallacies

The death penalty is clearly immoral. This is so because life is intrinsically valuable. And this follows from the fact that human beings are ends in themselves. And we know this is true because human beings have a right not to be killed-which follows from the fact that the state has no right to take human life. And why is this true? Because the death penalty is clearly immoral.

The FBI and the CIA failed to prevent the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Therefore, these government agencies should be abolished immediately.

SureShotJoe, who posts regularly on the Yahoo message boards, says that the stock of Super Tech should triple this year. Referring to Super Tech, he writes, "there stock shood goe throo the roof!" We can only conclude that Super Tech offers a great investment opportunity.

Steve, I know that you've never been in a serious accident, but do you still drive your car like a madman?

"Greensleeves" is a lovely tune. Therefore, every note of "Greensleeves" is a lovely tune.

Casey, Morgan, and Lawrence are freshman college students, and all of them are staunch Libertarians. It must be the case that all freshmen are staunch Libertarians.

Libertarians are insensitive to the plight of the poor. We know this is so because they want to abolish the minimum wage. And we know they want to do this because they want to eliminate all restrictions on hiring the poor. And of course this is true because Libertarians are insensitive to the plight of the poor.

The Bible is unquestionably true because deep in my heart I feel that it is.

Oak trees are shady. Shady things are not to be trusted. Therefore, oak trees are not to be trusted.

Nancy, I saw you in Smiley's Bar last night. Level with me. Are you still getting drunk on a regular basis?

None of Mr. Konrad's friends has ever seen him smoke a cigarette, cigar, or pipe. Therefore, probably Mr. Konrad is a nonsmoker.

It would not be a good idea to hire Mr. Larson as a bus driver for the school district. Larson has huge cataracts in both eyes, and he hates children.

No spoiled brats are good childhood companions. Therefore, no good childhood companions are spoiled brats.

Witness Clark testified that he saw the defendant emerge from the burgled house with an expensive camera. But, members of the jury, you should reject this testimony because Clark suffers from brain damage, and he has trouble remembering things accurately.

A spokesman for the government has argued that our insistence on a twelve percent increase in pay for steel workers is inflationary. But the government's own actions are far more inflationary than ours. The government just gave a fifteen percent increase to every single employee of the giant federal bureaucracy.

Some halfwits manage to succeed in business. Therefore, some people who manage to succeed in business are halfwits.

Jackson and Sean are sixteen-year-olds with similar interests. Jackson loves the latest Nintendo video game. Therefore, probably Sean would love it, too.

The Second Amendment to the Constitution guarantees everyone the right to bear arms. Therefore it should be legal for those undercover Al Qaeda members to buy a carload of shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles.

Willie the Weasel could not possibly be responsible for burglarizing the jewelry store. Willie is an inept bungler who couldn't steal a newspaper from a broken vending machine.

Nobody has ever seen Mr. Albie walk without crutches. We conclude that Mr. Albie needs crutches to walk.