Exam 3: Informal Fallacies

Senator Carter, I'm sure you will be happy to cast the deciding vote for our request to drill for oil in the Big Glacier wilderness area. After all, we know your wife is a double agent for the CIA, and I'm sure you wouldn't want her identity made known to certain foreign governments.

Jason's quartz watch runs about 3 years and 4 months on a fresh battery. Therefore, probably David's watch, which is the same make and model as Jason's, runs about 3 years and 4 months on a fresh battery.

It's never a good idea to allow your teenage kids to have a sip of champagne on New Year's Eve. Next you know they'll be drinking beer during TV football games. Then it'll be wine every night at dinner. Then Bloody Marys every morning. Soon they'll be raging alcoholics, and the costs for rehab will be enormous.

People have the right to use their own property as they choose. Therefore, since Julian is the sole owner of this plot of land, he can use it as a site for a hydrogen bomb factory.

The first thing many airline passengers do on arrival is make a phone call. TravelCom is a company that installs and operates coin operated phones in airports. Therefore, it would be a good idea to buy stock in TravelCom.

Nobody has ever proved that the ready availability of guns causes an increase in the number of murders and robberies. Hence, we conclude that the availability of guns has no effect on the frequency of these crimes.

Either Kansas or Ohio is situated on the Mississippi River. But Ohio is not on the Mississippi. Therefore, it must be Kansas.

Tom is a bit of a dunce when it comes to mathematics, and he hasn't studied a bit for the next test. Therefore, he probably won't do very well on that test.

Clearly the moral standards of our youth have decayed. Two doctors at Central Hospital appeared recently on a talk show, and both were convinced that the youth of today have no morals at all.

If TV programs become more inane, then viewers will be bored even further. Viewers will be bored even further. Therefore, TV programs will become even more inane.

During the four years that Allison has been president of the Westridge Retirement Club, five members have contracted diabetes. Therefore, to prevent any more cases of this disease we must elect a new president immediately.

Rich people tend to be snobs because they have materialistic values. Of course they have materialistic values because they fail to appreciate true human qualities. And why do they do this? Because they are condescending and haughty. Naturally they are condescending and haughty because they tend to be snobs.

The appeal to fear is a variety of:

Each word in Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" is very ordinary. Therefore, the "Gettysburg Address" must be a very ordinary speech.

Fred's argument in favor of lowering the gasoline tax is totally absurd. Fred is a complete loser who has never held a responsible job, and in his darker moments he abuses animals and torments small children.

The Constitution guarantees freedom of speech for everyone. Therefore, children have a right to sass their parents.

In a random sample of 300 current year Honda Civic Hybrids, 100 had a defect in the fuel injection system. Therefore, probably about a third of that entire production run has a defect in the fuel injection system.

All political operatives are disingenuous characters and all clever manipulators are disingenuous characters. Thus, all political operatives are clever manipulators.

Global warming has never been a big problem in the past. Therefore, it won't be a big problem in the future.

Adrian argues that it should be illegal for private individuals to carry concealed weapons. Obviously Adrian wants to abolish gun ownership altogether. Just go out and confiscate all the guns. That's what Adrian wants. Well, the Second Amendment gives us the right to bear arms, so Adrian's argument is ridiculous.