Exam 4: Informal Fallacies

The following passage contains an argument that commits at least one informal fallacy. Name the type of fallacy committed and explain why the passage is an example of that type. You should not listen to those who preach concern for the environment. For all those so called environmentalists want to do is hug trees, get rid of technology and return to the Stone Age!

The following passage contains an argument that commits at least one informal fallacy. Name the type of fallacy committed and explain why the passage is an example of that type. Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good; and for this reason the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim. (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Bk. I Ch. 1)

The following passage contains an argument that commits at least one informal fallacy. Name the type of fallacy committed and explain why the passage is an example of that type. Groucho Marx: Last night I shot an elephant in my pajamas. What he was doing in my pajamas I'll never know!

The following passage contains an argument that commits at least one informal fallacy. Name the type of fallacy committed and explain why the passage is an example of that type. Germans are mostly Lutheran. Giesela Schmidt is German. So, Giesela is mostly Lutheran.

Which of the following is a complex question?

Which of the following is not a fallacy involving ambiguity?

The following passage contains an argument that commits at least one informal fallacy. Name the type of fallacy committed and explain why the passage is an example of that type. That biscotti ought to be good-I used only the best ingredients in it.

The following passage contains an argument that commits at least one informal fallacy. Name the type of fallacy committed and explain why the passage is an example of that type. The Yankees were a dominating team this year and Jorge Poseda was a member of that team. So, Jorge Poseda was a dominating player this year.

The following passage contains an argument that commits at least one informal fallacy. Name the type of fallacy committed and explain why the passage is an example of that type. Bumper sticker: They took the Bible out of the schools and now the prisons are full.

The fallacy of equivocation is committed when an inference is invalid because it depends on an ambiguity due to sentence structure.

The slippery slope fallacy is a type of

The following passage contains an argument that commits at least one informal fallacy. Name the type of fallacy committed and explain why the passage is an example of that type. All of the morally advanced people in the neighborhood are buying electric cars to save the planet. So, your next car should be an electric car as well.

The following passage contains an argument that commits at least one informal fallacy. Name the type of fallacy committed and explain why the passage is an example of that type. There is a lot of talk these days about what we could all do to save energy. But, it is very important for humans beings to have enough energy to do the physical activities they need to do to get through life. If you don't have any energy, then you just will not feel like doing anything at all.

The following passage contains an argument that commits at least one informal fallacy. Name the type of fallacy committed and explain why the passage is an example of that type. The Russians have a natural talent for ballet, as you can see by watching the Bolshoi Ballet.

The argument "The Republican Party is wealthy, so John Boehner is wealthy" commits the fallacy of

The following passage contains an argument that commits at least one informal fallacy. Name the type of fallacy committed and explain why the passage is an example of that type. Logicians have shown that all purported proofs of the existence of God are fallacious. We can conclude, therefore, that God does not exist.

The following passage contains an argument that commits at least one informal fallacy. Name the type of fallacy committed and explain why the passage is an example of that type. Why were Hollings and so many of his colleagues eager to pump life into the Fairness Doctrine? Because they were prime beneficiaries of its constraints on broadcasters. Hollings himself credited the doctrine with providing the media exposure he needed to win his first statewide race. (John Fund, "Broadcasting Should Not be Regulated," in Censorship: Opposing Viewpoints)

A false dilemma is a situation in which one must choose between doing what one wants to do and doing what is right.

An ad hominem fallacy is directed at a person rather than the argument the person gives.

Which of the following is a type of fallacy involving irrelevant premises?