Exam 4: Informal Fallacies

The slippery slope fallacy is a type of false cause fallacy that involves the assumption that a particular chain reaction will occur but there is insufficient evidence that one event in the chain will cause the next.

When someone falsely claims to have written something, that person has committed the fallacy of composition.

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. America-Love it or leave it!

A complex question is a question that has no clear or widely agreed-upon answer.

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 thoughts and beliefs are events that take place in the brain. The brain, of course, is a physical object, and so mental events must be physical events. So, where are thoughts located? Being physical events, they must occur in the brain.

The false cause fallacy is committed when one possible cause of an event is assumed to be the cause even though reasons are lacking for excluding other possible causes.

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. It was either steal the $100 or let my son's illness go untreated. I couldn't just let his illness go untreated, so of course I had to steal the $100!

The appeal to ignorance fallacy involves the claim that something must be ) because it hasn't been proven false (or

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.

Arguments that are flawed because they contain ambiguities or a confusion between closely related concepts are called fallacies of 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. My dog is smarter than Rush Limbaugh! I wouldn't listen to a thing Mr. Limbaugh says!

The straw man fallacy is the error of thinking you know more than you really do about the topic under discussion.

The sentence "Senator Samson denied having sex with her intern in front of a full Congress yesterday" is ambiguous because it is

The fallacy of division involves drawing an invalid inference from the nature of a whole thing to the nature of its parts.

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.

A fallacy is a common mistake in reasoning that tends to be psychologically persuasive.

Arguments that derive their persuasiveness from a threat to an individual's well-being commit the fallacy of

The fallacy of appeal to authority is committed when one appeals to what a person of talent or expertise says about a matter outside her or his field of expertise.

The tu quoque fallacy charges the opponent with using complex or obscure language in order to confuse the issue.

Someone begs the question whenever they make a claim that raises additional questions.