ETHICS 311 EXAMINERS ANSWERS AND QUESTIONS
SET A+
✔✔ad hominem fallacy - ✔✔This is an attack on the person rather than the argument
itself. Usually when someone can't defend their position and tries to shut down the
argument.
✔✔Credentials fallacy - ✔✔Occurs when someone dismisses an argument because the
person who made that argument doesn't appear to have sufficient formal credentials in
the relevant field.
✔✔Poisoning the Well - ✔✔A rhetorical technique where someone presents irrelevant
negative information about their opponent, with the goal of discrediting their opponent's
arguments.
✔✔Association Fallacy or Guilt by Association - ✔✔logical fallacy that occurs when
someone is attacked based on their supposed connection to something or someone
that is unrelated to the discussion at hand. (because two things share or are implied to
share some property they are the same)
✔✔Kafka Trap - ✔✔Occurs when you are accused of something and your denial is
taken as evidence that is true. Any attempt to argue, deny, or defend yourself is seen as
proof of guilt. Unfalsifiable (unable to be proven false)
✔✔Strawman Fallacy - ✔✔This occurs when someone distorts or misrepresents an
opponent's position in order to make it easier to attack. Avoids the actual argument and
argues against an inaccurate version of it. Distorts opposing positions to an extreme
version of itself then argues against the extreme version.
✔✔Appeal to authority and appeal to false authority - ✔✔An assertion is deemed true
because of the position or authority of the person asserting it
✔✔Conditions for legitimate appeal to authority - ✔✔1. Person must be an expert in the
appropriate are
, 2. There must be general agreement or consensus among authorities on that subject
✔✔False dilemma (false dichotomy, fallacy of bifurcation, black-or-white fallacy) -
✔✔Two alternative statements are held to be the only possible options, but in reality
there is more. Misrepresents an issue by presenting only 2 options rather than the full
range
✔✔Equivocation - ✔✔The misleading use of a term with more than one meaning (by
glossing over which meaning is intended at a particular time) Use of ambiguous
language to conceal the truth or avoid committing oneself.
✔✔Fallacy of composition - ✔✔Assumes that something true of a whole group must
also be true of the whole
✔✔Fallacy of Division - ✔✔Assumes that something true of a whole think or group must
also be true of all or some of its parts (opposite of fallacy of composition)
✔✔Slippery Slope - ✔✔Asserts that a relatively small first step inevitably leads to a
chain of related events culminating in some significant impact/event that should not
happen. This the first step should not happen. (appeal to probability fallacy)
✔✔Begging the Question - ✔✔Providing what is essentially the conclusion of the
argument as a premise. This occurs when an argument's premise assumes the truth of
the conclusion instead of supporting it
✔✔Cherry Picking - ✔✔(suppressed/incomplete evidence) The act of pointing at
individual cases or data that seem to confirm a particular position, while ignoring a
significant portion of related cases or data that may contradict that position.
(Percentages/raw numbers when they fit your purpose and ignoring others because it
makes your argument look bad)
✔✔Appeal to Ignorance/Argument from Ignorance - ✔✔This fallacy occurs when you
argue that your conclusion must be true, because there is no evidence against it. It
wrongly shifts the burden of proof away from the one making the claim.
✔✔Gish Gallop - ✔✔A style of argument in which someone asserts as many half-truths
and falsehood into as short of a timespan as possible, rapid fire machine-gun style,
knowing that their opponent has no real chance of debunking and refuting every single
point presented in the limited time given (overwhelmed by so many arguments that
aren't necessarily accurate)
✔✔Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc Fallacy - ✔✔A logical fallacy that occurs when someone
assumes that because one event occurred after another, then the second event must
have been caused by the first
SET A+
✔✔ad hominem fallacy - ✔✔This is an attack on the person rather than the argument
itself. Usually when someone can't defend their position and tries to shut down the
argument.
✔✔Credentials fallacy - ✔✔Occurs when someone dismisses an argument because the
person who made that argument doesn't appear to have sufficient formal credentials in
the relevant field.
✔✔Poisoning the Well - ✔✔A rhetorical technique where someone presents irrelevant
negative information about their opponent, with the goal of discrediting their opponent's
arguments.
✔✔Association Fallacy or Guilt by Association - ✔✔logical fallacy that occurs when
someone is attacked based on their supposed connection to something or someone
that is unrelated to the discussion at hand. (because two things share or are implied to
share some property they are the same)
✔✔Kafka Trap - ✔✔Occurs when you are accused of something and your denial is
taken as evidence that is true. Any attempt to argue, deny, or defend yourself is seen as
proof of guilt. Unfalsifiable (unable to be proven false)
✔✔Strawman Fallacy - ✔✔This occurs when someone distorts or misrepresents an
opponent's position in order to make it easier to attack. Avoids the actual argument and
argues against an inaccurate version of it. Distorts opposing positions to an extreme
version of itself then argues against the extreme version.
✔✔Appeal to authority and appeal to false authority - ✔✔An assertion is deemed true
because of the position or authority of the person asserting it
✔✔Conditions for legitimate appeal to authority - ✔✔1. Person must be an expert in the
appropriate are
, 2. There must be general agreement or consensus among authorities on that subject
✔✔False dilemma (false dichotomy, fallacy of bifurcation, black-or-white fallacy) -
✔✔Two alternative statements are held to be the only possible options, but in reality
there is more. Misrepresents an issue by presenting only 2 options rather than the full
range
✔✔Equivocation - ✔✔The misleading use of a term with more than one meaning (by
glossing over which meaning is intended at a particular time) Use of ambiguous
language to conceal the truth or avoid committing oneself.
✔✔Fallacy of composition - ✔✔Assumes that something true of a whole group must
also be true of the whole
✔✔Fallacy of Division - ✔✔Assumes that something true of a whole think or group must
also be true of all or some of its parts (opposite of fallacy of composition)
✔✔Slippery Slope - ✔✔Asserts that a relatively small first step inevitably leads to a
chain of related events culminating in some significant impact/event that should not
happen. This the first step should not happen. (appeal to probability fallacy)
✔✔Begging the Question - ✔✔Providing what is essentially the conclusion of the
argument as a premise. This occurs when an argument's premise assumes the truth of
the conclusion instead of supporting it
✔✔Cherry Picking - ✔✔(suppressed/incomplete evidence) The act of pointing at
individual cases or data that seem to confirm a particular position, while ignoring a
significant portion of related cases or data that may contradict that position.
(Percentages/raw numbers when they fit your purpose and ignoring others because it
makes your argument look bad)
✔✔Appeal to Ignorance/Argument from Ignorance - ✔✔This fallacy occurs when you
argue that your conclusion must be true, because there is no evidence against it. It
wrongly shifts the burden of proof away from the one making the claim.
✔✔Gish Gallop - ✔✔A style of argument in which someone asserts as many half-truths
and falsehood into as short of a timespan as possible, rapid fire machine-gun style,
knowing that their opponent has no real chance of debunking and refuting every single
point presented in the limited time given (overwhelmed by so many arguments that
aren't necessarily accurate)
✔✔Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc Fallacy - ✔✔A logical fallacy that occurs when someone
assumes that because one event occurred after another, then the second event must
have been caused by the first
