Chapter 3 Logical Fallacies Exam
Questions and Answers
red herring - Correct Answers -a speaker skits to a new and irrelevant topic in order to
avoid the topic of discussion
ex: "We can debate these regulations until the cows come home, but what the American
people want to know is, when are we going to end the partisan bickering?"
hasty generalization - Correct Answers -there is not enough evidence to support a
particular conclusion
ex: "Smoking isn't bad for your; my great aunt smocked a pack a day and lived to be 90"
circular reasoning - Correct Answers -repeating the claim as a way to provide evidence
ex: "You can't give me a C; I'm an A student"
post hoc ergo propter hoc - Correct Answers -Latin for "after which therefore because of
which", that it is incorrect to always claim that something is a cause just because it
happened earlier
ex: "We elected Johnson as president and look where it go us: hurricanes, floods, stock
market crashes."
false authority - Correct Answers -someone who has no expertise to speak on an issue
is cited as an authority
ex: choosing a celebrity or TV star as a medical expert
ad hominem - Correct Answers -latin for "to the man" the diversionary tactic of switching
the argument from the issue at hand to the character of the other speaker
ex: "That a park in the community should not be renovated because the Jill, who
supporting it, was arrested during a domestic dispute."
faulty analogy - Correct Answers -when the evidence of an analogy is not comparable
between the two
ex: "We put animals who are irreversible pain out of their misery, so we should do the
same for people"
straw man - Correct Answers -when a speaker chooses a deliberately poor or
oversimplified example in order to ridicule and refute an opponent's viewpoint
Questions and Answers
red herring - Correct Answers -a speaker skits to a new and irrelevant topic in order to
avoid the topic of discussion
ex: "We can debate these regulations until the cows come home, but what the American
people want to know is, when are we going to end the partisan bickering?"
hasty generalization - Correct Answers -there is not enough evidence to support a
particular conclusion
ex: "Smoking isn't bad for your; my great aunt smocked a pack a day and lived to be 90"
circular reasoning - Correct Answers -repeating the claim as a way to provide evidence
ex: "You can't give me a C; I'm an A student"
post hoc ergo propter hoc - Correct Answers -Latin for "after which therefore because of
which", that it is incorrect to always claim that something is a cause just because it
happened earlier
ex: "We elected Johnson as president and look where it go us: hurricanes, floods, stock
market crashes."
false authority - Correct Answers -someone who has no expertise to speak on an issue
is cited as an authority
ex: choosing a celebrity or TV star as a medical expert
ad hominem - Correct Answers -latin for "to the man" the diversionary tactic of switching
the argument from the issue at hand to the character of the other speaker
ex: "That a park in the community should not be renovated because the Jill, who
supporting it, was arrested during a domestic dispute."
faulty analogy - Correct Answers -when the evidence of an analogy is not comparable
between the two
ex: "We put animals who are irreversible pain out of their misery, so we should do the
same for people"
straw man - Correct Answers -when a speaker chooses a deliberately poor or
oversimplified example in order to ridicule and refute an opponent's viewpoint
