PHI 105 EXAM 53 QUESTIONS WITH VERIFIED
ANSWERS 2026
An appeal to ignorance uses lack of evidence (for or against) as the basis of the
argument. For example, if something can't be disproven, it must be true!
Example
You have a family member who has a terminal disease. You hear of a possible new
cure being offered in another country. You contact the group promoting this cure
and ask if it works. They say, "No one has ever shown that it doesn't work, so of
course it works!" - CORRECT ANSWER APPEAL TO IGNORANCE
Definition
A hasty generalization occurs 'when a conclusion is drawn from a sample that is
too small or selective to assume with any confidence that it represents the subject
accurately' (Goodpaster & Kirby, 2006, p. 205). - CORRECT ANSWER HASTY
GENERALIZATION
Definition
Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc at times is one of the most persuasive fallacies.
Assuming that because B follows A, A must have caused B. This is an easy fallacy
to assume because this could happen, but we cannot always assume this happens.
Some things just happen due to coincidence and the two things really having
nothing to do with each other.
, Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc can also be the source of superstitious thinking. Think
about an athlete who wears his 'lucky' socks and the team wins the game, you
might conclude that wearing 'lucky' socks leads to winning. Maybe you break a
mirror and then soon after you get into an accident, you might conclude that
breaking the mirror led to that misfortune. These occurrences are merely
coincidental and are not the reason for one's misfortune. - CORRECT ANSWER
POST HOC ERGO PROPTER HOC
An Appeal to Authority is a fallacy with the following form:
Person A is (claimed to be) an authority on subject S.
Person A makes claim C about subject S.
Therefore, C is true (Nizkor, 2013).
In the video above, we see a young man proceed with a lawsuit based on the
advice of his doctor even though the doctor has no legal background whatsoever.
This erroneous acceptance is based on the belief that the person is the expert or
authoritative so therefore everything they say must be true. In this case, the
doctor was not qualified to make a claim about the legality of the car cash, so his
reasoning was fallacious. - CORRECT ANSWER APPEAL TO AUTHORITY
Definition
Slippery Slope can be described as an analogy to take the argument in one
direction with a series of steps leading to a much more extreme outcome. Once
someone asks for one thing and receives it, they will not stop until they have
taken it all (Kirby & Goodpaster, 2011, p.209). - CORRECT ANSWER SLIPPERY
SLOPE
ANSWERS 2026
An appeal to ignorance uses lack of evidence (for or against) as the basis of the
argument. For example, if something can't be disproven, it must be true!
Example
You have a family member who has a terminal disease. You hear of a possible new
cure being offered in another country. You contact the group promoting this cure
and ask if it works. They say, "No one has ever shown that it doesn't work, so of
course it works!" - CORRECT ANSWER APPEAL TO IGNORANCE
Definition
A hasty generalization occurs 'when a conclusion is drawn from a sample that is
too small or selective to assume with any confidence that it represents the subject
accurately' (Goodpaster & Kirby, 2006, p. 205). - CORRECT ANSWER HASTY
GENERALIZATION
Definition
Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc at times is one of the most persuasive fallacies.
Assuming that because B follows A, A must have caused B. This is an easy fallacy
to assume because this could happen, but we cannot always assume this happens.
Some things just happen due to coincidence and the two things really having
nothing to do with each other.
, Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc can also be the source of superstitious thinking. Think
about an athlete who wears his 'lucky' socks and the team wins the game, you
might conclude that wearing 'lucky' socks leads to winning. Maybe you break a
mirror and then soon after you get into an accident, you might conclude that
breaking the mirror led to that misfortune. These occurrences are merely
coincidental and are not the reason for one's misfortune. - CORRECT ANSWER
POST HOC ERGO PROPTER HOC
An Appeal to Authority is a fallacy with the following form:
Person A is (claimed to be) an authority on subject S.
Person A makes claim C about subject S.
Therefore, C is true (Nizkor, 2013).
In the video above, we see a young man proceed with a lawsuit based on the
advice of his doctor even though the doctor has no legal background whatsoever.
This erroneous acceptance is based on the belief that the person is the expert or
authoritative so therefore everything they say must be true. In this case, the
doctor was not qualified to make a claim about the legality of the car cash, so his
reasoning was fallacious. - CORRECT ANSWER APPEAL TO AUTHORITY
Definition
Slippery Slope can be described as an analogy to take the argument in one
direction with a series of steps leading to a much more extreme outcome. Once
someone asks for one thing and receives it, they will not stop until they have
taken it all (Kirby & Goodpaster, 2011, p.209). - CORRECT ANSWER SLIPPERY
SLOPE
