Logical Fallacies Quiz Questions and
Answers 100% Pass
Appeal to Force (the "Might-Makes-Right" Fallacy) - ✔✔Logically, this consideration
has nothing to do with the merits of the points under consideration. Example:
"Superintendent, it would be a good idea for your school to cut the budget by $16,000. I
need not remind you that past school boards have fired superintendents who cannot
keep down costs." While intimidation might force the superintendent to conform, it
does not convince him that the choice to cut the budget was the most beneficial for the
school or community. Lobbyists use this method when they remind legislators that they
represent so many thousand votes in the legislators' constituencies.
Ad Hominem Fallacy - ✔✔Attacking or praising the people who make an argument
rather than discussing the argument itself. This practice is fallacious because the
personal character of an individual is logically irrelevant to the truth or falseness of the
argument itself. The statement "2+2=4" is true regardless if is stated by a criminal,
congressmen, or a pastor.
Bandwagon Approach - ✔✔"Everybody is doing it." This argumentum ad populum
asserts that, since the majority of people believes an argument or chooses a particular
Brittie Donald, All Rights Reserved © 2025 1
, course of action, the argument must be true or the course of action must be the best one.
For instance, "85% of consumers purchase IBM computers rather than Macintosh; all
those people can't be wrong. IBM must make the best computers." Popular acceptance
of any argument does not prove it to be valid, nor does popular use of any product
necessarily prove it is the best one. After all, 85% of people possibly once thought planet
earth was flat, but that majority's belief didn't mean the earth really was flat! Keep this
in mind, and remember that all should avoid this logical fallacy. "Whenever you find
yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect." --Mark Twain.
Appeal to Tradition - ✔✔This line of thought asserts that a premise must be true
because people have always believed it or done it. "Of course our constitution is
infallible; it's over two hundred years old." Might an alternative policy work even better
than the old one? Are there drawbacks to that long-standing policy? Are circumstances
changing from the way they were thirty years ago?
Appeal to Improper Authority - ✔✔his fallacy attempts to capitalize upon feelings of
respect or familiarity with a famous individual. It is not fallacious to refer to an
admitted authority if the individual's expertise is within a strict field of knowledge. On
the other hand, to cite Einstein to settle an argument about education is fallaciousThe
worst offenders usually involve movie stars and psychic hot-lines.
Appeal to Biased Authority - ✔✔"To determine whether fraternities are beneficial to
this campus, we interviewed all the frat presidents." Indeed, it is important to get "both
Brittie Donald, All Rights Reserved © 2025 2
Answers 100% Pass
Appeal to Force (the "Might-Makes-Right" Fallacy) - ✔✔Logically, this consideration
has nothing to do with the merits of the points under consideration. Example:
"Superintendent, it would be a good idea for your school to cut the budget by $16,000. I
need not remind you that past school boards have fired superintendents who cannot
keep down costs." While intimidation might force the superintendent to conform, it
does not convince him that the choice to cut the budget was the most beneficial for the
school or community. Lobbyists use this method when they remind legislators that they
represent so many thousand votes in the legislators' constituencies.
Ad Hominem Fallacy - ✔✔Attacking or praising the people who make an argument
rather than discussing the argument itself. This practice is fallacious because the
personal character of an individual is logically irrelevant to the truth or falseness of the
argument itself. The statement "2+2=4" is true regardless if is stated by a criminal,
congressmen, or a pastor.
Bandwagon Approach - ✔✔"Everybody is doing it." This argumentum ad populum
asserts that, since the majority of people believes an argument or chooses a particular
Brittie Donald, All Rights Reserved © 2025 1
, course of action, the argument must be true or the course of action must be the best one.
For instance, "85% of consumers purchase IBM computers rather than Macintosh; all
those people can't be wrong. IBM must make the best computers." Popular acceptance
of any argument does not prove it to be valid, nor does popular use of any product
necessarily prove it is the best one. After all, 85% of people possibly once thought planet
earth was flat, but that majority's belief didn't mean the earth really was flat! Keep this
in mind, and remember that all should avoid this logical fallacy. "Whenever you find
yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect." --Mark Twain.
Appeal to Tradition - ✔✔This line of thought asserts that a premise must be true
because people have always believed it or done it. "Of course our constitution is
infallible; it's over two hundred years old." Might an alternative policy work even better
than the old one? Are there drawbacks to that long-standing policy? Are circumstances
changing from the way they were thirty years ago?
Appeal to Improper Authority - ✔✔his fallacy attempts to capitalize upon feelings of
respect or familiarity with a famous individual. It is not fallacious to refer to an
admitted authority if the individual's expertise is within a strict field of knowledge. On
the other hand, to cite Einstein to settle an argument about education is fallaciousThe
worst offenders usually involve movie stars and psychic hot-lines.
Appeal to Biased Authority - ✔✔"To determine whether fraternities are beneficial to
this campus, we interviewed all the frat presidents." Indeed, it is important to get "both
Brittie Donald, All Rights Reserved © 2025 2
