Logical Fallacies: Practice Exam
Questions and Answers
"Andrea Donnely has written several books arguing that pornography harms
women. But Donnely is an ugly, bitter person, so she naturally believes
pornography is bad." - -Ad hominem
- "Gay marriages are just immoral. 70% of Americans think so!" - -Ad
populum
- "We should abolish the death penalty. Many respected people, such as
actor Guy Gorgeous, have publicly stated their opposition to it." - -Appeal to
false authority
- "You know, Professor Smith, I really need to get an A in this class. I'd like to
stop by during your office hours later to discuss my grade. I'll be in your
building anyways, visiting my father. He's your dean, by the way. I'll see you
later." - -Appeal to emotion
- "Active euthanasia is morally acceptable. It is a decent, ethical thing to
help another human being escape suffering through death." - -Begging the
question
- "Employees are like nails. Just as nails must be hit in the head in order to
make them work, so must employees." - -False analogy
- "Caldwell Hall is in bad shape. Either we tear it down and put up a new
building, or we continue to risk students' safety. Obviously we shouldn't risk
anyone's safety, so we must tear the building down." - -False dichotomy
- "My roommate said her philosophy class was hard, and the one I'm in is
hard, too. All philosophy classes must be hard!" - -Hasty generalization
- "President Jones raised taxes, and then the rate of violent crime went up.
Jones is responsible for the rise in crime." - -Post hoc
- "Grading this exam on a curve would be the most fair thing to do. After all,
classes go more smoothly when the students and the professor are getting
along well." - -Red herring
- "Animal experimentation reduces our respect for life. If we don't respect
life, we are likely to be more and more tolerant of violent acts like war and
murder. Soon our society will become a battlefield in which everyone
constantly fears for their lives. It will be the end of civilization. To prevent
, this terrible consequence, we should make animal experimentation illegal
right now." - -Slippery Slope
- "If I fail my swim test, I won't be able to graduate. If I don't graduate, I
probably won't be able to get a good job, and I may very well end up doing
temp work or flipping burgers for the next year." - -Slippery slope
- "People who think abortion should be banned have no respect for the
rights of women. They treat them as nothing but baby-making machines.
That's wrong. Women must have the right to choose." - -Straw Man
- "I won't accept your argument, because you used to smoke when you were
my age. You did it, too!" - -Tu quoque
- Jill: We should clean out the closets. They are getting a bit messy.
Bill: Why, we just went through those closets last year. Do we have to clean
them out every day?
Jill: I never said anything about cleaning them out every day. You just want
to keep all your junk forever, which is just ridiculous. - -Straw Man
- Guns are like hammers—they're both tools with metal parts that could be
used to kill someone. And yet it would be ridiculous to restrict the purchase
of hammers—so restrictions on purchasing guns are equally ridiculous. - -
False analogy
- Senator Jill: We'll have to cut education funding this year.
Senator Bill: Why?
Senator Jill: Well, either we cut funding, or we live with a huge deficit, and we
can't live with the deficit. - -False dichotomy
- Dave and Kenny are arguing about Stalin's reign in the Soviet Union. Dave
has been
arguing that Stalin was a great leader while Kenny disagrees with him.
Kenny: I don't see how you can consider Stalin to be a great leader. He killed
millions of
his own people, he crippled the Soviet economy, kept most of the people in
fear and laid the foundations for the violence that is occurring in much of
Eastern Europe.
Dave: Yeah, well you say that. However, I have a book at home written by a
guy who
Questions and Answers
"Andrea Donnely has written several books arguing that pornography harms
women. But Donnely is an ugly, bitter person, so she naturally believes
pornography is bad." - -Ad hominem
- "Gay marriages are just immoral. 70% of Americans think so!" - -Ad
populum
- "We should abolish the death penalty. Many respected people, such as
actor Guy Gorgeous, have publicly stated their opposition to it." - -Appeal to
false authority
- "You know, Professor Smith, I really need to get an A in this class. I'd like to
stop by during your office hours later to discuss my grade. I'll be in your
building anyways, visiting my father. He's your dean, by the way. I'll see you
later." - -Appeal to emotion
- "Active euthanasia is morally acceptable. It is a decent, ethical thing to
help another human being escape suffering through death." - -Begging the
question
- "Employees are like nails. Just as nails must be hit in the head in order to
make them work, so must employees." - -False analogy
- "Caldwell Hall is in bad shape. Either we tear it down and put up a new
building, or we continue to risk students' safety. Obviously we shouldn't risk
anyone's safety, so we must tear the building down." - -False dichotomy
- "My roommate said her philosophy class was hard, and the one I'm in is
hard, too. All philosophy classes must be hard!" - -Hasty generalization
- "President Jones raised taxes, and then the rate of violent crime went up.
Jones is responsible for the rise in crime." - -Post hoc
- "Grading this exam on a curve would be the most fair thing to do. After all,
classes go more smoothly when the students and the professor are getting
along well." - -Red herring
- "Animal experimentation reduces our respect for life. If we don't respect
life, we are likely to be more and more tolerant of violent acts like war and
murder. Soon our society will become a battlefield in which everyone
constantly fears for their lives. It will be the end of civilization. To prevent
, this terrible consequence, we should make animal experimentation illegal
right now." - -Slippery Slope
- "If I fail my swim test, I won't be able to graduate. If I don't graduate, I
probably won't be able to get a good job, and I may very well end up doing
temp work or flipping burgers for the next year." - -Slippery slope
- "People who think abortion should be banned have no respect for the
rights of women. They treat them as nothing but baby-making machines.
That's wrong. Women must have the right to choose." - -Straw Man
- "I won't accept your argument, because you used to smoke when you were
my age. You did it, too!" - -Tu quoque
- Jill: We should clean out the closets. They are getting a bit messy.
Bill: Why, we just went through those closets last year. Do we have to clean
them out every day?
Jill: I never said anything about cleaning them out every day. You just want
to keep all your junk forever, which is just ridiculous. - -Straw Man
- Guns are like hammers—they're both tools with metal parts that could be
used to kill someone. And yet it would be ridiculous to restrict the purchase
of hammers—so restrictions on purchasing guns are equally ridiculous. - -
False analogy
- Senator Jill: We'll have to cut education funding this year.
Senator Bill: Why?
Senator Jill: Well, either we cut funding, or we live with a huge deficit, and we
can't live with the deficit. - -False dichotomy
- Dave and Kenny are arguing about Stalin's reign in the Soviet Union. Dave
has been
arguing that Stalin was a great leader while Kenny disagrees with him.
Kenny: I don't see how you can consider Stalin to be a great leader. He killed
millions of
his own people, he crippled the Soviet economy, kept most of the people in
fear and laid the foundations for the violence that is occurring in much of
Eastern Europe.
Dave: Yeah, well you say that. However, I have a book at home written by a
guy who
