PHI-130: Critical Reasoning/LP3 Answer Key

Quiz 6
Identify the fallacies in the following arguments:

SS = Slippery Slope

SM = Straw Man

BQ = Begging the question

EQ = Equivocation

CQ = Complex question

FA = Faulty analogy

AH = Ad hominem

FD = False dilemma

HG = Hasty generalization

If euthanasia is legalized, then many people who are not terminally ill and have not elected euthanasia will wind up untreated or administered sufficient medication to end their lives. One thing doesn’t have to lead to the other – no logical necessity even if probability. The US needs to reduce its deficit spending. Therefore Congress should vote against an increase in investment in alternative energy sources. Allowing unlimited freedom of speech is always advantageous to the State. Everyone benefits when there are no limits to individual expression. Criminal actions are illegal, and all murder trials are criminal actions, thus all murder trials are illegal. The sign said "fine for parking here", and since it was fine, I parked there. How long have you been beating your wife? People who have to have a cup of coffee every morning before they can function have no less a problem than alcoholics who have to have their alcohol each day to sustain them. To say humans are immortal is like saying a car can run forever. President John F. Kennedy had friends in the mafia. He was a bad president. More doctors smoke Marlboros than any other cigarette. They must be less damaging to health. Isaac Newton believed in astrology. Astrology must be true. Either you’re for us or you’re against us. New York City is too noisy. All bars should be closed at 8 pm to reduce adding to the noise level in neighborhoods around the bars. If you vote for this bill you must be a Communist. Jake is tall. He’d be a good choice for our basketball team. The man I saw break into the apartment was wearing a hoodie. Philip is wearing a hoodie. He must be the man I saw. The most common age for women having twins is 34 years old. I am 33. I should wait until next year to get pregnant if I want twins. If God is perfect then he exists. God is perfect. Therefore he exists. Old man Brown claims that he saw a flying saucer in his farm, but he never got beyond the fourth grade in school and can hardly read or write. He is completely ignorant of what scientists have written on the subject, so his report cannot possibly be true. I believe in the Bible because it is the written word of God through his prophets. Obviously, God would not lie to his prophets. After all, the Bible says so. You look like you are ready to buy a new car. Would you like to pay cash or buy on the installment plan? As I walked around campus today, not one person said hello to me. This is not a friendly campus. I don’t care what your arguments are. You are a mean old man and nothing you say should be taken as truth. Quincy says that we should spend more state revenue on education. But Quincy is a professor who wants a better salary, so you know his opinion is worthless. Those who support gun control are wrong; they believe that no one should have the right to defend himself under any condition. Paul came home late again. He must have a girlfriend or else he was out drinking. Republicans in Congress refuse to raise the tax rate on the wealthiest Americans. They don’t care for the common man at all. We have to cut social programs this year or we will have a huge deficit which is unacceptable. Hitler was a vegetarian. Therefore we should eat meat. If you don’t agree with me then we can’t talk. I don’t want to argue. Water is not a human right. It should be privatized.
 * 1) Slippery slope argument. One thing doesn’t have to lead to the other – no logical necessity even if probability.
 * 1) Slippery slope argument. If recreational marijuana is legalized it will open the door to more dangerous drug use.
 * 1) Straw man argument. There are many other ways to balance the budget, investing in alternative energy need not be the culprit for an unbalanced budget.
 * 1) Begging the question. The claim of the conclusion is already expressed in the premise.
 * 1) Equivocation. Here the term "criminal actions" is used with two different meanings.
 * 1) Equivocation. The term “fine” is used ambiguously.
 * 1) Complex question. Implies that you are beating your wife.
 * 1) Faulty analogy. Caffeine and alcohol are not sufficiently comparable.
 * 1) Faulty analogy. The life of a living creature is not sufficiently comparable to that of a machine.
 * 1) Ad hominem. Attacking the man not providing evidence.
 * 1) False appeal to authority. Medical expertise doesn’t always spill over into personal life and habits of doctors.
 * 1) Appeal to authority.
 * 1) False dilemma.
 * 1) False dilemma.
 * 1) False dilemma.
 * 1) Hasty generalization.
 * 1) Hasty generalization.
 * 1) Hasty generalization.
 * 1) Begging the question. First premise assumes the conclusion.
 * 1) Ad hominem. One does not have to be well educated in order to see well. Brown’s character is irrelevant to what he claimed to see.
 * 1) Begging the question. Circular reasoning. Establishes the truth of the conclusion from the assumed truth of the premises.
 * 1) Complex question. Assumes you are going to buy the car.
 * 1) Hasty generalization. One walk through campus does not provide sufficient evidence for this conclusion.
 * 1) Ad hominem. Attacks character instead of addressing evidence and logic.
 * 1) Ad hominem. Attacks character instead of addressing evidence and logic.
 * 1) Straw man argument. Misstates the position of those against gun control.
 * 1) False dilemma. There are other possibilities. It’s not a question of either/or.
 * 1) Hasty generalization. Needs more evidence.
 * 1) False dilemma. There are other alternatives.
 * 1) Ad hominem.  Bases the argument on the character.
 * 1) False dilemma. There are many steps of negotiation between disagreement and arguing.
 * 1) Begging the question. The premise contains the conclusion.