Assignment:
Fallacies, Assumptions, and Arguments Worksheet
Part 1: Fallacies
• Fallacy list
o False analogy
o Appeal to authority
o Post hoc ergo proper hoc
o Attacking the person
o Two wrongs
o Non sequitur
o Equivocation
o False dilemma
o Slippery slope
o Hasty generalization
o Contrary-to-fact hypothesis
o Ad ignorantium
o Appeal to emotion
• Each of the following arguments contains one fallacy from the preceding list, and each fallacy is used only once. Evaluate each argument and determine which fallacy is used.
o We can recognize that student athletes must be given special consideration within our grading system, or we can let the university's athletic department deteriorate.
o I don't know what colleges are teaching these days! I have just received a letter of application from a young man who graduated from the state university last June. It was a wretched letter-badly written, with elementary errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar. The state university does not deserve the tax support it is getting.
o All right-thinking people will support the board of education's decision to destroy novels in the school libraries that are offensive to the community's moral standards. If an epidemic of typhoid began, we would expect health authorities to do all they could to wipe it out. Pornography is worse than typhoid, as it corrupts the minds and morals of the young-not just their bodies. Members of the school board are to be applauded for their prompt action in wiping out this moral disease.
o Despite endless efforts, no one has been able to prove that God exists; therefore, we should stop trying and accept the truth: God does not exist.
o Alicia started gaining more weight when she started taking that weight-loss supplement; the stuff must be fattening!
o No sensible person would support the Equal Rights Amendment. If it were to pass, we would have women in combat and unisex bathrooms. Eventually, we would not even be able to tell the women from the men!
o How can Bill Clinton lead this country? He is a draft-dodging, pot-smoking womanizer.
o Michael Jordan wore that brand, so those must to be the best basketball shoes.
o The difference in the outcome was Jefferson's missed field goal. If he had made the goal, our team would be going to the Super Bowl.
o Do not ignore the woman who gave birth to you, raised you, loved you as a child, and loves you still. Remember your mom on Mother's Day.
o So what if I didn't claim all of the money I earned on my taxes? Many people underreport their income.
o That must be a great line of clothes. Have you seen the prices and the people endorsing it?
Part 2: Assumptions and Arguments
Using the texts for this course, the University Library, the Internet, or other resources, answer the following questions. Your response to each question should contain a minimum of 150 words.
• How do assumptions relate to the process of critical thinking?
• What are the essential components of a logical argument? How does an argument's structure affect its meaning?
• What are the differences between fact-based and opinion-based arguments?
• What are formal fallacies? What are the two examples of formal fallacies?