Logical
Fallacies: A "Mock"
Quiz:
Identify the logical
fallacies in the following arguments.
- I
owned a Ford once and it broke down on me. They are terrible cars and I
will never buy one again.
- Did
you enjoy breaking your aunt's heart by being late for dinner?
- Why
shouldn't I make fun of my boss? Look at all the abuse I take from her!
- Why
would you want to hear him speak? He's a flaming liberal who doesn't care
about anything except saving trees in the rain forest.
- I've
been working at the same video store for the last 2 years and I only make
$5.95 an hour! My boss is such a cheap jerk!
- Those
James Bond movies are so predictable--if you've seen one, you've seen them
all!
- Sure,
he's opposed to banning handguns--he's a bullet manufacturer!
- If
you love your family, you'll buy this new stealth security system.
- I
walked under a ladder yesterday. That's why I failed my exam.
- "If
it's got to be clean, it's got to be Tide."
- Do
you understand why you need to be punished?
- "We
admit that this measure is popular. But we also urge you to note that
there are so many bond issues on this ballot that the whole thing is
getting ridiculous."
- Bill
has borrowed Jane's expensive pen, but found he didn't return it. He tells
himself that it is okay to keep it, since she would have taken his.
- "Senator
Jones says that we should not fund the attack submarine program. I
disagree entirely. I can't understand why he wants to leave us defenseless
like that."
- "We
have to stop the tuition increase! The next thing you know, they'll be
charging $40,000 a semester!"
- "If
such actions were not illegal, then they would not be prohibited by the
law.
- Don't
let worry kill you off - let the Church help.
- "Trees
are green; therefore human beings enjoy spinach.
- "Death
is a subject of utmost gravity. Gravity is what keeps us from falling off
the Earth. Thus, death is primarily what keeps us from falling off the
Earth."
- If Madame Curie had not happened to
leave a photographic plate in a drawer with a chunk of pitchblende, the
world today would not know about radium.
- There should be no "moment of
silence" in schools: it discriminates against certain religions,
causes unnecessary controversy, takes away from study time, and mixes
church and state.
- "That
man you're accusing of murder cannot be guilty; he's the sweetest man
alive."
- "Isaac
Newton, one of history's greatest geniuses, was convinced of the validity
of astrology. But you, a stable boy, will not accept this ancient science.
Who do you think you are?"
- "You
stay the hell away from my daughter, you creep! I know exactly what sex
maniacs you Swedes are. You animal! My daughter is going to marry a
Turkish man, and that's the end of it!"
- Smoking is causing air pollution in Las Vegas.
