Logical Fallacies Scavenger Hunt



Logical Fallacies Scavenger HuntAP Language – Mr. McIlwain – 10/14I. Visit the Nizkor Project website: . Read “Description of Fallacies”What is a “sound” argument? ___________________________________________________________III. Read through the entries of the logical fallacies listed on this sheet. Connect the following information (definition, example, etc.) with the correct logical fallacy: Ad Hominem, Falacious Appeal to Authority, Falacious Appeal to Emotion, Falacious Appeal to Fear, Falacious Appeal to Flattery, Falacious Appeal to Ignorance, Falacious Appeal to Novelty, Falacious Appeal to Pity, Falacious, Falacious Appeal to Tradition, Bandwagon, Begging the Question, False Dichotomy, Guilty by Association, Hasty Generalization, Poisoning the Well, Post Hoc, Red Herring, Slippery Slope. 1. ________________________________Person A makes claim X.; Person B makes an attack on person A. Therefore A's claim is false.2. ________________________________a fallacy in which a person asserts that some event must inevitably follow from another without any argument for the inevitability of the event in question. In most cases, there are a series of steps or gradations between one event and the one in question and no reason is given as to why the intervening steps or gradations will simply be bypassed.3. ________________________________Also Known as: Fallacious Appeal to Authority, Misuse of Authority, Irrelevant Authority, Questionable Authority, Inappropriate Authority.4. ________________________________ “Look, there’s no conclusive evidence on the issue at hand. Therefore, you should accept my conclusion on this issue.”5. ________________________________ Therefore claim C is false (or true); Person P is pressured by his/her peers or threatened with rejection; Therefore person P's claim X is false. 6. ________________________________This fallacy is committed when someone manipulates peoples' emotions in order to get them to accept a claim as being true7. _____________________________a fallacy in which the premises include the claim that the conclusion is true or (directly or indirectly) assume that the conclusion is true. This sort of "reasoning" typically has the following form. Premises in which the truth of the conclusion is claimed or the truth of the conclusion is assumed (either directly or indirectly). Claim C (the conclusion) is true. 8. ___________________________________"Might I say that this is the best philosophy class I've ever taken. By the way, about those two points I need to get an A..." 9. ___________________________________a fallacy in which an irrelevant topic is presented in order to divert attention from the original issue. The basic idea is to "win" an argument by leading attention away from the argument and to another topic.10. _____________________________ "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."11. _____________________________a fallacy that occurs when it is assumed that something is better or correct simply because it is new. This sort of "reasoning" has the following form: X is new;Therefore X is correct or better.12. ___________________________________This fallacy is committed when a person draws a conclusion about a population based on a sample that is not large enough. It has the following form: Sample S, which is too small, is taken from population P. Conclusion C is drawn about Population P based on S. 13. _____________________________________ Senator Jill: "We'll have to cut education funding this year." Senator Bill: "Why?" Senator Jill: "Well, either we cut the social programs or we live with a huge deficit and we can't live with the deficit."14. ________________________________This line of "reasoning" is fallacious because pity does not serve as evidence for a claim. This is extremely clear in the following case: "You must accept that 1+1=46, after all I'm dying..." While you may pity me because I am dying, it would hardly make my claim true.15. _______________________________This sort of "reasoning" is fallacious because the age of something does not automatically make it correct or better than something newer. This is made quite obvious by the following example: The theory that witches and demons cause disease is far older than the theory that microrganisms cause diseases. Therefore, the theory about witches and demons must be true.16. ______________________________A occurs before B. Therefore A is the cause of B.17. ______________________________The person making such an attack is hoping that the unfavorable information will bias listeners against the person in question and hence that they will reject any claims he might make.18. __________________________ Either claim X is true or claim Y is true (when X and Y could both be false); Claim Y is false; Therefore claim X is true19. __________________________a fallacy in which a person rejects a claim simply because it is pointed out that people she dislikes accept the claim. This sort of "reasoning" has the following form: It is pointed out that people person A does not like accept claim P;Therefore P is false 20. _________________________________ “I had this plant, and I watered it. The next day the plant was withered and brown. I guess watering killed it.”21. Examine the home page of the Nizkor Project. Why might this organization maintain such a thorough page about logical fallacies? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Answer KeyI. A sound argument is logically valid and is based on true premises.II.1. Ad hominem2. Slippery Slope3. Appeal to Authority4. Appeal to Ignorance5. Bandwagon6. Appeal to Novelty7. Appeal to Pity8. Appeal to Flattery9. Red Herring10. Appeal to Fear11. Appeal to Novelty12. Begging the Question13. False Dilemma14. Appeal to Pity15. Appeal to Tradition16. Post Hoc17. Poisoning the Well18. False dilemma19. Guilty by Association20. Post hoc ................
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