In-Class Fallacy Exercise
Take-Home Fallacy Assignment
Instructions:
Review your notes. Identify at least one fallacy per example.
Identify the fallacy by name, then explain so that someone who had never taken a class on fallacies would understand why you would question the argument.
Remember: (You must explain the fallacy. Just labeling the fallacy will not earn you credit.) Apply it to the argument! (Don’t just define the fallacy; show how it is used in the argument).
Example:
“I really don’t think you should buy a Ferrari. Someone told me that Ferrari’s have a very bad repair record.”
Questionable Authority: Who is the “someone” who said that Ferrari’s have a bad repair record? If it were a mechanic, I might be more likely to accept the argument. But without knowing who the authority is, I have to question the argument.
Fallacy “Artifacts”
1. I’m not saying anything against women’s lib. I just happen to believe that the male should be the head of the household.
2. If you know about BMW, you either own one or you want one
3. F-Minus comic:
If you can’t read the above:
Doctor talking to a balding man with a pencil behind his ear: “In my opinion, the tapered edge of the drywall makes it difficult to cover the corner bead with joint compound. But then, I’m only a doctor.”
4. If I could just live off campus, I could get a lot more studying done, my grades would improve, and I’m sure I would get a lot more sleep.
5. If you let students on the Academic Policies Committee, the next thing they will want is to be voting members of departments, and then probably a co-deanship. Before you know it, they will be hiring and firing the faculty.
6. Father: Son, I asked you to mow the lawn this morning. I come home tonight and, not only is the lawn not mowed, but the lawnmower hasn’t even been pulled out of the garage.
Son: Well, Dad. I didn’t have time. Rome wasn’t built in a day, you know.
7. Twenty-five years after graduation, alumni of Harvard College have an average income 5 times that of men of the same age who have no college education. If a person wants to be wealthy, (s)he should enroll at Harvard.
8. Baby Blues comic:
If you can’t read the above:
Frame 1: Hammie (the young boy) asks his mother, “Did you get a call from my teacher today?”
Mother answers, “No.”
Frame 2: Hammie persists, “No call, not note, no email about what happened?”
Mother responds, “No, what happened?”
Frame 3: Hammie walks away, “Nothing, I guess.”
Mother points at him, “Just because there is no complaint doesn’t mean there was no crime!”
9. I’m convinced that Vitamin C really works. Every member of my family used to have at least one good winter cold every year. Last fall, each of us started taking 1,000 mg of vitamin C a day and there hasn’t been even a sniffle at our house in over nine months.
10. I think it’s pretty safe to skip class today. Professor Jenkinson wouldn’t give us a pop quiz five days in a row. She’s already given us one every day this week.