ILS1: Introduction to textual analysis Seminar 6 Activity 1: Logical Fallacies 1. Which of the following is an example of a red herring? A. “All dogs are mammals. My cat is a mammal. Therefore, my cat is a dog.” B. “I had lunch with Donald, then I felt sick. Therefore, Donald made me sick.” C. “You asked what I’ve done to counteract global warming. In my first two years in office, we’ve had lower than average temperatures.” 2. Which of the following quotes from George Orwell’s novel 1984 is an example of the bandwagon effect? A. Winston could not definitely remember a time when his country had not been at war, but it was evident that there had been a fairly long interval of peace during his childhood, because one of his early memories was of an air raid, which appeared to take everyone by surprise. Perhaps it was the time when the atomic bomb had fallen on Colchester. He did not remember the raid itself. B. It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself – anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face (to look incredulous when a victory was announced, for example) was itself a punishable offense. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: facecrime, it was called. C. The horrible thing about the Two Minutes Hate was not that one was obliged to act a part, but, on the contrary, that it was impossible to avoid joining in. Within thirty seconds any pretence was always unnecessary. A hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill, to torture, to smash faces in with a sledge-hammer, seemed to flow through the whole group of people like an electric current, turning one even against one’s will into a grimacing, screaming lunatic. 3. Which of the following statements is the best ad hominem definition? A. An argument that is backed up by evidence and logic. B. An argument that attacks a person’s character rather than the validity of his or her point. C. An argument that is a lie. 4. Which type of fallacy is present in the following paragraph? When they put on a show, and it’s a hit No one tries to censor it Fifty million Frenchmen can’t be wrong. And when a book is selling at it’s best It isn’t stopped; it’s not suppressed. Fifty million Frenchmen can’t be wrong. A. Genetic Fallacy B. Circular argument C. Bandwagon 1
5. The following argument ‘To prove cigarette smoking is not harmful to your health, I cite my grandpa, a ninety year old smoker who runs marathons' is an example of: A. Cherry picking B. Burden of proof C. Moral Equivalence 6. Which logical fallacy can be detected in the paragraph below? “I know some folks in Washington and on Wall Street are saying we should just focus on their problems. It would be nice if I could just pick and choose what problems to face, when to face them. So I could say, well, no, I don’t want to deal with the war in Afghanistan right now; I’d prefer not having to deal with climate change right now. And if you could just hold on, even though you don’t have health care, just please wait, because I’ve got other things to do.” – Barack Obama, 2009 A. Ad populum B. Straw man C. Either/or 7. The statement 'The reason everyone wants the new "Slap Me Silly Elmo" doll is because this is the hottest toy of the season!' is an example of: A. Bandwagon B. Begging the claim C. Burden of proof 8. The following dialogue is an example of which logical fallacy? Jack: I have tiny, invisible unicorns living in my anus. Nick: How do you figure? Jack: Can you prove that I don't? Nick: No. Jack: Then I do. A. Burden of proof B. Either/or C. Circular argument 9. The statement 'Humans will eventually be marrying trees and raccoons if we allow homosexual marriage.' Is an example of: A. Ad hominem B. Post hoc ergo propter hoc C. Slippery slope 10. The following short paragraph 'Buddy Burger has the greatest food in town. Buddy Burger was voted #1 by the local paper. Therefore, Phil, the owner of Buddy Burger, should run for president of the United States.' is an example of: A. Hasty generalization B. Genetic fallacy C. Non sequitur
2