Identify the Logical Fallacies
1. Mabel is not qualified to lead the school board because she used to drink liquor in her 20s.
• This is anAd hominem fallacy: It attacks the character of the arguer rather than the argument. It is an error in reasoning because you should focus on the argument.
2. A child can be either an athlete or a good student.
• This is an Either-or type fallacy: it presents someone with a limited choice when there are more choices. The error is that people will know they have more choices and discredit your argument.
3. Any change in health care will lead to socialism; we don’t want to live in a socialist country, so we can’t reform health care.
• Begging the Question: Using circular reasoning to prove a conclusion. This is done in the news a lot and this type of fallacy goes unnoticed. The error is that the claim is false so the conclusion is false and people will notice this.
4. All teenagers text while they drive; therefore, we should raise the driving age to 21.
• Hasty generalization: Using a part to make an inaccurate claim about a whole. This is wrong because if any part of the claim is wrong it will make the whole argument wrong.
5. If we don’t all drive hybrid cars, the world will end in the next decade because of environmental damage.
• Slippery slope: Suggesting that one event will automatically lead to a chain of other events. This is wrong because the claim that the world will end isn’t supported be any evidence and is far fetched.
6. Senator Range has been seen entering a strip club; therefore, his economic reforms are not plausible.
• Ad Hominem: It attacks the character of the arguer rather than the argument and is an error because you should focus on the argument. This is done especially in politics when they want to discredit a person instead of their work or what they are saying in their speeches (argument).
7. Everyone else is getting rid of TV, so we should too.
• Bandwagon: Suggesting that a person should...