Logical Fallacies Challenge

If you allow the students to take an online course, pretty soon

everyone will want to just study everything online, and all the schools will be empty.

• Slippery Slope

• Band Wagon

• Ambiguity

• Insufficient Evidence

Tries to distract from the argument by avoiding the key issues or ignoring the opposing view

• red herring

• ad hominem

• false analogy

• ad populum

Answer explanation

The key word is distract-- throwing something into the conversation that is not relevant.

The conclusions that one thing caused another simply because one happened before the other.

• False Dichotomy

• Post Hoc/False Cause

• Slippery Slope

• Red Herring

States that a casual chain of events will result in an unlikely or extreme outcome.

• slippery slope

• false analogy

• false cause

• strawman

Answer explanation

Think about a slippery slope as an outcome (result) you would not want...

An attack on someone's character rather than using logic to make an argument.

• strawman

• false analogy

• hasty generalization

• ad hominem

Answer explanation

Character usually refers to a human. Hominem comes from the Latin for man.

Presents only two choices when more options exist

• Post Hoc/False Cause

• False Dilemma/Dichotomy

• Hasty Generalization

• Straw Man

A very broad claim based on very little evidence

• False Causation

• False Dilemma/Dichotomy

• Hasty Generalization

• Straw Man

Senator Clark: Why are you not willing to support the anti-abortion amendment? Don't you have any feelings at all for the unborn children whose lives are being indiscriminately blotted out?

Senator Rich: I just don't understand why you people who get so worked up about lives being blotted out by abortion don't have the same feelings about the thousands of lives that are blotted out every year by the indiscriminate use of handguns. Is not the issue of the sanctity of human life involved in both issues? Why have you not supported us in our efforts at gun-control legislation?

• Ad Hominem

• Red Herring

• Strawman

• Post Hoc/False Cause

“We can’t let teenagers drink alcohol because if they drink alcohol, they’ll eventually start doing drugs, and if they do drugs then they’ll become criminals and ruin their lives. Allowing teenagers to drink alcohol will only ruin their lives.”

• Ad Hominem

• Red Herring

• Strawman

• Slippery Slope

“You’re either with us or against us.”

• False Dilemma/

  Dichotomy

• Red Herring

• Post Hoc/False Cause

• Slippery Slope