WorksheetsLogical Fallacies Practice
Total questions: 23
Worksheet time: 18mins
I was going to go to your birthday party, but then all of my friends told me that they weren't going to go, so I'm not either.
Circular Reasoning
Bandwagon
False Authority
Straw Man
Senator Jones says that we should not fund the attack submarine program. I disagree entirely! He is a Democrat and doesn't know what he is talking about.
Over-generalization
False Cause
Red Herring
Ad Hominem
It has been concluded from a recent study involving more than 100, 000 people in Florida that 43 percent of the American people now spend at least two hours a day in some form of recreational activity.
(a)
The Bridges of Madison County must be a good book, it was on the bestseller list for over 50 weeks.
Slippery Slope
Oversimplification
Hasty-generalization
Red Herring
Andy: "Hey, what's with all this junk food you bought? You're always railing at me about eating healthy."
Aunt Jo: "Don't fuss--it was on sale."
False Cause
Red Herring
Ad Hominem
Over-generalization
Bill purchases a new Mac and it works fine for months. He then installs a new piece of software. The next time he starts up his Mac it freezes. Bill concludes that the software must be the cause of the freeze.
Bandwagon
Straw Man
Appeal to Authority
False Cause
Happiness is the highest good for a human being, since all other values are inferior to it.
(a)
Socrates' arguments about human excellence are rubbish. What could a man as ugly as he know about humane excellence.
Ad Hominem
Appeal to Authority
Self-Contradiction
Oversimplification
If you vote for me I can fix all of our school's problems.
Circular Reasoning
Self-Contradiction
Oversimplification
Red Herring
Children of faculty are brats. I baby-sit for one of my professors and his children are spoiled and demanding.
Oversimplification
Over-generalization
Appeal to Authority
Slippery Slope
I agree with Alec Baldwin's stance on global warming. He must know what he's talking about, being a famous celebrity and all.
(a)
Three teens at Concord had car accidents last year which proves that teens are really dangerous behind the wheel.
Over-generalization
Self-contradiction
False Cause
Oversimplification
I looked on wikipedia and it says that performance is a dying art; therefore, it must be true.
Red Herring
False Cause
Straw Man
Appeal to Authority
Mom, why can't I get my tongue pierced? Everyone else is doing it.
(a)
I was assigned a personal trainer at the Rec, and he gave me a new workout program. But I don't have any confidence in his expertise since he has obvious trouble controlling his own appetite.
Straw Man
Ad Hominem
Red Herring
Hasty-generalization
A man owns a Ford truck. It breaks down. A friend of his reports that he once had a Ford that also broke down. The two men reason that all Fords must be unreliable, shoddy vehicles.
Bandwagon
Self-contradiction
Hasty-generalization
Slippery Slope
George: We should support an egalitarian society so we are treated as equals.
John: My opponent here wants everyone equal so we can become communists run by a fascist dictator.
(a)
A black cat crossed Joe's path and later that day his computer crashed. If it weren't for that cat, his computer would still be working.
Appeal to Authority
False Cause
Straw Man
Red Herring
You can't give me a C! I'm not a C student!
Circular Reasoning
Slippery Slope
Self-Contradiction
Red Herring
"I think that we should make the academic requirements stricter for students. I recommend that you support this because we are in a budget crisis and we do not want our salaries affected."
Over-generalization
Appeal to Authority
False Cause
Red Herring
Opening safe injection sites will lead to a catastrophic increase in drug abuse in the neighborhood. More drug abuse inevitably leads to more crime, especially violent crime. The neighborhood will be overrun with criminals and fall apart at the seams.
(a)
Why are logical fallacies commonly used? Are they effective or not?
Do you believe that advertising, newspaper articles, etc., have a moral obligation to avoid using logical fallacies? Why or why not?
