Identify any examples of fallacies in the following passages. Tell why you think they are present, and identify which category they belong in, if they fit any category we’ve described.
2. It doesn’t make any sense to speak of tracing an individual human life back past the moment of conception. After all, that’s the beginning, and you can’t go back past the beginning.
3. MOE: The death penalty is an excellent deterrent for murder.
JOE: What makes you think so?
MOE: Because there’s no evidence that it’s not a deterrent.
JOE: Well, states with capital punishment have higher murder rates than states that don’t have it.
MOE: Yes, but that’s only because there are so many legal technicalities standing in the way of executions that convicted people hardly ever get executed. Remove those technicalities, and the rate would be lower in those states.
5. Overheard: “Once we let these uptight guardians of morality have their way and start censoring Playboy and Penthouse, the next thing you know they’ll be dictating everything we can read. We’ll be in fine shape when they decide that Webster’s should be pulled from the shelves.”
6. It seems the biggest problem the nuclear industry has to deal with is not a poor safety record, but a lack of education of the public on nuclear power. Thousands of people die each year from pollution generated by coal-fired plants. Yet to date, there has been no death directly caused by radiation at a commercial nuclear power plant in the United States. We have a clear choice: an old, death-dealing source of energy or a safe, clean one. Proven through the test of time, nuclear power is clearly the safest form of energy and the least detrimental to the environment. Yet it is perceived as unsafe and an environmental hazard.
8. The mayor’s argument is that because the developers’ fee would reduce the number of building starts, ultimately the city would lose more money than it would gain through the fee. But I can’t go along with that. Mayor Tower is a member of the Board of Realtors, and you know what they think of the fee.
9. Letter to the editor: “Next week the philosopher Tom Regan will be in town again, peddling his animal rights theory. In case you’ve forgotten, Regan was here about three years ago arguing against using animals in scientific experimentation. As far as I could see then and can see now, neither Regan nor anyone else has managed to come up with a good reason why animals should not be experimented on. Emotional appeals and horror stories no doubt influence many, but they shouldn’t. I’ve always wondered what Regan would say if his children needed medical treatment that was based on animal experiments.”
slippery slope
2. Fallacy: This passage contains a fallacy known as a circular argument. The statement that "you can't go back past the beginning" is a tautology, where the conclusion is restated in the premise without providing any additional information or evidence. It does not offer any logical reasoning or evidence to support the claim that it doesn't make sense to trace an individual human life back past conception.
3. Fallacy: This passage contains a fallacy known as an appeal to ignorance. Moe argues that the death penalty is an excellent deterrent because there is no evidence that it is not a deterrent. This is a fallacy because the lack of evidence does not prove the claim. It is possible that there is evidence that it is not a deterrent, but it has not been presented. Additionally, the argument made by Moe does not address Joe's argument that states with capital punishment have higher murder rates.
5. Fallacy: This passage contains a fallacy known as a slippery slope. The argument assumes that allowing censorship of Playboy and Penthouse will inevitably lead to further censorship, including pulling dictionaries from shelves. This is a fallacy because it assumes a chain reaction without providing any evidence or logical reasoning to support the claim that one action will lead to another.
6. Fallacy: This passage contains a fallacy known as a false dichotomy. The author presents a false choice between nuclear power and coal-fired plants, stating that nuclear power is safer and less detrimental to the environment. This is a fallacy because it oversimplifies the options and ignores other potential sources of energy or the possibility of improving safety measures in coal-fired plants.
8. Fallacy: This passage contains a fallacy known as ad hominem. The argument dismisses the mayor's argument based on his membership in the Board of Realtors, implying bias rather than addressing the content of his argument. This is a fallacy because the personal character or affiliation of the mayor does not provide evidence or logical reasoning to support or refute his argument.
9. Fallacy: This passage contains a fallacy known as a straw man. The author misrepresents Tom Regan's argument by claiming that he argues against using animals in all scientific experimentation, and then argues against this misrepresentation. This is a fallacy because it does not accurately represent Regan's argument and instead attacks a weaker or distorted version of it. The author also uses emotional appeals and hypothetical scenarios, which do not address the actual argument being made by Regan.
2. Fallacy: A logical fallacy present in this passage is the fallacy of equivocation. The statement "that's the beginning, and you can't go back past the beginning" is using the word "beginning" in two different senses. In the first part of the statement, it refers to the moment of conception as the beginning of an individual human life. In the second part, it refers to the concept of going back in time before the beginning, which is a meaningless statement.
3. Fallacy: The fallacy in this passage is a causal fallacy known as the appeal to ignorance. Moe argues that the death penalty is an excellent deterrent for murder because there is no evidence that it's not a deterrent. This is fallacious reasoning because the absence of evidence does not prove the truth of a claim. Additionally, Moe's response to Joe's counterargument is a red herring, as he shifts the focus to the technicalities of executions instead of addressing the argument that states with capital punishment have higher murder rates.
5. Fallacy: The fallacy in this passage is a slippery slope fallacy. The speaker argues that if we allow censorship of Playboy and Penthouse, then it will lead to dictating everything that can be read, including pulling dictionaries from shelves. This is a fallacy because it assumes that one small action will inevitably lead to a series of increasingly negative actions without providing any evidence or logical reasoning to support this claim.
6. Fallacy: The fallacy in this passage is a straw man fallacy. The author presents a false dichotomy between nuclear power and coal-fired plants, ignoring other alternative sources of energy. By only comparing nuclear power to coal-fired plants and emphasizing the lack of deaths caused by radiation in commercial nuclear power plants, the author creates a distorted view of the choices available and ignores other potential risks and drawbacks of nuclear power.
8. Fallacy: The fallacy in this passage is an ad hominem attack. The speaker dismisses the mayor's argument by mentioning that the mayor is a member of the Board of Realtors, implying bias without addressing the actual arguments presented. The speaker's criticism of the mayor's affiliation does not directly address the merits or flaws of the argument itself.
9. Fallacy: The fallacy in this passage is a straw man fallacy. The author misrepresents Tom Regan's argument against using animals in scientific experimentation, suggesting that Regan has failed to provide a good reason for it. The author jumps to emotional appeals and hypothetical scenarios regarding the need for medical treatment without addressing the actual ethical or philosophical arguments made by Regan. The author's dismissal of Regan's argument based on personal skepticism does not engage with the issue at hand.