Using the “Guide to Fallacies” handout, read the following examples and determine which logical fallacy the example is guilty of committing.

Using the “Guide to Fallacies” handout, Using the “Guide to Fallacies” handout, read the following examples and read the following examples and determine which logical fallacy the determine which logical fallacy the example is guilty of committing. example is guilty of committing.

Blue Bell Ice Cream claims to

'taste just like the good old days'. Its commercials also include a lot of old timey images.

Blue Bell Ice Cream claims to

'taste just like the good old days'. Its commercials also include a lot of old timey images.

Appeal to Tradition

In the movie A Few Good Men, Colonel Jessup, after having been accused of killing one of his own men (admittedly by accident), is being questioned in military court by a military lawyer and asserts: "I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it! I'd rather you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand a post." He seems to suggest either you are fighting on the front lines, in war, or you are not really soldier.

In the movie A Few Good Men, Colonel Jessup, after having been accused of killing one of his own men (admittedly by accident), is being questioned in military court by a military lawyer and asserts: "I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it! I'd rather you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand a post." He seems to suggest either you are fighting on the front lines, in war, or you are not really soldier.

False Dichotomy aka Either/Choice

Sesame Street had a Bert & Ernie sketch

where Ernie held a banana in his ear, claiming it kept away alligators.

Bert: But there aren't any alligators on Sesame Street!

Ernie: I know, it's working!

Sesame Street had a Bert & Ernie sketch

where Ernie held a banana in his ear, claiming it kept away alligators.

Bert: But there aren't any alligators on Sesame Street!

Ernie: I know, it's working!

Post Hoc, ergo Propter Hoc/Faulty

Causality

In Troll 2, an evil witch is able to

convince someone to drink a steaming green broth that has just turned someone else into green goo because "it is made from vegetable extracts".

In Troll 2, an evil witch is able to

convince someone to drink a steaming green broth that has just turned someone else into green goo because "it is made from vegetable extracts".

Natural Law Fallacy

A product called "Vitamins of Linus Pauling” is

marketed as coming from a two-time Nobel Prize winner. His first Nobel was for Chemistry, on the nature of chemical bonds. That's great, but it has rather little to do with vitamins. His second Nobel is the Peace Prize, which has nothing at all to do with vitamins. His connection with vitamins is that he became rather obsessed with mega-doses of vitamin C in his later years, but that part of his work caused much controversy and his results were unreproducible.

A product called "Vitamins of Linus Pauling” is

marketed as coming from a two-time Nobel Prize winner. His first Nobel was for Chemistry, on the nature of chemical bonds. That's great, but it has rather little to do with vitamins. His second Nobel is the Peace Prize, which has nothing at all to do with vitamins. His connection with vitamins is that he became rather obsessed with mega-doses of vitamin C in his later years, but that part of his work caused much controversy and his results were unreproducible.

Appeal to False Authority

This fallacy was used in the Middle Ages as an

excuse not to educate women; all intelligent people know Latin, but women don't know Latin so they must be stupid, which means that there's no point in teaching them Latin (or anything else).

This fallacy was used in the Middle Ages as an

excuse not to educate women; all intelligent people know Latin, but women don't know Latin so they must be stupid, which means that there's no point in teaching them Latin (or anything else).

Begging the Question/Circular Reasoning

In The Office, this fallacy causes Michael Scott

to create a ridiculous compromise. When Oscar protests that Angela's baby posters are offensive to him, he chooses to validate both Oscar and Angela’s arguments and decides to have the baby poster made into a shirt Oscar could wear everyday so Angela can see it but Oscar can’t.

In The Office, this fallacy causes Michael Scott

to create a ridiculous compromise. When Oscar protests that Angela's baby posters are offensive to him, he chooses to validate both Oscar and Angela’s arguments and decides to have the baby poster made into a shirt Oscar could wear everyday so Angela can see it but Oscar can’t.

Golden Mean

Bill and Jill are arguing about cleaning out their

closets:

Jill: "We should clean out the closets. They are getting a bit messy."

Bill: "Why, we just went through those closets last year. Do we have to clean them out every day?"

Bill and Jill are arguing about cleaning out their

closets:

Jill: "We should clean out the closets. They are getting a bit messy."

Bill: "Why, we just went through those closets last year. Do we have to clean them out every day?"

Straw Person

On The Debaters, a radio show,

Rebecca Kohler's made this argument against the Canadian flag: there are more Google results for "why are some farts hot?" than for "why the Canada flag is cool."

On The Debaters, a radio show,

Rebecca Kohler's made this argument against the Canadian flag: there are more Google results for "why are some farts hot?" than for "why the Canada flag is cool."

Argumentum ad Populum (Appeal to the People)

I failed the test because I didn’t

pass it.

I failed the test because I didn’t

pass it.

Begging the Question

Weird Al Yankovic's song "Weasel Stomping

Day" is about a fictional holiday where people spread mayonnaise on their lawns, then put on Viking helmets and hiking boots in order to crush weasels to death. Complete with tongue-in-cheek lyrics such as "It's tradition, that makes it okay" in order to mock the idea that an abhorrent act is acceptable if it is 'traditional'.

Weird Al Yankovic's song "Weasel Stomping

Day" is about a fictional holiday where people spread mayonnaise on their lawns, then put on Viking helmets and hiking boots in order to crush weasels to death. Complete with tongue-in-cheek lyrics such as "It's tradition, that makes it okay" in order to mock the idea that an abhorrent act is acceptable if it is 'traditional'.

Appeal to Tradition

On Saturday Night Live in 2012, Seth Meyers

recommended that both presidential candidates stop "telling us stories about people you met at your rally who happen to agree with your positions. That's like Bret Michaels saying, 'At my last concert, someone yelled 'Poison rules!'“ (Bret Michaels is the lead singer for the heavy metal band Poison)

On Saturday Night Live in 2012, Seth Meyers

recommended that both presidential candidates stop "telling us stories about people you met at your rally who happen to agree with your positions. That's like Bret Michaels saying, 'At my last concert, someone yelled 'Poison rules!'“ (Bret Michaels is the lead singer for the heavy metal band Poison)

Confirmation Bias/Myside Bias

Natural Law Fallacy

"The Mob Song" from Beauty and the

Beast includes the line "Here we come, we're fifty strong and fifty Frenchmen can't be wrong".

"The Mob Song" from Beauty and the

Beast includes the line "Here we come, we're fifty strong and fifty Frenchmen can't be wrong".

Argument ad Populum (Appeal to the People)

In the movie Rain Man, the title character

Charlie Babbitt is an autistic savant, and his condition proves to be a major asset in blackjack. Tom Cruise's character, impressed at his ability, then trusts his judgment at roulette, only to find that the advanced math skills that allow him to count cards accurately do nothing to predict the outcome of a roulette spin.

In the movie Rain Man, the title character

Charlie Babbitt is an autistic savant, and his condition proves to be a major asset in blackjack. Tom Cruise's character, impressed at his ability, then trusts his judgment at roulette, only to find that the advanced math skills that allow him to count cards accurately do nothing to predict the outcome of a roulette spin.

Appeal to False Authority

Kellogg's was sued for false advertising after

claiming "A clinical study showed kids who had a filling breakfast of Frosted Mini-Wheats cereal improved their attentiveness by nearly 20 percent." This was 20% higher compared to kids who had no breakfast at all. Obviously, the kids who had Mini-Wheats were more attentive because they weren't hungry, not because of the Mini-Wheats.

Kellogg's was sued for false advertising after

claiming "A clinical study showed kids who had a filling breakfast of Frosted Mini-Wheats cereal improved their attentiveness by nearly 20 percent." This was 20% higher compared to kids who had no breakfast at all. Obviously, the kids who had Mini-Wheats were more attentive because they weren't hungry, not because of the Mini-Wheats.

Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc as well as Confirmation/Myside

Bias

The Compromise of 1850 in the United States

made use of this fallacy, as it was designed to avert an impending crisis over slavery by giving both sides some of what they wanted. The result was the compromise simply kicked the can down the road ten years. The following decade caused the battle lines on both sides of the issue to harden considerably, and practically guaranteed that the issue would be solved with guns, not words.

The Compromise of 1850 in the United States

made use of this fallacy, as it was designed to avert an impending crisis over slavery by giving both sides some of what they wanted. The result was the compromise simply kicked the can down the road ten years. The following decade caused the battle lines on both sides of the issue to harden considerably, and practically guaranteed that the issue would be solved with guns, not words.

Golden Mean