Part Two – Fallacies of Weak Induction (3 points each) Identify the fallacy of each argument. a) appeal to unqualified authority b) appeal to ignorance c) hasty generalization d) false cause e) slippery slope ab) weak analogy ac) no fallacy 11) I was watching the Lakers last night. Pathetic! They have the worst record in the NBA. Their players are terrible and their coach is worse! 12) All of the high school boys I run into have their pants hanging off their behinds! That is not fashion – that is idiocy! I don’t want to see their underwear! This generation is beyond hope! 13) I guess ghosts are a real phenomenon. I was always a doubter. I never believed in ghosts until I realized that every single Christian believes in a holy ghost. This fact has changed my mind. I guess ghosts are real. 14) We know more about science and medicine then we ever have. We have made giant strides in curing many, many types of disease. Therefore, if we have not yet found a cure for cancer, I don’t believe it will ever be found. 15) People always complain about the heavy responsibility involved in caring for children. Having children is not as difficult as it sounds. They are just like pets. You feed them every day and give them a bath every couple of days. It’s as simple as that.
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
Here’s an analysis of each argument with the appropriate fallacy:
11) I was watching the Lakers last night. Pathetic! They have the worst record in the NBA. Their players are terrible and their coach is worse!
- Fallacy: Hasty Generalization
- Explanation: The argument generalizes the performance of all Lakers players and their coach based on the team’s overall poor record. This is a hasty generalization because the speaker is assuming that all players and the coach are “terrible” just because the team’s performance is poor. A more nuanced analysis of individual performance is needed before making such sweeping judgments.
12) All of the high school boys I run into have their pants hanging off their behinds! That is not fashion – that is idiocy! I don’t want to see their underwear! This generation is beyond hope!
- Fallacy: Hasty Generalization
- Explanation: The speaker generalizes an entire generation based on a limited sample of high school boys. The argument concludes that this generation is “beyond hope” due to a small behavior exhibited by some individuals. This is an overgeneralization, as it doesn’t consider the diversity of behaviors and fashion choices within a large group.
13) I guess ghosts are a real phenomenon. I was always a doubter. I never believed in ghosts until I realized that every single Christian believes in a holy ghost. This fact has changed my mind. I guess ghosts are real.
- Fallacy: Appeal to Unqualified Authority
- Explanation: The argument relies on the belief of Christians in a holy ghost as evidence for the existence of ghosts, which is a form of appeal to unqualified authority. Just because a group of people believes in something doesn’t make it true. The argument overlooks the need for independent evidence or rational justification.
14) We know more about science and medicine than we ever have. We have made giant strides in curing many, many types of disease. Therefore, if we have not yet found a cure for cancer, I don’t believe it will ever be found.
- Fallacy: Appeal to Ignorance
- Explanation: This argument relies on the lack of current knowledge about a cure for cancer to conclude that one will never be found. It’s an appeal to ignorance because the argument is assuming that just because something hasn’t been discovered yet, it will never happen. The absence of evidence isn’t evidence of absence.
15) People always complain about the heavy responsibility involved in caring for children. Having children is not as difficult as it sounds. They are just like pets. You feed them every day and give them a bath every couple of days. It’s as simple as that.
- Fallacy: Weak Analogy
- Explanation: This argument compares children to pets, implying that raising children is no more complicated than caring for a pet. This is a weak analogy because while both pets and children require care, the comparison overlooks significant differences, such as emotional, social, and intellectual needs, making the analogy weak and misleading.
In summary, the fallacies are:
- 11) Hasty Generalization
- 12) Hasty Generalization
- 13) Appeal to Unqualified Authority
- 14) Appeal to Ignorance
- 15) Weak Analogy
