Name__________________________________
Introduction to Logic/Practice Exam #2
One Point Each/Twenty Points Total
Group A
a. Argument from Ignorance b. Strawman Fallacy
c. Abusive ad hominem d. Circumstantial ad hominem
e. Appeal to Common Belief f. Fallacy of Anecdotal Evidence
g. Appeal to Force h. Begging the Question
i. Equivocation j. Tu Quoque
Group B
_____ 1. The use of a key word or phrase in more than one sense over the course of an argument. A bad inference is drawn because of a shift in meaning in a key expression from one premise to another or from premise to conclusion.
_____ 2. Insulting remarks are made about an author or speaker in order to convince others to reject or ignore their view.
_____ 3. An informal fallacy in which the conclusion of an argument is stated or assumed in one of the premises.
_____ 4. The mistake of thinking that something is false just because it hasn’t yet been proven true, or thinking that something is true just because it hasn’t been proven false.
_____ 5. An attempt is made to reject an author’s view on the grounds that the author can be expected to hold the view that she does.
_____ 6. An informal fallacy where a probabilistic trend is rejected on the basis of a single case which appears to go against this trend.
_____ 7. A fallacy is committed any time a person holds a false belief.
_____ 8. The mark of a good theory is that it be "unfalsifiable"; for such a theory can account for all of the counter-evidence brought against it.
_____ 9. If an arguer attempts to discredit courtroom testimony by pointing out that the witness is a liar, then the arguer commits an ad hominem fallacy.
_____ 10. In the circumstantial ad hominem, the arguer attempts to malign the character of the person she is criticizing.
_____ 11. In the tu quoque fallacy, the arguer threatens the reader or listener.
_____ 12. In the appeal to ignorance, the arguer accuses the reader or listener of being ignorant.
13. Bill Clinton thought that it was wrong that someone could work full-time and yet still not make a living wage and argued that this was one factor that kept people in the welfare system. But Clinton is just a lying, leftist, liberal wacko who’s done nothing but disgrace the White House, so who can take him seriously?
14. Publisher Steve Forbes has argued at length that the fairest kind of tax is the flat tax. But Forbes is a billionaire, and he stands to save millions if a flat tax is enacted – so we can hardly take Forbes seriously.
15. Capital punishment is justified for the crimes of murder and kidnapping because it is quite legitimate and appropriate that someone be put to death for having committed such hateful and inhuman acts.
16. It has to be the case that there is a God, for it is He who says "I am who I am" in the Bible at Exodus 3:14.
17. No one has ever proved that the human fetus is not a person with rights. Therefore it is clear that abortion is wrong.
18. John, of course I deserve to use your Porsche for my date this Saturday night. After all, I’m sure you wouldn’t want your wife to know how you were flirting with those women at the gym yesterday.
19. Linda’s paper is the best in the class given that no other paper is as good as hers.
20. If 20 percent of adult Americans are functionally illiterate, then it’s no wonder that morons get elected to public office. In fact, 20 percent of adult Americans are functionally illiterate, so it’s no wonder morons get elected to public office.