exam 1
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Exam 1TRANSCRIPT
PHIL140 (01) Critical ThinkingExam #1: Fallacies, Arguments and Basic ConceptsInstructor: Dr. George WilliamsonDate: May 25, 2009Time: 90 mins
Please: do not begin until told to.
Name: ___________________________________________
Student # (if available): _____________________________
Instructions:Look over the whole exam: make sure you understand whatis required.
No notes or books allowed. (Exception: dictionary)
Scrap paper allowed.
No talking to neighbors permitted.
Exam breakdown:A. Fallacies: 60 pointsB. Arguments: 33 pointsC. Basic Concepts: 17 points
110 points
Part A: Fallacies Choose the one best answer from the selection of fallacy names offered. In the blank spaceprovided, explain the reasoning in each fallacy.
Scoring: Correct Name = 1 point; Correct Reasoning = 2 points
1. Joe McCarthy (discussing possible Communists in the Truman’s StateDepartment): "Concerning case #40, I do not have much information on this exceptthe general statement of the agency…that there is nothing in the files to disprove hisCommunist connections."
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2. From city police log book: Sent car 48 out at 11:38 p.m. to kick kids off the roof ofa downtown furniture store.
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3. Our Holy Book says that it was written by the Holy One herself and that the HolyOne does not lie: therefore, you can believe what you read in the Holy Book.
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4. Behe argues for intelligent design, and although he is a qualified scientist, he’s alsoa member of the congregation at the local Catholic Church. His arguments areprobably just wishful thinking.
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a. False Analogyb. Appeal to Ignorancec. Hasty Generalizationd. Hypostatizatione. Appeal to Pity
a. Irrelevant Thesisb. Amphibolyc. Mob Appeald. Complex Questione. False Cause
a. Divisionb. False Analogyc. Begging the Questiond. Simple Abusee. Special Pleading
a. Tu Quoqueb. Equivocationc. Compositiond. Hypostatizatione. Simple Abuse
5. How do I know Galileo could not have seen more than five planets through hisnew ‘telescope’ as he claims? Just as there are but five portals to the soul in thehuman head, there can be no more than five noble spheres in the heavens above.
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6. So you say I am a real nobody? Well, I also heard you say nobody is perfect, sothanks for the compliment!
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7. You shouldn’t criticize our practice of monitoring civilian telephone conversations. After all, those with nothing to hide have nothing to worry about, do they?
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8. Immigration to Alberta from Ontario increased. Soon after, the welfare rollsincreased. Clearly, we have to stop letting Ontario’s welfare bums into the provinceif we don’t to overburden our social programs.
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a. Complex Questionb. Compositionc. False Analogyd. Appeal to Ignorancee. Bifurcation
a. Equivocationb. Amphibolyc. Sweeping Generalizationd. Hypostatizatione. Complex Question
a. Poisoning the Wellb. Amphibolyc. Hypostatizationd. Question Begging Epithetse. False Cause
a. Irrelevant Thesisb. False causec. Equivocationd. Compositione. Simple Abuse
9. For an atheist, life is utterly without meaning. Sure, an atheist enjoys the love offriends and family, and can devote themselves to social or political causes. Butwithout some overall cosmic significance, all these are meaningless in the end. Theonly way life can have cosmic significance is through belief in God and having ameaningful role in his plan for the whole universe.
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10. Judge, I know it was wrong to lose it and attack those people, and I know Icaused them grievous bodily injury, but at the time, I was really depressed and upsetbecause my girlfriend left me, so I don’t think I deserve the full penalty for assault.
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11. How can water-boarding be torture? Look, everyone who goes swimming sooneror later swallows some water and chokes and can’t catch their breath for a fewseconds. That’s pretty much the same as water-boarding.
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12. Hmm ... you have a fever and your skin is breaking out in spots – well, who’dathunk it? Having a high temperature causes spotting on the skin.
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a. Simple Abuseb. Appeal to Pityc. Begging the Questiond. False Causee. Equivocation
a. Special Pleadingb. Appeal to Authorityc. Irrelevant Thesisd. Appeal to Pitye. Division
a. False Analogyb. Sweeping Generalizationc. Bifurcationd. Special Pleadinge. Question Begging Epithets
a. Bifurcationb. Question Begging Epithetsc. Mob Appeald. False Causee. Special Pleading
13. Mmmm...George’s Guinness chocolate cake has just the most sublime, deliciousflavour. All the ingredients he used must have been just as tasty.
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14. How can you claim women are just as violent as men? Women only use pre-emptive self-defensive strikes to guard against men’s unprovoked, vicious attacks.
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15. An intelligent and well-read person like you surely will appreciate the importanceof supporting the university through generous cash donations.
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16. History dictates that the stronger must rule.
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17. My opponent claims I took cash payments in exchange for my influence inhelping friends get government contracts. But do you know he himself took moneyfrom his friends as well?
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a. Irrelevant thesisb. False causec. Appeal to Authorityd. Divisione. Hypostatization
a. Special Pleadingb. Appeal to Authorityc. Hypostatizationd. Appeal to Pitye. Division
a. Irrelevant Thesisb. Amphibolyc. Mob Appeald. Complex Questione. False Cause
a. Special Pleadingb. Appeal to Authorityc. Hypostatizationd. Appeal to Pitye. Division
a. Tu Quoqueb. Equivocationc. Compositiond. Hypostatizatione. Simple Abuse
18. What with the economic downturn and the shortage of jobs right now, workerssure better work extra hard and bend over backwards for their bosses and not rock theboat.
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19. As to your choice of courses for your degree, it seems to me you have a choice:join the literate, informed people in the Humanities, or join the philistines.
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20. Although many other scientists disagree with his conclusions, it is a fact that Dr.Quackenbush is an expert herbalist, and should be able to prescribe homeopathytreatments for your mental illness.
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a. Appeal to Force or Fearb. False Analogyc. Begging the Questiond. Simple Abusee. Special Pleading
a. False Analogyb. Sweeping Generalizationc. Bifurcationd. Special Pleadinge. Question Begging Epithets
a. Irrelevant thesisb. False causec. Appeal to Authorityd. Divisione. Hypostatization
Part B: Arguments 1. Put the following arguments into standard form using the provided blank spaces. 2. If the argument is one of our basic deductive patterns, give the correct name for the argument pattern.
Choices: Modus Ponens, Modus Tollens, Disjunctive Syllogism, Hypothetical Syllogism, Constructive Dilemma,Affirming the Consequent, Denying the Antecedent, Disjunctive Fallacy; or Not Applicable (N/A).
Points: 2 points for standard form; 1 point for correctly identifying deductive pattern by name
1. If Descartes is right, the minddoes not occupy space. Anythingthat doesn’t occupy space isimmaterial and only material thingscan decay. Thus our minds areimmortal, since whatever does notdecay is immortal.
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2. If Harris is right about terrorism,then no one should believeChomsky’s views on moralequivalence. But you shouldbelieve Chomsky in this case. Thus, Harris is wrong aboutterrorism.
3. Atheists should not be allowed toput their signs on buses. Why? I’lltell you. First, they might causepeople to feel like there’s no pointin living. If that happens, soon noone will believe in right and wrong. But when people don’t believe inethics, civilization is at an end. Andthen we might as well be barbarians.
4. If Gould is right, evolution cantake sudden leaps forward. IfDarwin or Dawkins is right,evolution is a long, slow, gradualprocess. Either Darwin or Dawkinsis right or Gould is right. So, eitherevolution takes sudden leapsforward or it doesn’t.
5. If North Americans don’t stopusing ethanol, then the price ofgrain staples will rise. But the thirdworld will not be able to afford toeat, if the price of grain staplesrises. Therefore, if NorthAmericans don’t stop using ethanol,then the third world will not be ableto afford to eat.
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6. If Saskatoon transit will not allowatheist advertising on their buses,then there may be grounds for acivil rights case. So there is noground for a civil rights case, sinceSaskatoon transit will allow atheistadvertising.
7. Either Whitney wins ascholarship or nothing will save herfrom having to get a job. Unfortunately, since nothing willsave her from having to get a job,she will not win a scholarship.
8. If the Big Bang is the absolutebeginning of the cosmos, then thecosmos was created out of nothing,but if quantum indeterminacy iscorrect, then it is impossible tospeak of an absolute vacuum. Sinceit is probable that quantumindeterminacy is correct, we mustconclude there is no creation out ofnothing.
9. It was not a good idea to bringsparrows to North America, sincethey are not native to the continentand if a species is not native to acontinent, then it is generally a badidea to bring them there.
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10. Since small North Africawildcats are able to lose their fear ofhumans, it is probable they are theancestors of the domestic cat. Thisis because they could thrive on theabundance of prey attracted tohuman settlements, if they lost theirfear. If they could thrive nearhuman settlements, it would only bea matter of time till they weredomesticated.
11. The idea of perfection couldcome either from other ideas alreadyin the human mind or from a sourceof perfection outside the mind. Butif it came from other ideas in themind, then humans would have tohave genuine perfection in theirminds. On the other hand, if itcame from a source outside themind, that source would have to bea really perfect being, that is, God. So, either humans have perfectionin their minds or God exists as thesource of perfection.
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Part C: Basic Concepts Circle the best answer for the following.Scoring: 1 point each
T / F
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1. Deductive arguments can be sound.
2. There are inductive fallacies.
3. All valid arguments have true conclusions.
4. Inductive arguments give you merely probable conclusions.
5. No valid arguments have false premises.
6. All valid arguments are deductive.
7. Induction depends on form to derive its conclusion.
8. Fallacies can be formal or informal.
9. Deductive arguments only tell us about the implications of what we believe.
10. Having no possible situation in which the premises are trueand the conclusion is false describes an argument that is:
11. Soundness requires that a valid argument also:
12. A situation in which an argument can be shown to have afalse conclusion while having true premises is:
13. An argument which uses a double standard to achieve itsconclusion is:
14. Inductive arguments are judged to be weak if:
a. deductiveb. validc. soundd. a counter-example
a. have a true conclusionb. have true premisesc. be based in factsd. none of the above
a. deductionb. inductionc. a counter-exampled. none of the above
a. Complex Questionb. Bifurcationc. Special Pleadingd. Poisoning the Well
a. the sample is biasedb. the sample is very smallc. they are mere correlationsd. all of the above
15. An argument that tries to illicitly transfer properties of thewhole to the part is:
16. An argument which returns criticism for criticism is:
17. An argument which depends on the use of a word in twodifferent senses is:
a. Sweeping Generalizationb. Compositionc. Divisiond. Bifurcation
a. Tu Quoqueb. Special Pleadingc. Appeal to Pityd. Begging the Question
a. Hypostatizationb. Amphibolyc. Equivocationd. Question-begging Epithets