Logical Fallacies examples

Question 1

It makes no difference if he was guilty of Nazi war crimes. The man is 88 years old and in frail health, so he should not be made to stand trial.

Answer 1

ad misericordiam

Question 2

How could Tom accuse her of being careless? He’s such a slob.

Answer 2

ad hominem

Question 3

Paula is 16 years old and lives on welfare with her mother; she suffers serious depression and functions like a child half her age. She should not be sent to adult court, where she will be tried for robbery, so she can spend her formative years behind bar.

Answer 3

ad misericordiam

Question 4

Of course he doesn’t see anything wrong with violent movies. The guy’s a warmonger.

Answer 4

ad hominem

Question 5

We cannot expect Ms. Lucas to know what it means to feel oppressed; she is the president of a large bank.

Answer 5

ad hominem

Question 6

High school students don’t learn anything these days. Today’s teachers are academically underprepared.

Answer 6

ad populum

Question 7

Everybody’s going to the System of a Down concert.

Answer 7

bandwagon appeals

Question 8

That foolish law should be repealed.

Answer 8

begging the question

Question 9

People who are happy with their work are cheerful because they enjoy what they’re doing.

Answer 9

circular reasoning

Question 10

If torture can save the lives of those who would be killed by terrorists, then the government should employ torture as a preemptive measure of protection.

Answer 10

dicto simpliciter

Question 11

If you want to see the crime rate drop, tell Hollywood to stop making movies that glorify violence.

Answer 11

ad populum

Question 12

Nobody will go along with that proposal.

Answer 12

bandwagon appeals

Question 13

She is compassionate because she’s a woman.

Answer 13

begging the question

Question 14

Smoking is bad for you because it ruins your health.

Answer 14

circular reasoning

Question 15

Exercise is good for people. Now that Bob is out of the hospital, he should get back to the treadmill.

Answer 15

dicto simpliciter

Question 16

Doctors oppose health reform because it will reduce their large incomes.

Answer 16

ad populum

Question 17

The majority of the American people want a constitutional amendment outlawing flag burning.

Answer 17

bandwagon appeals

Question 18

If you haven’t written short stories, you shouldn’t be allowed to criticize them.

Answer 18

begging the question

Question 19

Bank robbers should be punished because they broke the law.

Answer 19

circular reasoning

Question 20

Guns kill. So we cannot allow the average citizen to possess a weapon.

Answer 20

dicto simpliciter

Question 21

The ship of state is about to wreck on the rocks of recession; we need a new pilot.

Answer 21

false analogy

Question 22

English should be the official language of the United States, and anybody who doesn’t like it can leave.

Answer 22

false dilemma

Question 23

You should buy these vitamins because Lady Gaga recommended them on TV last night.

Answer 23

faulty use of authority

Question 24

This whole gun control issue is polarizing the nation the way slavery did people living above and below the Mason-Dixon Line. Do we want another Civil War?

Answer 24

false analogy

Question 25

Movies today are full of either violence or sex.

Answer 25

false dilemma

Question 26

The American Bar Association states that secondhand smoke is a serious cancer threat to nonsmokers.

Answer 26

faulty use of authority

Question 27

Letting emerging nations have nuclear weapons is like giving loaded guns to children.

Answer 27

false analogy

Question 28

Either we put warning labels on records and compact discs, or we'll see more and more teenage girls having babies.

Answer 28

false dilemma

Question 29

Americans shouldn't find hunting objectionable because one of our most popular presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, was an avid hunter.

Answer 29

faulty use of authority

Question 30

That shopping mall is unsafe because there was a robbery there two weeks ago.

Answer 30

hasty generalization

Question 31

Mr. Thompson has such bad breath that it's a wonder he sings so well.

Answer 31

non sequitur

Question 32

Just two weeks after they raised the speed limit, three people were killed on that road.

Answer 32

post hoc, ergo propter hoc

Question 33

I'm failing organic chemistry because the teaching assistant doesn't speak English well.

Answer 33

hasty generalization

Question 34

She's so pretty; she must not be smart.

Answer 34

non sequitur

Question 35

I saw Ralph in the courthouse; he must have been arrested.

Answer 35

post hoc, ergo propter hoc

Question 36

This book was written by a Stanford professor, so it must be good.

Answer 36

hasty generalization

Question 37

I supported his candidacy for president because his campaign was run so efficiently.

Answer 37

non sequitur

Question 38

It's no wonder the crime rate has shot up. The state legislature voted to lower the drinking age.

Answer 38

post hoc, ergo propter hoc

Question 39

Even though that hockey player was convinced of vehicular homicide, he shouldn't go to jail because he's such a great athlete.

Answer 39

red herring

Question 40

Legalized abortion is a step toward creating an anti-life society.

Answer 40

slippery slope

Question 41

Parents should realize that private schools simply encourage elitism in young people.

Answer 41

stacking the deck

Question 42

Susan didn't hire John for the job because his wife is always late for meetings.

Answer 42

red herring

Question 43

A ban on ethnic slurs will mean no more free speech

Answer 43

slippery slope

Question 44

We cannot take four more years of her in office given the way she voted against the death penalty.

Answer 44

stacking the deck

Question 45

The teacher gave me an F in the course she doesn't like me.

Answer 45

red herring

Question 46

If we let them build those condos, the lake will end up polluted, the wildlife will die off, and the landscape will be scarred forever.

Answer 46

slippery slope

Question 47

Dickens's Bleak House is six hundred pages of boring prose.

Answer 47

stacking the deck

Question 48

Homeschooling is dangerous because it keeps kids isolated from society.

Answer 48

straw man

Question 49

Discrimination in hiring is not unfair. An employer has to discriminate between competent and incompetent, good and bad workers. Otherwise, we'd be hiring people least qualified for the job.

Answer 49

straw man

Question 50

People who are opposed to urbanization just want to go back to living in caves.

Answer 50

straw man