EXERCISE 13: False Report Fallacies and Circular Explanations
Identify the fallacy that occurs in each passage.
These will be False Report fallacies and Circular Explanations: Over-Reporting the Facts, Appeal to Mystery, Vacuous Explanation, Canceling Hypotheses, and Infinite Regress. (No exercises for Under-Reporting the Facts.)
1. Perhaps scientists are driven to investigate the nature of the universe by their innate curiosity.
2. The famous canals on Mars, first observed by Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli, strongly suggest that there may once have been intelligent life on Mars.
3. Birds can't really fly. They stay in the sky because they are held up by wires that are attached to airplanes. Airplanes can't fly either. They are held up by wires, too.
4. You are suffering from psychotic episodes because of the sexual abuse you were subjected to as a child. You don't remember being sexually abused because you are repressing your memories of the experience.
5. Scots actually eat haggis? Well, I guess there's no accounting for tastes.
WELCOME EXPLANATION OF PRINCIPLES TABLE OF FALLACIES EXERCISES INDEX