EXERCISE 6: Middle Ground Fallacies

Identify the fallacy that occurs in each passage.

These will be fallacies from the Middle Ground family: Accident, Secundum Quid, Black & White Thinking, Slippery Slope, False Compromise, and Phantom Distinction.

 

1. No one seriously believes that all funding for social programs should be cut. Clearly we should return social spending to previous levels.

answer

 

2. I'm not fat; I'm portly.

answer

 

3. Oskar Schindler used bribes to protect his Jewish workers during the Holocaust, and he is considered a hero. There is nothing wrong with bribing public officials to get them to do what you want.

answer

 

4. If we allow local grocery stores to sell the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, they will soon become purveyors of all sorts of pornography.

answer

 

5. You're wrong to say that I don't vote because I am apathetic. I don't vote because I just don't care about politics that much.

answer

 

6. I'm sorry you didn't actually receive the item you purchased; but, I can't refund your money. Our company has a strict policy against offering refunds unless you can show that the item was broken or defective.

answer

 

7. The newspaper said three people were killed in the fire, but the television news reported nine deaths. So, I think the actual number was probably about five.

answer

 

8. Obamacare will be the first step toward socialized medicine! We must vote to repeal of defund it.

answer

 

 

 

WELCOME                     EXPLANATION OF PRINCIPLES                                     TABLE OF FALLACIES                        EXERCISES                     INDEX