In-Class Quizzes

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Mon., May 19
3 points
(From p. 80, 2.1, III, 9)

State whether the following dispute is verbal or factual.  If verbal, state whether the dispute arises from vagueness or ambiguity.

CHERYL:    Tomorrow I'm going to the Metallica concert.  Their music is fabulous.
OLIVER:    You call that music?  Really it's just noise, and incredibly loud noise at that.

Answer: Verbal (vagueness).  The dispute is primarily about the border between music, and non-musical noise.

(There may also be an element of factual dispute about whether Metallica's sounds are good or not.)

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Tue., May 20
3 points

Given that there is exactly one television in the room, and it is dusty, answer the following questions about these two terms:

Term 1: televisions in the room
Term 2: dusty televisions in the room

Which term has larger intension (i.e. more attributes)?    Answer: dusty televisions in the room

Which term has larger extension (i.e. more class members)?    Answer: neither; each term has the same extension (or class member), namely the one television (which is dusty) in the room

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Wed., May 21
3 points

Given the following definition, fill in the table below (answers in bold):

A lime is a small green citrus fruit, shaped like a lemon but usually smaller.

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Thu., May 22
2 points
(From p. 101, 2.4, I, 27)

As classified by definitional technique, what kind of definition is the following?

"Tale" is a word that derives from the Old English word talu, which means talk.

Answer: Etymological

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Fri., May 23
7 points

Fill in the table below for each of the following (answers in bold):

1.               “Bachelor” means unmarried adult male human.
2.         For the purpose of today’s class, “ytiger12” means false statement.
3.               “Statement” means a sentence that is either true or false.
4.               “Premise indicator” means something like “since,” “because,” or “inasmuch as.”
5.         “Truth value” means either truth or falsity.

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Wed., May 28
2 points
(From p. 138, 3.3, I, 1)

Identify the fallacy of weak induction committed by the following argument.  If no fallacy is committed, write "no fallacy."

The Daily News carried an article this morning about three local teenagers who were arrested on charges of drug possession.  Teenagers these days are nothing but a bunch of junkies.

Answer: Hasty generalization

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Thu., May 29
2 points
(From p. 160, 3.4, I, 11)

Identify the fallacy of presumption, ambiguity, or grammatical analogy committed by the following argument.  If no fallacy is committed, write "no fallacy."

Why did you lie on the witness stand?

Answer: Complex Question
This question "presumes the existence of a certain condition" (p. 148), namely that the person questioned lied on the witness stand.  The given question is "not an argument as such," but "involves an implicit argument" and is "intended to trap the respondent into acknowledging something that he or she might otherwise not want to acknowledge" (p. 148).

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Fri., May 30

Multiple Choice
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question (answers in bold).

1.   Jill says, “Paris Hilton has matured and grown a lot from her jail experience.  We know this because she said so on Larry King Live.”  What has Jill presented?

  2.   David responds to Jill, “Paris Hilton is famous for acting dumb.  We cannot trust what she said on Larry King Live, since it may be just another act.”  What has David committed?

  3.   David says, “Paris Hilton has presented an argument concluding that you don't have to be an heiress to look like one.  But we may disregard her argument, since she is a spoiled socialite who has appeared in sex videos.”  What has David committed?

4.   In his book Under the Banner of Heaven, Jon Krakauer says (paraphrased):

                  *John Wesley Powell, who led an exploratory expedition to the Grand Canyon, reports (in a book he wrote) that Indians confessed to him personally that they killed three of his men.  But Powell’s book has many verifiable inaccuracies, errors, and plain falsehoods.  Thus we cannot trust Powell’s report of the Indian confessions.*

                  What has Krakauer presented here?            

5.   In regard to the previous question – what has Krakauer committed?

Multiple Choice
What does the given argument commit?  Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question (answers in bold).

____    6.  6. You should do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  Thus, since you are suicidal and wish that someone would kill you, what you should do is attempt to terminate others’ lives.

____    7.   7. If you really want to cure your cold, just wear this magnetic bracelet for a while.  People who do so find their cold cured in about a week.

____    8.   8. Cells are tiny.  An elephant is nothing but cells.  So an elephant is tiny.

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Mon., June 2
2 points
(From p. 140, 3.3, II, 2)

Identify the fallacies of relevance or weak induction committed by the following argument.  If no fallacy is committed, write "no fallacy."

Tagging by graffiti artists has become a terrible problem in recent years.  Obviously our schools are stifling the creative spirit of these young people.

Answer: 
Missing the point (i.e. drawing a conclusion that does not follow from the given premise).
Or -
False cause (oversimplified cause variety) (see p. 134)

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Tue., June 3
1 point
(From p. 141, 3.3, II, 12)

Identify the fallacies of relevance or weak induction committed by the following argument.  If no fallacy is committed, write "no fallacy."

Extensive laboratory tests have failed to prove any deleterious side effects of the new pain killer lexaprine.  We conclude that lexaprine is safe for human consumption.

Answer: No fallacy
This argument has the look of an appeal to ignorance, but is covered by one of the exceptions (p. 130): "if qualified researchers investigate a certain phenomenon within their range of expertise and fail to turn up any evidence that the phenomenon exists, this fruitless search by itself constitutes positive evidence about the question."
The premise of the given argument refers to "[e]xtensive laboratory tests," which indicates that the tests are not merely the narrow (and likely biased) work of industry-funded scientists.

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Wed., June 4
1 point
(From p. 159, 3.4, I, 5)

Identify the fallacy of presumption, ambiguity, or grammatical analogy committed by the following argument.  If no fallacy is committed, write "no fallacy."

Why is it so difficult for you to reach a decision?

Answer: Complex Question
This question "presumes the existence of a certain condition" (p. 148), namely that the person questioned lied on the witness stand.  The given question is "not an argument as such," but "involves an implicit argument" and is "intended to trap the respondent into acknowledging something that he or she might otherwise not want to acknowledge" (p. 148).

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Thu., June 5
2 points

According to Hurley, what 3 factors are responsible for most informal fallacies?

Answer: Intention, mental carelessness combined with an emotional disposition, and unexamined worldviews (p. 171).

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