Category: Education

Logic Test II

May 28, 2024 / Aaron Lietz / 0 Comments

This is the second logic test in our series. All human beings make mistakes in reasoning. Our hope is that these tests will help you improve your knowledge of logical fallacies so that you can spot them in both yourself and others while improving your ability to apply correct reasoning in everyday life.

Logic Test II

QUIZ START

Definitions

• Genetic Fallacy – Basing the truth claim of an argument, or proposition, on the origin of its claims or premises.
• Begging the Question – Any form of argument where the conclusion of the argument is assumed in one of the premises of the argument.
• Cherry Picking – When only select evidence is presented in order to persuade the audience to accept a position, and evidence that would go against the position is withheld.
• Hasty Generalization – Drawing a conclusion based on a small sample size, rather than looking at statistics that are much more in line with the typical or average situation.
• Fallacy of Composition – Inferring that something is true of the whole from the fact that it is true of some part of the whole.
• Fallacy of Division – Inferring that something is true of one or more of the parts from the fact that it is true of the whole.
• Appeal to Emotion – Using emotional appeals instead of reason in an attempt to win an argument.
• Equivocation – Using a term in an ambiguous way, or in more than one sense, making an argument misleading.
• Complex Question – A question with a built in presupposition which is not explicit (loaded question).
• No True Scotsman – Defending an assertion by disallowing, by definition, all counterexamples, emphasizing that we are only talking about true examples of whatever population is under consideration.

Reference:

https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/logicalfallacies/search

https://www.palomar.edu/users/bthompson/Table%20of%20Fallacies.html

https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com

Logic Test I

May 20, 2024 / Aaron Lietz / 0 Comments

Are You Logical?

Think about the last time you found out that you had been believing something (regardless of how important or unimportant) that turned out to be false. Now think about how firmly you held that belief. On a scale of 1-10, how strong was the belief? Finally, what were the reasons you held that belief? Did it turn out later than some of those reasons were bad reasons? Thinking along these lines can help clarify where things can go wrong when forming beliefs. One of those causes is irrational thinking (i.e. – illogical reasoning).

Human beings are naturally prone to making mistakes. This includes mistakes, both large and small, in the areas of cognition and rationality (i.e. “thinking and reasoning”). Logically fallacious reasoning and cognitive biases are extremely common but with a little effort we can push back against them and “get better at thinking”. Below you will find the first of a serious of multiple choice logical “quizzes” I have created in order to assist the world toward that end. If these exercises help you, I am happier that much more!

Logic Test I

QUIZ START

Definitions

Ad Hominem (Abusive) – Attacking a person who is making the argument rather than the argument itself, when the attack on the person is totally irrelevant to the argument.
Post Hoc Fallacy – Claiming that because event Y came after event X, event Y must have been caused by event X. This fallacy is also called Post Hoc Ergo Proper Hoc (after this, therefore because of this).
Straw Man – Misrepresenting a person’s argument and then attacking that misrepresented version of the argument, instead of the actual argument that was made.
Red Herring – Attempting to direct the topic of the argument to a different issue or topic.
Ad Verecundium (Argument from False Authority) – When a person making a claim appeals to a person who is being presented as an expert when in fact said person is not an expert in the relevant field that is being debated.
Argument from Ignorance – Assuming an argument is true based merely upon the perception that it has not been proven false or due to the perceived lack of evidence to the contrary.
Argument from Personal Incredulity – Arguing that because you can’t or refuse to believe something, it must not be true, must be improbable, or the argument must be flawed.
Begging The Question – A form of circular reasoning where the conclusion of the argument is assumed in one of the premises.
False Dichotomy (False Dilemma) – When only two or more choices are presented yet more choices exist, or where a spectrum of choices exist between two extremes.
Special Pleading – Applying standards or principles to a person, people, or set of circumstances while making oneself, or a specific set of circumstances, exempt from said critical standard, without proper or critical justification.
Ad Baculum (Appeal to Force) – When force, coercion, or a threat of force is used in place of a reason to justify a given conclusion.
Genetic Fallacy – Basing the truth claim of an argument on the origin of it’s claims or premises.