Logical Fallacies Part II

1. Logical Fallacies Part II Slippery Slope False Analogy Non Sequitur

2. Slippery Slope • False Analogy • Non Sequitur

3. If we allow government to reform the health care system in the way President Obama is proposing, we’ll have government-provided health care available to any American citizen. Of course, who’s going to choose to pay for health care when they can get it from the government for free? And what business is going to provide a health care plan for its employees when it knows its employees can just get it from the government? So then we’ll have people abandoning private health insurance in droves and more people signing on to government health care. This will cause private insurers to go broke from lack of customers and cause government spending to explode to cover new patients. This means less taxes collected from private health care and more money coming from the government. Pretty soon, the government will have to start rationing care just to contain costs, and they’ll create boards to review who gets what kind of care and for how long. They’ll literally be deciding who gets to live and who gets to die. And if these death panels aren’t enough to deter us from government health care, then we should realize that all that new spending to cover costs is going to bankrupt the country and before we know it, the USA will collapse into economic disaster. That’s why we should oppose President Obama’s health care proposal.

4. All these people making claims about global warming should look at the weather in the eastern United States over the last month. It’s been hit by some of the worst snow storms on record. I guess that’s pretty good evidence against the argument that the earth is warming and that we need tougher environmental regulations. • Last week, we had a guy come to our house to spray pesticides on our back deck address our ant problem, and now today, my dog is vomiting like crazy. As long as I have pets, I’ll never spray for ants again.

5. A doctor can consult books to make a diagnosis, so a medical student should be able to consult books when being tested. • Are we going to lower community college tuition or are we going to allow society to crumble at the hands of an uneducated citizenry? • Harper's new car is bright blue and gets excellent gas mileage. Frank's new car is also bright blue. Therefore, it probably gets excellent gas mileage, too.

6. If we can put humans on the moon, then we should be able to find a cure for the common cold. • I pay for my college education just as I pay for my groceries at the supermarket: with the money I earn. Why does the administration think it has the right to tell me what courses I have to take to earn a degree? Certainly, no one would allow the supermarket to tell me what groceries I have to buy to be healthy.

7. Because soft drinks contain so many chemicals, they must be unsafe. • I hate abortion, but it is better than a world full of unwanted, abused children and single mothers killing themselves trying to raise two or three kids. • Jack always brags about how much he knows about football, but he totally blew all his bets on this year’s Superbowl. So much for him begin such a football expert.

8. Miller Brewing Company has to be the most unscrupulous American business of the 20th century. I recently read the story of a Miller employee who, after 52 years of loyal service, was fired two days before he would be eligible for full retirement benefits. • Mary loves good food; therefore, she will be an excellent chef.

9. You can raise your child however you want to, but I’m telling you this: you do not want to ever show you’re child weakness. Once you’ve made a decision stick to it, even if you later come to believe it was the wrong decision. The consequences of changing your mind in front of your child will simply be too disastrous. If your kid sees that you’ve changed your mind, then she’ll see that you don’t know as much as you claim to, and she’ll see that sometimes even you think you’re wrong. At that point, she’ll start questioning every decision you make, and pretty soon, she won’t listen to anything you have to say. Before you know it, she’ll be completely blowing you off and you’ll have an out-of-control child you won’t be able to manage.

11. The house around the block that’s for sale has faded paint and weeds growing all over the front yard. From the curb, it’s really ugly. I bet the inside is unkempt and ugly, too. • Frankie is did a project for his sociology class to discover public beliefs about the necessity of a college education in today’s economy. He got a great sampling of students at the college by distributing a survey via email to every enrolled student, and he got more than 45% of the surveys returned. The vast majority of survey respondents (over 87%) indicated that they believe a college education is either “critical to economic success” or “important to economic success.” It looks like Americans still see a need for college in order to achieve financial success.

12. We’re going to have to either create more space in our jails or endanger society by releasing violent criminals onto the street. • Atheists have no outside, transcendent source for their morality, so if a child is raised without religion, he will not know right from wrong and will struggle to figure out what kinds of behavior should be engaged in and avoided. At some point, the child will probably realize that there is no reason to not just do whatever he/she wants to. After all, if there’s no god to punish and reward, why not just do whatever you want? Pretty soon, the child will realize that there’s nothing stopping him from stealing except getting caught, and then someday, he’ll realize that rape and murder are okay as long as he can get away with it.