practice
1.A student failed in his examination.He said to the teacher,'Please give me a pass because my parents will be upset if i failed.'
He committed the fallacy of irrelevance,whether the teacher should give him a pass or not is not related to his parents' feeling.The teacher should consider his performance in the examination.
2.Your friend:'Smoking must cause cancer because my father was a smoker and he died of lung cancer.'
He committed fallacy of insufficiency,his father's case can be considered but it is too weak to support the conclusion.There may be other factors that affect whether a smoker will have cancer,such as genetic factors.
A child said to his mother,'If you love me,then you should buy me the PSP.You said you love me.Therefore,you should buy me the PSP.'
He committed the fallacy of inappropriate presumption,he wrongly presumed that if his mother loves him,she should buy him the PSP.However,It is wrong because it is possible that his mother loves him without satisfying his materialistic wants.
4.You cannot comment on the performance of Manchester United because you are such a bad soccer player.
He committed the fallacy of irrelevance,the skill of the soccer player has nothing to do with his right to comment on the others.Whether he can comment or not should be based on the situation and his manner.
5.You have just had your haircut.Your friend said to you,'I will not comment on your ugly hairstyle.'
He committed the fallacy of inconsistency,he said he will not comment but he has already commented on my hairstyle as "ugly" already.What he said is self-defeating.
6.Someone said to you,'Never say never.'
He\/She committed the fallacy of inconsistency,because he says,'Never say never.'but he has just said it already.What he said is self-defeating.
7.Sam:I have done my homework,but i forgot to bring it back.
Teacher:How do I know you have done that?
Sam:My brother can prove that.
Teacher:Why should I trust him?
Sam: I can prove that he is trustworthy.
He committed the fallacy of inappropriate presumption.His brother can prove that he is trustworthy because he can prove that his brother is trustworthy.It is a circular argument.Therefore,the conclusion of the argument is assumed as one of the reasons.