Part I of the exercises in 3.3.
Just name the fallacy being committed, unless there is no fallacy. If that’s the case, just type “NF”.
I. Identify the fallacies of weak induction committed by the following arguments, giving a brief explanation for your answer. If no fallacy is committed, write “no fallacy.”
★1. 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.
2. If a car breaks down on the freeway, a passing mechanic is not obligated to render emergency road service. For similar reasons, if a person suffers a heart attack on the street, a passing physician is not obligated to render emergency medical assistance.
3. There must be something to psychical research. Three famous physicists— Oliver Lodge, James Jeans, and Arthur Stanley Eddington—took it seriously.
★4. The secretaries have asked us to provide lounge areas where they can spend their coffee breaks. This request will have to be refused. If we give them lounge areas, next they’ll be asking for spas and swimming pools. Then it will be racquet ball courts, tennis courts, and fitness centers. Expenditures for these facilities will drive us into bankruptcy.
5. The accumulation of pressure in a society is similar to the buildup of pressure in a boiler. If the pressure in a boiler increases beyond a critical point, the boiler will explode. Accordingly, if a government represses its people beyond a certain point, the people will rise up in revolt.
6. A few minutes after Governor Harrison finished his speech on television, a devastating earthquake struck southern Alaska. For the safety of the people up there, it is imperative that Governor Harrison make no more speeches.
★7. No one has ever been able to prove the existence of extrasensory perception. We must therefore conclude that extrasensory perception is a myth.
8. Lester Brown, universally respected author of the yearly State of the World report, has said that the destruction of tropical rain forests is one of the ten most serious worldwide problems. Thus, it must be the case that this is indeed a very serious problem.
9. Bill Gates and Warren Buffet give millions of dollars to charitable causes every year. It must be the case that all wealthy people give huge amounts of money to charity every year.
★10. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un says that his country’s nuclear program is purely for peaceful purposes. Therefore, given Mr. Kim’s familiarity with that program, we should not think for a moment that he plans to use it to develop nuclear weapons.
11. Probably no life exists on Venus. Teams of scientists have conducted exhaustive studies of the planet’s surface and atmosphere, and no living organisms have been found.
12. We don’t dare let the animal-rights activists get their foot in the door. If they sell us on the idea that dogs, cats, and dolphins have rights, next it will be chickens and cows. That means no more chicken Kiev or prime rib. Next it will be worms and insects. This will lead to the decimation of our agricultural industry. The starvation of the human race will follow close behind.
★13. No one would buy a pair of shoes without trying them on. Why should anyone be expected to get married without premarital sex?
14. No one has proved conclusively that America’s nuclear power plants constitute a danger to people living in their immediate vicinity. Therefore, it is perfectly safe to continue to build nuclear power plants near large metropolitan centers. 15. There are more churches in New York City than in any other city in the nation, and more crimes are committed in New York City than anywhere else. So, if we are to eliminate crime, we must abolish the churches.
