Critical Thinking Homework 11.   Name ________________________

Circle the name of the person who gives the weaker argument, and the name of the fallacy commited.

1. Isaias. You know, you'd better start believing in Fnorbert.
Joaquin. Not that again! You still haven't given me any credible reason to believe in Fnorbert.
Isaias. Here's your reason. Fnorbert punishes unbelievers very harshly, did you know that?
Joaquin. So if he exists, and I don't believe, eventually he'll hurt me very badly?
Isaias. Exactly. You've got it now!
Joaquin. But you still haven't given me any reason to believe he exists, so I don't think he does.
Isaias. What are you, stupid? I just gave you a heck of a good reason!
Joaquin. Nope, you didn't give me any reason at all.

Isaias		Joaquin

begging the question     accident     false choice     circular argument     special pleading

2. Jane. They should legalize gay marriage, because people in committed homosexual relationships deserve the same legal rights as people in committed heterosexual relationships.
Welsh. You're forgetting the fact that there are only two kinds of relationships, the committed, deeply loving relationships we have between heterosexual couples, and the impoverished, purely sexual relationships that exist between homosexual couples.

Jane		Welsh

begging the question     accident     false choice     circular argument     special pleading

3. Vaughn. I think you are finally going to be convinced about the reality of the god Vuntag. Professor Slobbert's book Footsteps of Divine Vuntag finally has the proof you're looking for.
Anjali. I read that book ten years ago! It's best argument was the claim that Mat Tel, a priest of Vuntag, raised Clay Moore from the dead in the town of Punji Stick. It sounded impressive, but it wasn't documented with any evidence from Punji Stick, and so I had to discount it.
Vaughn. Well, the second edition of Footsteps has the documentation you're looking for. It turns out that the people of Punji Stick put up a monument to the day that Mat Tel raised Clay More. Here's a picture of the monument.
Anjali. Wow, it's a big one! And it even has a picture of Mat Tel raising Clay More. Wait, this picture looks exactly like the sketch of Mat Tel raising Clay More that Prof. Slobbert drew in his book! That's a bit of a weird coincidence, isn't it?
Vaughn. Oh I can explain that. The town council decided to build the monument after they all read Professor Slobbert's book five years ago, so naturally they used the sketch from the book since no-one in the town happened to know anything about the story before they read the book.

Vaughn		Anjali

begging the question     accident     false choice     circular argument     special pleading

4. Diana: I sympathize with you about Abmiel, but he's entitled to follow his religious beliefs.
Theresa: Abmiel won't marry me just because I'm a consecrated priestess of the fiery leaping goat-goddess Bloodfang and he is committed to building a christian family as part of creating the Kingdom of God on earth. That's religious discrimination, so he should marry me!

Diana		Theresa

begging the question     accident     false choice     circular argument     special pleading