Question

1. You can generally determine whether fallacies exist in an argument by identifying whether the statement ________.

a. has evidence to back it up
b. gains popular support
c. has anything to do with the conclusion
d. is true or false

2. If an individual is citing extensive family problems as a reason for poor job performance, which of the following fallacies of relevance is the individual employing?
a. appeal to the people
b. missing the point
c. argument against the person
d. appeal to pity

Answer 1

We refer to fallacies as the presentation of a particular argument with a faulty logical construction behind it. In general, a first glance at these types of arguments may give us the idea that they're correct and make perfect sense, because they tend to play with a strong element of deception. However, once we analyse them properly we can identify logical errors in their construction which derive in false deductions (as case number 2 refers to); or an appeal to a certain element that is beside the point as a form of persuassion (like we see in case number 2).

The correct answer to question 1 is option C ("Has anything to do with the conclusion").

The correct answer to question 2 is option D ("Appeal to pity").