Fallacy and Mutual-fund Guru Peter

Angel Allen Professor Needle November 25, 2012 Chapter 8 Exercise 2 For each of the following items, write one paragraph identifying the logical flaw. a. The election couldn’t have been fair- I don’t know anyone who voted for the winner. The fact that no one you know voted for the winner does not mean that the election as unfair. –Argument of ignorance a. It would be wrong to prosecute Allied for age discrimination; allied has always been a great corporate neighbor. The fact that allied has always been a great corporate neighbor, it is not wrong to prosecute him for age discrimination if in fact it is true. – Appeal to pity b.

The decrease in smoking can be attributed to increased restrictions on smoking in public. Although smoking has decreased you should not conclude that the result of smoking in public restrictions was the cause of the decrease. – Post hoc reasoning c. Bill Jensen’s proposal to create an on-site day-care center is just the latest of his harebrained ideas. The fact that Bill Jensen proposes to create an on-site-day-care center does not mind that the idea is unwise. – Ad hominem argument d. Since the introduction of cola drinks at the start of the twentieth century, cancer has become the second- greatest killer in the United States.

Cola drinks should be outlawed. Before reaching valid conclusions, you would have to study a much larger sample to compare causes of cancer and that in fact cola drinks is the cause of cancer. This will be a Hasty Generalization. – Hasty generalization e. If mutual-fund guru Peter Lynch recommends this investment, I think we ought to buy it. Even if mutual-fund guru Peter Lynch recommends this investment, it is not wise to buy it unless you have done your own research. – Argument of authority f. We should not go into the flash-memory market; we have always been a leading manufacturer of DRAM.

The fact that you have always been a leading manufacturer of DRAM is not in itself a good reason to retain from the Flash-memory market. – Appeal to pity g. The other two hospitals in the city have implemented computerized patient record keeping; I think we need to do so, too. The fact that the other hospitals implemented computerized patient record keeping is not in itself an argument that we should get one, too. – Ad populum argument h. Our Model X500 didn’t succeed because we failed to sell a sufficient number of units.

Before reaching any valid conclusions, you would have try more strategies on selling your Model X500, maybe other factors could’ve been a reason why your sales were not successful. – Oversimplifying i. No research has ever established that Internet businesses can earn money; they will never succeed. The fact that research has never been established that Internet businesses can earn money does not necessarily mean that the Internet business will not succeed. Perhaps the statistics are not yet available. There are Internet businesses that have been out for years I’m sure they are succeeding to be around for so long. – Appeal to pity