Module 2: Section D

Section Warm-Up

You are perched in front of the television with your family, in a rare moment of unity, to tune in to the inspirational words of an esteemed leader of the free world. He has a team of speechwriters with higher degrees from the best universities in the world. You expect to be inspired and edified; instead you get statements like the ones below. Enjoy the amusing errors of great political leaders from our past. After each statement, consider what is funny about the statement, then click to see which type of logical fallacy he or she is committing.

"Every nation in every region now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."- George W. Bush Which logical fallacy is this? This is the kind of fallacy that can lead prematurely to war. The problem here is that there is no middle ground presented. This kind of fallacy is called False Dilemma or Either/Or Fallacy. In reality, many countries support neither the US nor the terrorists.	President Roosevelt
"All the waste in a year from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk." - Ronald Reagan > Which logical fallacy is this? The size of nuclear waste is irrelevant; the problem is the radiation. Furthermore, the idea of storing radioactive waste under a desk is absurd. The fallacy is called Red Herring, which is a distraction from the real issue.	"I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace." - George W. Bush Which logical fallacy is this? This statement is worthy of a comedy talk show, but sadly, it was uttered in earnestness. Since war is the opposite of peace, the statement is silly. This is a perfect example of a Paradox fallacy where the statement contains opposites posing as synonyms.
"You can put wings on a pig, but you don't make it an eagle." - William J. Clinton Which logical fallacy is this? Sometimes you just have to say, "What was this guy thinking?!" The image this creates in the mind is hilarious, but the analogy is pointless and unclear. This mistake is called False Analogy.	"A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls." - Dan Quayle Which logical fallacy is this? You should recognize this one. This is our old friend, Circular Reasoning. Voter turnout IS the number of people going to the polls, so the humor is in the obviousness of the statement or the redundancy.

Go on and learn a few more logical fallacies, then start keeping your ears open for them. Once you start identifying them, you won't be able to stop.