Deck 7: Evaluate Arguments: Four Basic Tests

Question 1

Chris is a master of confronting people with whom he disagrees. One of his favorite techniques is to pick the weakest of his opponent's reasons and then to refute it. He thinks that by doing that he has shown that his opponent's claims are mistaken. By using this tactic Chris is actually engaging in __________.
(a) an appeal to emotion
(b) a straw man fallacy
(c) the bandwagon fallacy
(d) circular reasoning
(e) an ad hominem attack

Answer 1

B

Question 2

When Chris learned that his friend, who is also a manager, like Chris, has been sentenced to prison for stealing from their employer, Chris told his friend, "Everyone who is in prison can still be free, for true freedom is the knowledge of one's situation. The more one knows about one's self, the more one is truly free." By making this argument Chris is actually engaging in __________.
(a) an appeal to emotion fallacy
(b) an ad hominem attack
(c) the bandwagon fallacy
(d) circular reasoning
(e) a playing with words fallacy

Answer 2

E

Question 3

The second presupposition of the practice of argument making is the hypothetical that __________.
(a) the speaker's reason, if true, is the logical basis for the speaker's claim
(b) the listener's attention, if focused, will agree with what the speaker is saying
(c) the speaker's claim, if false, will be rejected by the listener
(d) the listener's response, if measured, will be to judge the argument sound

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following statements about argument making is true?
(a) Making arguments pro and con can aid group decision making.
(b) Making an argument is an essentially aggressive and confrontational practice.
(c) Making an argument is pointless unless you are an expert.
(d) Making an argument is the opposite of truth-seeking.

Question 5

Chris wants to correctly apply the four tests to evaluate an argument. First Chris checks the facts and learns that the premises are all true. The next step is to __________.
(a) provide multiple reasons to support the claim being advanced
(b) contact an expert to ask the expert to confirm or to disconfirm the conclusion
(c) figure out if the reason(s) given are relevant to the truth of the conclusion
(d) see if the claim forms part of the basis for accepting the truth of any of the premises
(e) try to imagine a situation in which all of the premises are true, but the conclusion is false

Question 6

Consider the negative evaluative adjectives: "Unworthy, Poor, Unacceptable, Unsound, Fallacious, Illogical, Incomplete, Unreasonable, Bad, and Circular." The adjectives in that list typically apply to which of the following?
(a) premises
(b) reasons
(c) claims/conclusions
(d) arguments
(e) argument makers

Question 7

Consider the positive evaluative adjectives: "Well-Documented, Strongly Supported, Well-Argued, Certain, True, Reasonable, Plausible, and Probable." The adjectives in that list typically best apply to which of the following?
(a) premises
(b) reasons
(c) claims/conclusions
(d) arguments
(e) argument makers

Question 8

Chris, a master at office gossip and innuendo, says, "We know we have a corporate spy someplace in the organization, probably on the management team itself. There is no evidence that it is Audrey. In fact, she's too clean, if you know what I mean. Somebody should fire Audrey; she's got to be the spy." By making this argument Chris is actually engaging in __________.
(a) an appeal to emotion fallacy
(b) a straw man fallacy
(c) an appeal to ignorance fallacy
(d) circular reasoning
(e) an appeal to the mob fallacy

Question 9

"When we were discussing thermodynamics the other day, Dave didn't say anything. That must mean he doesn't know anything about the topic." What would be the most useful question to debunk this claim?
(a) Does Dave have a degree in science?
(b) Could there be another reason why Dave remained quiet?
(c) How long has Dave been working at our company?
(d) Is Dave known for his critical thinking skills?

Question 10

Logicians call an argument with true premises that has also passed the Test of Logical Strength a __________.
(a) relevant argument
(b) sound argument
(c) worthy argument
(d) persuasive argument

Question 11

Chris makes this argument to himself: "Everybody I know has at least one tattoo, most of my friends have three or four, but I have only one. So, it's about time that I get another tattoo." By making this argument Chris is actually engaging in __________.
(a) an appeal to emotion fallacy
(b) a straw man fallacy
(c) circular reasoning.
(d) the bandwagon fallacy
(e) an ad hominem attack

Question 12

Is the following argument sound? "Not every argument is of equal quality. Therefore, at least one argument is better than at least one other argument."
(a) Yes, because the premise is true and the argument is not circular.
(b) Yes, because the premise is true and it implies the conclusion.
(c) No, because the premise is true but it is not relevant.
(d) No, because the premise is false.
(e) No, because there is the possibility that the premise could be true but the conclusion false.

Question 13

Chris gives you two reasons to support an implausible claim. One reason turns out to be irrelevant. As a strong critical thinker, what should you do?
(a) Help Chris by making up another reason to support that claim.
(b) Dismiss the second reason because the first was false.
(c) Stop trusting anything Chris says.
(d) Test the second reason.
(e) Take Chris' claim on faith.

Question 14

The practice of argument making rests in part on the presumption upon which so much of human discourse depends, namely that __________.
(a) both parties are members of the same language community
(b) the speaker is telling the truth
(c) either party is in a position to threaten the other
(d) the truth of what is being said is self-evident

Question 15

Is the following argument worthy of acceptance? "In a perfect world, the government should investigate whether any laws were broken relating to the treatment of wartime detainees. But this is not a perfect world. So, it would be a mistake for the government to engage in such an investigation.
(a) Yes, because the premises are true.
(b) Yes, because the argument is sound.
(c) Yes, because it passes all four tests.
(d) No, because the reason is irrelevant.
(e) No, because the argument is circular.

Question 16

In the context of the argument making, there is no point to giving reasons __________.
(a) if the listener is not going to rely on those reasons in deciding what to believe with regard to the claim
(b) if the listener is not sure about whether the speaker's claim is true or false
(c) if the speaker is often occasionally confused or mistaken about the facts of the matter
(d) if the speaker is not going to listen to what the other person has to say in reply

Question 17

It happens that a conclusion might be true independent of whether the premises are true or whether the premises logically support that conclusion; because this is so the practice of argument making also presume that __________.
(a) the premises are inconsistent with one another
(b) the claim is true no matter what the premises say
(c) the listener and the speaker agree on all the key points
(d) the truth of the reason is relevant to establishing the truth of claim

Question 18

Consider the positive evaluative adjectives: "Sensible, Well-Educated, Informed, Truth-Seeking, Open-Minded, Persuasive, and Confident." The adjectives in that list typically best apply to which of the following?
(a) premises
(b) reasons
(c) claims/conclusions
(d) arguments
(e) argument makers

Question 19

Argument making in real world situations is essentially a one-way street. The reason is used to establish the acceptability of the claim. This practice presumes that the speaker is not then __________.
(a) mistrustful of the listener's ability to understand
(b) using the claim as a basis for the reason
(c) questioning the privacy and security of the communication
(d) concealing anything from the listener

Question 20

Consider the negative evaluative adjectives: "False, Improbable, Self-Contradictory, Fanciful, Fabricated, Vague, Ambiguous, Nonsensical, and Unknowable." The adjectives in that list typically best apply to which of the following?
(a) premises
(b) reasons
(c) claims/conclusions
(d) arguments
(e) argument makers

Question 21

The _______ test condition that an argument must meet in order to be considered worthy of acceptance is that the truth of the claim depends on the truth of the reason.

Question 22

The _______ test condition that an argument must meet in order to be considered worthy of acceptance is that the truth of the reason does not depend on the truth of the claim.

Question 23

Explain what an "ad hominem attack" is and why strong critical thinkers reject this tactic as a demonstration that a person's argument is unacceptable.

Question 24

The assumption that premises are true provides a reasonable basis for moving to consider next which aspect of the argument?

Question 25

What is the reasoning that supports this claim the book makes? "Being able to explain why an argument is unworthy of acceptance is a stronger demonstration of one's critical thinking skills than being able to remember the names of the different types of fallacies."

Question 26

Argument making always involves winning or losing a verbal confrontation.

Question 27

Fallacies are deceptive arguments that appear logical and seem at times to be persuasive, but, upon closer analysis, fail to demonstrate their conclusions.

Question 28

Given a reason offered in support of a claim, these are the four conditions that must be met for that argument to be considered worthy of acceptance. In order of their application, the first condition is:

Question 29

Given a reason offered in support of a claim, these are the four conditions that must be met for that argument to be considered worthy of acceptance. In order of their application, the fourth condition is:

Question 30

Suppose our community had the problem of deciding what to believe or what to do with regard to an important issue. And suppose we did not have the practice of reason giving and argument making. Name a method our community might be likely to use in that situation.

Question 31

Given a reason offered in support of a claim, these are the four conditions that must be met for that argument to be considered worthy of acceptance. In order of their application, the third condition is:

Question 32

The _______ test condition that an argument must meet in order to be considered worthy of acceptance is that the reason is true in each of its premises, explicit and implicit.

Question 33

Is this argument worthy of acceptance, and if not, what is wrong with it? "To many around the world, the Statue of Liberty symbolizes the welcome our nation extends to all freedom loving people. So, as the great Yogi Berra says, "You can observe a lot just by watching."

Question 34

The book warns that underestimating one's opponent in a debate or dispute can backfire. What reasons support this claim?

Question 35

The _______ test condition that an argument must meet in order to be considered worthy of acceptance is that if the reason were true, it would imply, entail, strongly warrant, or strongly support
the conclusion making the conclusion (claim) true or very probably true.

Question 36

The book highlights this warning: "Dismissing an otherwise-worthy claim simply
because one or more of the arguments made on its behalf contains false reasons is one of the most
common human reasoning errors." What is the basis for this?

Question 37

A good argument or a worthy argument is an argument that merits being accepted as a proof that its conclusion is true or very probably true.

Question 38

What are fallacious arguments?

Question 39

The book offers long lists of evaluative adjectives that can be applied to premises, reasons, claims, and arguments. Why so many possible evaluative terms?

Question 40

Given a reason offered in support of a claim, these are the four conditions that must be met for that argument to be considered worthy of acceptance. In order of their application, the second condition is: