Q Mastering Fallacies We might like to think that fallacies are a “mistake” that people make in thinking, and sometimes this is true. Other times, however, the person utilizing the fallacy is hoping that YOU are not a good enough critical thinker to notice. So let’s put you on the other side of the argument for a few minutes. Imagine that you are TRYING to use each of the fallacies listed below to respond to the argument presented. What might that fallacious response be? Three scenarios are presented. For each, reply to the statement using the presented fallacies. Remember that you are arguing AGAINST the presented statement using fallacies. The first one is completed for you. STATEMENT 1: “Uniforms in school are helpful both socially and academically.” YOUR RESPONSES: Slippery Slope: (sample) “Uniforms actually kill student individuality! First it is uniforms, then students are required to believe all the same things, and finally we end up with a society of unthinking robots.” Popular Appeal: Hasty Generalization: Appeal to Pity: STATEMENT 2: “College is too expensive and simply not worth the cost.” Ad Hominem: Appeal to Ignorance: False Dilemma: