A councillor proposes a new cycle lane. A critic replies: 'So the councillor wants to ban all cars from our city.' Which fallacy is this?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. Straw man
- Step 1: The councillor proposed only a cycle lane. Step 2. The critic replaces it with a much more extreme position and attacks that instead, which is a straw man. Answer: Straw man. Why not the others: Ad hominem: Ad hominem attacks the person, not the argument. Circular reasoning: Circular reasoning assumes its conclusion. False dilemma: A false dilemma offers only two options.
Practise more Rhetoric, argument and writing.
Free questions with an explanation for every one, and full timed Pancyprian Examinations (Cyprus) mock tests.
More Rhetoric, argument and writing questions
- 'Either we build the new stadium or our town will have no future.' Which flaw does this argument show?
- 'The newspaper is reliable because it only prints true stories, and we know its stories are true because the newspaper is reliable.' What is…
- A student argues: 'If we let pupils use phones at break, soon they will use them in lessons, then they will stop learning and the school wil…
- Which rhetorical device is used in: 'We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields'?
- Which phrase is an oxymoron?
- 'The restaurant was not bad at all' means that it was quite good. Which figure of speech is this?