Identify the logical fallacy in the statement: 'If we allow flexible working hours for university administrative staff, nobody will ever show up to work and the entire institution will collapse within months.'
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. Slippery slope fallacy
- Step 1: A slippery slope fallacy asserts that a relatively modest first step will inevitably trigger a chain of catastrophic, extreme consequences without providing evidence for that inevitable progression.
- Step 2: Equating flexible hours with total institutional abandonment is an unfounded slippery slope claim.
Answer
Slippery slope fallacy.
Why not the others: 'Ad hominem attack' attacks an opponent's personal character rather than their argument; 'False analogy fallacy' compares two fundamentally incomparable situations; 'Straw man fallacy' distorts or oversimplifies an opponent's specific argument to defeat it easily.
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