Question

3 part question

a) Which logical fallacy does Clinton use here?

Consider this excerpt from a debate, between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. One of the moderators, Martha Raddatz, posed the following question: RADDATZ: Secretary Clinton... you have asked for an increase from 10,000 to 65,000 Syrian refugees. We know you want tougher vetting. That's not a perfect system. So why take the risk of having those refugees come into the country? CLINTON: Well, first of all, I will not let anyone into our country that I think poses a risk to us. But there are a lot of refugees, women and children — think of that picture we all saw of that 4-year-old boy with the blood on his forehead because he'd been bombed by the Russian and Syrian air forces. Which logical fallacy does Clinton use here? (A) Ad hominem (B) Appeal to popularity (C) Appeal to emotion (D) Post hoc ergo propter hoc

b) Which logical fallacy does Aisha use here?

c) What logical fallacy is employed here?

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Answer 1

a) (C) appeal to emotion; Appeal to emotion or argumentum ad passiones ("argument from passion") is a logical fallacy characterized by the manipulation of the recipient's emotions in order to win an argument. By talking about the picture of the 4-year old boy Hillary was trying to put an emotional argument.

b) (C) Straw Man; Straw Man is an intentionally misrepresented proposition that is set up because it is easier to defeat than an opponent's real argument. Aisha accuses the speaker of promoting socialism because she sees an argument against socialism as easier to win.

c) (B) Post hoc ergo propter hoc; This fallacy is based upon the mistaken notion that simply because one thing happens after another, the first event was a cause of the second event. Here, the speaker relates the increase in crime with the launch and use of iPod without any factual references and just on the coincidence of both the events happening in the same time period.