Logician’s View: Deduction, Induction, and Fallacies,” chapter 10 in From Critical Thinking to Argument, explains how people use logic, sometimes effectively and sometimes ineffectively. You’re probably all aware of how politicians and advertisers try to play with logic to get the public to buy an idea or a product. People often get “suckered” by celebrity, emotional, and fear appeals, which we read about earlier in chapter four. Although deductive and inductive thinking can often be valid and effective means to argue a position logically, sometimes they’re not.
This is the case in the five examples below. There are two parts to this exercise. First, identify whether the example is deductive or inductive. Second, explain in a sentence or two why the argument doesn’t really make sense or work. (No, you don’t have to identify it as a logical fallacy; just explain, in your own words, what makes the assertion questionable.)
In submitting your answers, you can just number your responses 1 through 5 so I can match up the right answers with the right number. Here’s an example using the number 7:
7. Expensive cars are fast. A Rolls Royce is an expensive car. Therefore, it must be fast.
7. Deductive. A Rolls Royce is definitely very expensive, but the cost is based on luxury, not speed. It’s not really a fast car compared to the Ferrari 488 Pista, which is expensive because its made specifically for speed.
Now it’s your turn:
1. A stockbroker observes that Intuit stock increased in value four years in a row during tax season and recommends clients buy the stock in March.
2. Every student I know who passed Mr. Reed’s Russian History class last semester claims the amount of studying and work to do so was monumental. So, if you’re going to take Mr. Reed this semester, you’d better be prepared to study your butt off to pass it.
3. The Covid-19 health crisis has been one of the most devastating this nation has ever faced. It hit during Trump’s presidency, so it’s his fault.
4. Whenever there is a financial crisis, most people panic. The level-headed ones don’t and simply hold on to their assets until the crisis passes and they still have money, sometimes even more of it. So next time there’s a recession, just sit back and relax and hang on to what you’ve got.
5. The building where the Los Angeles Times has its offices is antiquated and outdated in terms of its ventilation. In fact, asbestos was discovered to be a prevalent material used for insulation, so city officials have given the organization that owns the building a year to update its ventilation system or it will be demolished. In researching the cost of such an “upgrade” with similar multi-level buildings in the area over the past seven years, the organization came to the conclusion such an expense was too much and put the building up for sale.
