A. Indicate whether each of the following is an inductive argument, a deductive argument, or neither.
- The moon was full 4 weeks ago, so it should be full again tonight.
- Inductive argument
- I hear you’ve been diagnosed with Lyme disease. You should go to the doctor and get some antibiotics for it. When Saheed was given antibiotics for his Lyme disease, his symptoms cleared up in a few weeks. The same happened with Arquelina when she had it.
- Inductive argument
- I think I can trust John to keep his promise to keep our secret. He’s never broken a promise he’s made to me in the past.
- Inductive argument
- Wei is a student at Clark Community College. None of the students at CCC reside on campus. Therefore, Wei does not live on campus.
- Deductive argument
- When Conservative Ann Coulter visited Canada, hundreds of college students at the University of Ottawa protested her planned visit to their campus causing a near riot. It’s likely that she won’t be welcome at the University of Waterloo as well.
- Inductive argument
B. Evaluate the following poll questions. If the questions are biased, rewrite them.
- Do you support increasing airport security to prevent future terrorist attacks using airplanes?
- ❌ Biased
- Rewrite: Do you support increasing airport security measures?
- Are you an honest person?
- ❌ Biased
- Rewrite: How would you rate your own honesty?
- Do you think marriages between homosexuals should or should not be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages?
- ❌ Biased
- Rewrite: Do you think marriages between same-sex couples should be recognized by law as valid, with the same rights as other marriages?
- Do you think English should be the official language of the United States?
- ✅ Not biased
- “Does it concern you or not that when people’s homes are broken into and they own a gun, the intruder might take the gun away from the owner and shoot him or her?”
- ❌ Biased / Emotionally loaded
- Rewrite: Do you think owning a gun increases or decreases household safety?
- “Should state/local governments be able to pass laws banning handguns?”
- ✅ Not biased
- Would you support any institution of higher learning that restricts your freedom to think as you wish by establishing zones that limit your freedom of speech?
- ❌ Biased
- Rewrite: Do you support or oppose the creation of designated free speech zones on campus?
- “With all the gang killings and domestic disputes ending with gun fire, do you think there should be legislation passed to hinder gun ownership?”
- Evaluation: ❌ Biased / Emotionally loaded
- Leading with “gang killings and domestic disputes” biases the respondent.
- Do you want homework on the weekends or to extend the onsite classes to include Saturday?
- Evaluation: ❌ Biased / False dilemma
- It forces a choice between two undesirable options, excluding other possibilities.
- Should we allow children of ชช to attend state colleges at in-state tuition rates, or should we instead refuse them admission to state colleges?
- Evaluation: ❌ Biased / False dilemma
- Presents two extremes, excluding middle-ground options like out-of-state tuition.
C. Evaluate the following arguments that are based on analogies (state if they are weak or useful analogies):
- I don’t see what’s wrong with buying essays for a class from the Internet. After all, the president of the United States pays someone to write his speeches for him, and no one has a problem with that.
- We put our beloved pets to sleep when they are very sick and in too much pain to enjoy life. Therefore, we should allow humans who are very sick and in too much pain to enjoy life to die mercifully.
- A government is like a parent. Just as a child should obey their parents, so too should we obey our government.
- Marijuana should be legalized. After all, alcohol is also an addictive drug that is used to enhance mood and it is legal.
- What is taught on this campus should depend on what the students are interested in. After all, consuming knowledge is like consuming anything else in our society. The teacher is the seller, the student is the buyer. Buyers determine what they want to buy, so students should determine what they want to learn.
1. Buying essays vs. President hiring speechwriters
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Evaluation: Weak analogy.
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Reason: The contexts differ: students are required to do their own academic work to demonstrate learning, while a president’s job does not require them to be the original author of speeches. One is academic dishonesty, the other is accepted political practice.
2. Pets euthanasia vs. assisted dying for humans
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Evaluation: Useful analogy.
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Reason: Both situations involve beings in severe pain with low quality of life. It highlights compassion and mercy. While ethical and legal complexities differ, the analogy draws attention to a morally relevant similarity.
3. Government as a parent, citizens as children
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Evaluation: Weak analogy.
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Reason: Parents and children are not equals, while governments and citizens are (ideally) in a social contract among equals. Citizens grant authority to the government, unlike a child who is born under parental authority. The analogy oversimplifies and misrepresents political relationships.
4. Marijuana vs. alcohol legality
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Evaluation: Useful analogy.
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Reason: Both are recreational substances with addictive potential and social risks. If alcohol is legally regulated despite harms, the analogy raises a fair argument that marijuana could be treated similarly. The comparison is not perfect but highlights an inconsistency in policy.
5. Knowledge consumption vs. market consumption
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Evaluation: Weak analogy.
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Reason: Education is not simply a consumer good; it involves expert knowledge, structured progression, and societal needs. Students may not know what knowledge will benefit them long-term, unlike consumers choosing products. The analogy reduces education to a simplistic marketplace model, which misrepresents its purpose.3
The phrase “to prevent future terrorist attacks” emotionally primes the respondent to answer “yes.”