Which excerpt from the text is the most evident example of fallacious reasoning?

"Do you suppose if they lived up here on the northwest side and had no money, ... that any human being would want to hang them?"

"Both of these boys are in the adolescent age, both these boys whom every alienist in this case on both sides tells you is the most trying period in the life of a child, ..."

"We all know where our lives have been molded by books, amongst other things."

"And yet there are men who seriously say that for what nature has done, for what life has done, for what training has done, take the boys' lives."

Question

Kiersten Bradley

English

15 August, 22:43

Which excerpt from the text is the most evident example of fallacious reasoning?

"Do you suppose if they lived up here on the northwest side and had no money, ... that any human being would want to hang them?"

"Both of these boys are in the adolescent age, both these boys whom every alienist in this case on both sides tells you is the most trying period in the life of a child, ..."

"We all know where our lives have been molded by books, amongst other things."

"And yet there are men who seriously say that for what nature has done, for what life has done, for what training has done, take the boys' lives."

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Answers (1)

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Cecelia Griffith · Answer 1

The most evident example of fallacious reasoning is the second excerpt: "Both of these boys are in the adolescent age, both these boys whom every alienist in this case on both sides tells you is the most trying period in the life of a child ..."

The second excerpt is an example of the type of fallacious reasoning called "Ad Hominem" or "Bandwagon Appeal." This type of fallacious reasoning is when there is an attempt to convince readers/audience members by communicating that everyone else already believes something, so they should "jump on the bandwagon" and allow themselves to be persuaded. We can see how within the excerpt this is done with the words "every alienist in this case on both sides tells you ..."