Question

question 1 determine the error in each example of deductive reasoning. a) it is snowing today and it only snows in december therefore it is december. b) a bmw is driven by rich people. a bmw is the type of car i drive. therefore, i am a rich person. c) sean is a high school student. all high school students dislike cooking. therefore, sean dislikes cooking. d) all squares have four right angles. quadrilateral abcd has four right angles. therefore abcd is a square.

Explanation:

• a) Just because it's snowing and it only snows in December sometimes doesn't mean it's December. This is a non - sequitur as the conclusion doesn't follow from the premise.
• b) Just because BMWs are driven by some rich people and one drives a BMW doesn't necessarily mean one is rich. There is a hasty generalization and wrong assumption of a one - to - one relationship.
• c) Just because all high school students in a general statement dislike cooking doesn't mean Sean, a particular high school student, dislikes cooking. This is a fallacy of over - generalization.
• d) Just because a quadrilateral has four right angles doesn't mean it's a square. It could be a rectangle. This is an incorrect assumption of equivalence.

Answer:

a) Non - sequitur. Just because it's snowing and snow is common in December doesn't prove it's December.
b) Hasty generalization. Driving a BMW doesn't guarantee one is rich.
c) Over - generalization. What's true for all high school students may not be true for Sean.
d) Incorrect assumption. A quadrilateral with four right angles isn't always a square.