Claims

We all have thoughts, opinions, and beliefs about ourselves, the world around us, and reality, as we perceive it - John thinks himself to be an hon­est, hard-working person; Judy is of the opinion that the State of Palestine should be granted full membership in the United Nations (UN); Jim believes that when people die, their souls go to a heavenly place, and so on.

This cake tastes really good to me.

Some spiders are orange in color.

Most children are born with two hands.

The moon appears to be small, but in actuality its radius is over 1,000 miles (1,600 km) across.

Bad Arguments: 100 of the Most Important Fallacies in Western Philosophy, First Edition.

Edited by Robert Arp, Steven Barbone, and Michael Bruce.

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Published 2019 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Margaret Thatcher was the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Margaret Thatcher was the best Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

The love of money is the root of human-perpetuated evils in this world.

Welfare programs actually create more poverty and should be abolished altogether.

Abortion is immoral.

There is an all-powerful, knowledgeable, and good God who cares deeply for humanity.

Claims are either true or false - either it is the case or it is not the case that John is an honest, hard-working person, or that the State of Palestine should be granted full membership in the UN, or that when people die, their souls go to a heavenly place, and so on. Unless you’re deranged or unaware for some reason, everyone agrees that the follow­ing claims are true:

(A) Some spiders are orange in color.

(B) Most children are born with two hands.

(C) Margaret Thatcher was the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

(D) There are craters on the moon.

On the other hand, everyone agrees that the following claims are false:

(A) The sun is a cube-shaped star.

(B) The cells in an animal’s body have little versions of that particular animal inside them.

(C) Bill Gates wrote War and Peace.

(D) A person can stand and sit at the same time, in the same respect.