Single choice · #295
A wife says to her husband: "You've been late to pick up the kids the last three times you promised." The husband replies: "You're really making a big deal out of this—do you want me to quit my job and become a stay-at-home dad?" Question: What logical fallacy is the husband's response mainly committing?
Show answer & explanation
Answer: B
- ARed herring—he shifts the topic from "being late" to "quitting his job."✗ A red herring merely jumps to an unrelated issue. Here, the husband first exaggerates the criticism "being late" into "quitting his job" and then attacks that, which better fits the straw man fallacy.
- BStraw man—he exaggerates the wife's criticism into a demand that he quit his job, then attacks that distorted view.✓ The wife merely states the fact of being late; she did not ask her husband to quit his job. By exaggerating the criticism into "quit and become a stay-at-home dad," he attacks a false version of the argument, which is the straw man fallacy.
- CFalse dilemma—he claims the options are either quitting or continuing to be late.✗ The husband does not present a forced choice between "quitting" and "continuing to be late." He uses a rhetorical question to distort the wife's intent, so this is not a false dilemma.
- DSlippery slope—he argues that criticizing lateness will eventually lead to losing his job.✗ The husband does not describe a chain reaction where criticizing lateness leads to unemployment. This is unrelated to the slippery slope fallacy.
Explanation:The correct response is to restate the opponent's point and confirm: "Are you saying that I've been late three times picking up the kids, and that worries you?" The husband does not do this; instead, he twists the criticism about "being late three times" into "you want me to quit my job," which is a straw man. Key observation: he attacks a position that the wife did not actually hold.