FIS - ACIS

English for Further Studies

Presented by: Fathmath Rizna &
Aminath Fareesha
#$*&@..
You should
talk politely..
Then why
are you
shouting!
Example:
A cloud is 90% water. A watermelon is 90% water.
Therefore, since a plane can fly through a cloud, a
plane can fly through a watermelon.

What is a fallacy?
A fallacy is an error in logic a place where
someone has made a mistake in his thinking.

Explanation:
The tu quoque fallacy is committed when it is assumed that because
someone else has done a thing there is nothing wrong with doing it.
Tu quoque literally means you too and that is to object to a view or
advice from a person because the person doesnt adhere to the advice.

Consider this dialogue:
Father: Dont smoke; it is bad for you.
Son: But dad you smoke, so I should be able to.

The sons reply is irrelevant to the advice and is thus an instance of the
tu quoque fallacy.
What is Tu Quoque?
(The concept of someone else did it so I can)
Translation: "You, also" or "You're another", Latin


Examples and Observations:
"It is clear that a tu quoque response to an accusation can
never disprove the accusation.

Consider the following:

Moosa: You cheated on your Tax. Don't you realize that's
wrong?

Ahmed: Hey,You cheated on your Income tax last year. Or
have you forgotten about that?

Ahmed may be correct in his counter-accusation, but that
does not show that Wilma's accusation is false."


Example 2:



America: We urge Maldives to halt death penalty. It
might effect your population.



Maldives: You are already sentencing for death
penalties. So who are you to advice about it. Huh?


EXERCISE
Tick the Tu Quoques from the following:
1. Philosophers try to convince us that we should
try to be as rational as possible. But I surely
know that they arent rational all the time!

2. Almost everybody in Maldives approves of
voting. So It must be okay.

3. Fatimah believes in ghosts. Thats fine. But for
me, they dont exist.

4. My sister has a lot of nerve criticizing me for
to study further in Islamic studies to improve
my education. When she had left school after
grade seven!
5. Mom how can you tell me not to experiment
with fire when you do the same thing at kitchen
everyday?

6. The majority of Maldivians like Rihaakuru,
therefore Rihaakuru is good.

7. Man: You forgot to deposit the cheque into the
Islamic bank yesterday.
His friend: Even you had forgotten last week.

8. I think the government should be more strict in
taking zakaai then taking tax.

References:
Page 4: (W. Hughes and J. Lavery, Critical Thinking,
Broadview, 2004)

Page 6 :
http://www4.uwsp.edu/philosophy/dwarren/CTStra
ightText/Ch8SIFExQuAcAnswers.pdf

https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/tu-quoque