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Progressophobia??Bill Maher had a bit about 'Progressophobia', that seemed to start with an argument based on a false premise about people thinking that racism is worse now than in the past. ... and that therefore people are afraid to admit there's been any progress. How would one refute his arguments from the video? This is my first question here and would appreciate any input from all the experts. Brgds, Reg.
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| asked on Saturday, Jun 12, 2021 01:35:45 PM by Reg Cliff | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Maher commits a fallacy of defective induction by implying all progressives have Hart's view. He is also committing an ad hominem (guilt by association) transfer fallacy. Maher states that all who identify as progressive hold the same narrow (wrong) view as Kevin Hart's (unelaborated) statement. He is intimating all progressives are oblivious, which is disrespectful in addition to being specious. |
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| answered on Sunday, Jun 13, 2021 05:19:54 PM by Steven Hobbs | |||||||||||
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Just watched this.
I wouldn't call this a false premise. There are certainly people who think racism is worse than ever—he even provided an example (a Google search turns up many examples). He made no claim that all people believe this—the implication is that this is becoming a familiar narrative (I would say from a vocal minority).
Maher is using Stephen Pinker's definition of progressaphobia from his book, Enlightenment Now, where Pinker defines it as "hostility to the idea of progress and a fondness for narratives of decline, decadence, degeneration, and doom." In my professional view, as a social psychologist, this is certainly a thing. Celebrating progress is often seen as holding right-wing views, dismissing concerns, and even being racist/sexist/transphobic, etc. Personally, I took heat on social media when I would post about the progress we were making with COVID. This negative feedback and accusations of "not taking COVID seriously" let me to shut up about it publicly, and no longer celebrate the progress we were making. In other words, I was afraid to post about the progress we made. And I am not alone. Perhaps Maher did commit some fallacies in the specifics that I missed, but I don't see anything fallacious with his general argument here. |
| answered on Tuesday, Jun 15, 2021 06:10:09 AM by Bo Bennett, PhD | |
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