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Stolen Concept Fallacy

Description: Requiring the truth of the something that you are simultaneously trying to disprove.

Logical Form:

Person 1 is attempting to disprove X.
X is required to disprove X.

Example #1:

Reason and logic are not always reliable, so we should not count on it to help us find truth.

Explanation: Here we are using reason to disprove the validity of reason, which is unreasonable -- reasonably speaking.

Example #2:

Science cannot be trusted.  It is a big conspiracy to cover up the truth of the Bible and the creation story.  Besides, I saw fossils in the creation museum with humans and dinosaurs together, which proves science is wrong!

Explanation: Geology is a branch of science.  Using science (examining fossils through the science of geology) to disprove science is absurd, a contradiction and, therefore, a fallacy in reasoning.

Exception: Intentional irony.

Fun Fact: The nofallacies fallacy is the belief that fallacies don't exist (not really).

References:

Peikoff, L. (1993). Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand. Penguin.

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Reason: Books I & II

This book is based on the first five years of The Dr. Bo Show, where Bo takes a critical thinking-, reason-, and science-based approach to issues that matter with the goal of educating and entertaining. Every chapter in the book explores a different aspect of reason by using a real-world issue or example.

Part one is about how science works even when the public thinks it doesn't. Part two will certainly ruffle some feathers by offering a reason- and science-based perspective on issues where political correctness has gone awry. Part three provides some data-driven advice for your health and well-being. Part four looks at human behavior and how we can better navigate our social worlds. In part five we put on our skeptical goggles and critically examine a few commonly-held beliefs. In the final section, we look at a few ways how we all can make the world a better place.

Get 20% off this book and all Bo's books*. Use the promotion code: websiteusers

* This is for the author's bookstore only. Applies to autographed hardcover, audiobook, and ebook.

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