Question

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Andrew C.

Denial of a claim used as proof the claim is correct

I see this used more and more and while it used to be rejected out of hand as being absurd, it is now widely accepted.

The best example I can give centers around critical race theory and the idea that all white people are racist. It usually goes like this: 

Person A: I’ve been reading “White Fragility” and I like it.
Person B: I’m familiar with it but I don’t agree all white people are racist. I am not racist. 
Person A: You can’t admit it because you suffer from white fragility.

It clearly violates the principle of falsifiability but would it fall under a logical fallacy? 

asked on Thursday, Apr 08, 2021 11:31:56 PM by Andrew C.

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Answers

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Bo Bennett, PhD
7

It has aspects of the conspiracy theory in that denials of the accusation are seen as evidence for the accusation. Mostly, it is just rhetoric.

We can also call it a simple non sequitur if the conclusion is stated clearly (or even implied).

"I'm not racist."
"That's exactly what a racist would say. So you are racist."

"I'm not an idiot."
"Idiots are too stupid to know they're idiots, so you are an idiot."

 

answered on Friday, Apr 09, 2021 09:08:29 AM by Bo Bennett, PhD

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TrappedPrior (RotE) writes:

Sorry Doc, a bit pedantic but you used the wrong "they're" ;)

Just looks ironic, unless that was your intention.

posted on Friday, Apr 09, 2021 09:34:24 AM
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Bo Bennett, PhD writes:
[To Rationalissimo]

It was ironic, but not my intention :)

[ login to reply ] posted on Friday, Apr 09, 2021 09:46:39 AM
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TrappedPrior (RotE)
5

This could be multiple specific fallacies depending on how the conclusion is reached.

1) affirming the consequent

P) A racist would never admit that they are racist (because of their 'white fragility')

P) You refused to admit that you are racist (because of your 'white fragility')

C) You are racist (because you refused to admit it).

2) bulverism 

P) You denied that you were racist.

P) Suffering from white fragility means you deny that you are racist.

Implicit P) White fragility makes your denial invalid

C) Your denial is invalid, and you are racist.

3) circular reasoning 

P) You are racist because you have white fragility.

C) You have white fragility because you are racist.

4) fallacy of opposition 

P) Those who disagree with me have white fragility.

P) White fragility means you are racist.

P) If you are racist, you are wrong.

C) Those who disagree with me are wrong (and racist).

5) unfalsifiability 

Since the only way to get out of the argument is to accept its premises, there is no way to test the claims it makes (because doing so "proves" they are right, as the person is claimed to have 'fragility', and a form of fragility is expressing skepticism towards - or testing - said claims). We have an unfalsifiable hypothesis.

Unfalsifiability only means it's unscientific; not that it is false. But without good evidence, we should not accept the claim.

The fundamental problem is that the conclusion does not follow (non sequitur). Depending on context and phrasing, this could fall under many fallacies.

answered on Friday, Apr 09, 2021 09:50:13 AM by TrappedPrior (RotE)

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Shockwave writes:

Great answer.

posted on Saturday, Apr 10, 2021 09:45:16 AM
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Shockwave writes:

6) fallacy of (the) undistributed middle 

P) All racists refuse to admit to being racists.

P) You refuse to admit to being racists.

C) You are racist.

posted on Tuesday, Apr 13, 2021 07:05:34 PM
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Jordan Pine
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I can see at least two possible fallacies here:

dicto simpliciter (accident fallacy)

"Some white people are racist; therefore, all white people are racist" is a grotesque stereotype, a sweeping generalization applied to all people of a certain race.

shifting of the burden of proof

The claim "you are a racist" would obviously require justification, so Person A in your dialogue is cleverly making Person B argue in the negative and prove he/she ISN'T a racist. That's shifting the burden of proof. As I understand it, these theories (anti-racism is another) are built on this fallacy because white people must prove they are becoming less racist  ("not racist" or "no longer racist" aren't options) to the people who created and/or teach these theories.

answered on Friday, Apr 09, 2021 09:37:50 AM by Jordan Pine

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Shockwave writes:

Some white people are racist; therefore, all white people are racist

This would be an example of hasty generalization , I don't see what it has to do with accident fallacy . The claim that "white people are racists" could hardly be considered a common and accepted rule.

posted on Saturday, Apr 10, 2021 10:00:07 AM
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Jordan Pine writes:

[To Shockwave]

You're right. The argument I formulated goes the wrong direction (from specific to general). That's a hasty generalization.

The accident fallacy goes the other way (from general to specific) and ignores qualifications. Per Britannica: "This fallacy is committed when a general proposition is used as the premise for an argument without attention to the (tacit) restrictions and qualifications that govern it and invalidate its application in the manner at issue."

I think that fallacy is present in the argument of the book to which Person B was responding. It goes something like: "Yesterday's white people were racists. Therefore, today's white people are racists." What do you think?

[ login to reply ] posted on Saturday, Apr 10, 2021 10:56:31 AM
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Shockwave writes:
[To Jordan Pine]

Yesterday's white people were racists. Therefore, today's white people are racists.

I would classify this as non sequitur . I did not take the terms "today" and "yesterday" literally, I guess that was the intention.

I am trying to understand why you classify such an argument as accident fallacy .

This is what comes to my mind:
P: Whites have been racists for a very long time.
Based on this premise, an implicit "rule" is reached: Whites are racists.
Then that "rule" is applied to today's whites, ignoring the reasons why the same cannot be applied, and that is the "specific" situation in which we live, education, spiritual uplift, the existence of influential strata in social reality that are against racism...

Apart from the invalidity of the argument itself, the first premise is problematic, for several reasons, but you can probably see it for yourself, so I won't take your time on the elaboration.

Am I on the right track? Our task is to find the "general proposition" part of accident fallacy .

[ login to reply ] posted on Saturday, Apr 10, 2021 12:04:18 PM
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Jordan Pine writes:
[To Shockwave]

I think you are on the right track. Perhaps Dr. Bo can weigh in on the formulations and, if none are correct, present a better formulation of the accident fallacy in this instance. 

On a separate note, you are correct about my non-literal use of words. Perhaps a better way of putting it is: "Historically, white people were racists. Therefore,  white people are racists today."

[ login to reply ] posted on Saturday, Apr 10, 2021 01:25:41 PM
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richard smith
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Sounds like person A is just giving an opinion. The only fact I See is "Person A: I’ve been reading “White Fragility” and I like it."

answered on Friday, Apr 09, 2021 08:44:02 AM by richard smith

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