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Ben and Jerry's Fallacy?The owners of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream are boycotting Israel over its treatment of Palestinians. In this video - Ben and Jerry: Hypocrites? - a woman suggests they're hypocrites because they aren't also boycotting Georgia and Texas, where abortions are banned. Using that same logic, we could criticize people who fought apartheid in South Africa while ignoring anti-abortion states. Or we could criticize people who condemn the U.S. invasion of Iraq but have nothing to say about states where it's legal to shoot wolves. Therefore, I would call this an example of comparing apples and oranges. And yet that doesn't seem to be the whole story. Is there a "matter of priorities" fallacy? Everyone is outraged by something, but no one can be outraged by everything. Some problems are simply bigger or more important than others. I also sense a possible Tu Quoque fallacy. Israel is quick to condemn Palestinians and Iranians, but they give their supporters a free ride. Does anyone else see a fallacy or fallacies in the woman's argument? |
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asked on Sunday, Nov 21, 2021 03:14:03 AM by David Blomstrom | ||||
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Claims are constantly being made, many of which are confusing, ambiguous, too general to be of value, exaggerated, unfalsifiable, and suggest a dichotomy when no such dichotomy exists. Good critical thinking requires a thorough understanding of the claim before attempting to determine its veracity. Good communication requires the ability to make clear, precise, explicit claims, or “strong” claims. The rules of reason in this book provide the framework for obtaining this understanding and ability.
This book / online course is about the the eleven rules of reason for making and evaluating claims. Each covered in detail in the book.
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My last blog post/podcast addresses this point: https://www.bobennett.com/posts/bobennett/stay-calm-enjoy-life.html Bottom line, there are millions of "causes," and we can't possibly put our resources towards all of them. Nobody actually suggests we should, but they find moral/rational fault when one doesn't support the cause of their particular choice. This is a failure of critical thinking. Using a reductio, this would mean that everyone on the planet is at fault for not supporting some worthy cause. |
answered on Sunday, Nov 21, 2021 07:28:24 AM by Bo Bennett, PhD | |
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