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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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Many of our ideas about the world are based more on feelings than facts, sensibilities than science, and rage than reality. We gravitate toward ideas that make us feel comfortable in areas such as religion, politics, philosophy, social justice, love and sex, humanity, and morality. We avoid ideas that make us feel uncomfortable. This avoidance is a largely unconscious process that affects our judgment and gets in the way of our ability to reach rational and reasonable conclusions. By understanding how our mind works in this area, we can start embracing uncomfortable ideas and be better informed, be more understanding of others, and make better decisions in all areas of life.
* This is for the author's bookstore only. Applies to autographed hardcover, audiobook, and ebook.
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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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