|
What type of fallacy is this? (Featuring Bertrand Russell)Someone on Quora asked the question: "Why was Bertrand Russell so critical of Nietzsche?". One of the responses especially stood out to me as it was written by a professor of law with a BA in philosophy. You would expect someone with those credentials to have a well thought-out answer; however, it is mostly a collection of personal attacks against Bertrand. If you're interested, the full response can be found here. For this question, I am specifically concerned with the following excerpt: "Unfortunately, for all his literary fluency, Bertie was a failed philosopher and the most he accomplished as a mathematician is providing us with a formalism which requires at least 450 pages of close notation before reaching '2 + 2 = 4'. Extraordinary rigour in the service of triviality is NOT what philosophy is about." Here, the arguer is trying to frame Bertrand's work in a way that makes it seem unduly trivial. It strikes me as an obvious fallacy, but I can't put my finger on it. Perhaps it's just an ad hominem, but it also reminds me of those arguments that try to reduce a complex phenomenon into 'nothing more' than an interaction of its parts. For example: "Music is nothing special. It's just a bunch of soundwaves entering the eardrums and being interpreted by the brain." What does the Logically Fallacious community think? I'm looking forward to your replies. Thanks! |
asked on Tuesday, Oct 19, 2021 08:40:00 AM by KDU | |
Top Categories Suggested by Community |
|
Comments |
|
|
Want to get notified of all questions as they are asked? Update your mail preferences and turn on "Instant Notification."
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.
|
I agree that there's no fallacy here. However unfair it is effectively snarky criticism. |
answered on Tuesday, Oct 19, 2021 12:46:04 PM by Mchasewalker | |
Mchasewalker Suggested These Categories |
|
Comments |
|
|