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This book is a crash course, meant to catapult you into a world where you start to see things how they really are, not how you think they are. The focus of this book is on logical fallacies, which loosely defined, are simply errors in reasoning. With the reading of each page, you can make significant improvements in the way you reason and make decisions.
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I don't think this is a fallacy because it is not an error in reasoning. In the example you gave, you mentioned Sean Hannity was prepared with examples to support his position , but the callers are not prepared with any examples. If a person has laid out their reasoning behind having a certain position and is confident in their understanding of the issue then is challenged on that, the logical place to begin the discussion is to ask the person challenging that position to offer facts or examples that support their opposition. If none can be provided then there is no reason to take that person's claims seriously. If we assume a debate is won by the person who makes the best case for their side, then it does mean the person who was not prepared with any supporting points lost the debate. That's why it's important to be prepared with facts and reasoning before taking up a position in a debate. It can be argued that it's fallacious to publicly insist Hannity is wrong while being unable to provide any reasoning. I think this may qualify as proof by assertion—the caller is asserting a position without any information that would justify it but the assertion itself. And although Hannity can offer examples to support an alternative position, the caller nevertheless insists that their position is correct without ever providing proof. |
answered on Tuesday, Aug 17, 2021 08:22:39 AM by Monique Z | |
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RatWiki calls this the on-the-spot fallacy. The fact that a person doesn't have specific examples of phenomenon X doesn't mean phenomenon X does not exist, isn't happening, isn't important, etc. It just means the person doesn't have specific examples at that time. Someone might not have these examples because they forgot, aren't an expert, or don't have the resources on-hand. It's also usually an attempt by people to discredit another speaker, by seizing onto the fact they couldn't provide said examples. Person 1 could be losing the debate - wrong on every count - but take advantage of one lapse of knowledge by Person 2 to act as if they're a clueless bumbler, or are incapable of even having a viewpoint. So we have a couple of invalid inferences here: P) Person does not have specific examples of X C) X isn't happening (non sequitur) and P) Person does not have specific examples of X C) Person has no idea what they're saying (poisoning the well) Also, if the person demands one recite technical, but tangential resources in order to have an opinion, that's also a red herring. Now, it must be said that the inability to provide specific examples does not necessarily mean that phenomenon X is false...however, it does not also mean it is true. There are phenomena that should leave obvious traces of themselves behind if true...furthermore, there are phenomena that are highly unlikely based on the available/currently-known evidence. Lastly, there are people who are known to peddle lies. For these three reasons, sometimes it is okay to reject a claim because someone couldn't provide examples. Just make sure you're doing it within reason. |
answered on Monday, Aug 16, 2021 07:03:11 PM by TrappedPrior (RotE) | |
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