Question

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Vegard

If this happens then that happens fallacy

Hi,

I have a burning question that popped up during a debate among friends.

The one who made the argument stated that he would be making a strawman argument. But I do not think he was correct in that.

The argument was: If  they make facial mask required on airplanes in order to limit spread of disease, this will only accomplish a mass gathering at pharmacies thus defeating the purpose.

 

I am fairly certian that this is a logical fallacy, but I can't for the life of me figure out which one. Can anyone help?

asked on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 05:50:34 AM by Vegard

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Answers

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Bo Bennett, PhD
2

It doesn't even make sense to me, what do airplanes have to do with pharmacies? Is the assumption here that masks are only sold at pharmacies? In any case, this is more of a claim or opinion. We can assume a "therefore, they should not make masks a requirement on planes," and a "mass gathers at pharmacies is bad," but still, we have an unsupported claim that neglects to provide a reason why mandatory masks on planes will lead to crowded pharmacies.

 

answered on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 06:29:46 AM by Bo Bennett, PhD

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Vegard writes:

Hi,

yes that is correct. Where I live (Norway) masks are usually only sold at pharmacies. Thus that part is valid enough, but then again not everyone would go at the same time etc. So yes I think it would be safe to call it an unsupported claim.

I was however thinking more about what that type of thinking is called. It is something along the lines of saying if that is true, then this must be true.

Hope I was able to make more sense. Thanks for the fast reply!

posted on Wednesday, May 20, 2020 01:16:39 PM
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Bo Bennett, PhD writes:
[To Vegard]

It sounds like a Non Sequitur . "If this is true, then that is true" is either accurate or not. If it is accurate, then it is simply a fact. If it not, then it is a non sequitur (it doesn't follow).

[ login to reply ] posted on Wednesday, May 20, 2020 01:22:20 PM
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Vegard writes:

Hi again,

yes Bryan mention this in his answer, and I think that would be the most fitting comment to that statment. As he was not twisting our arguments but instead made his own, based on bad logic.

Thus it is not a "strawman" but a "non sequitur"
Thanks for the great help! :)

posted on Wednesday, May 20, 2020 01:26:51 PM
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Bryan
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Well I guess it could be if it's based on an actual argument which he is misrepresenting, though typically a straw man would take the form of misrepresenting the original argument by inference e.g. 

Mark says that the limit of alcohol allowed for drivers isn't low enough.

Gary responds that it would be crazy to relax the drink drive limit as some people are effected more severely by alcohol and would be out of control and high risk.

Here we can infer that Gary is responding to an argument which Mark didn't make. Because Mark wanted the limit  lowered it may sound as though this is a relaxation of the limit of you don't take pause and examine this properly. Thus it is a straw man as it could fool some people who observed the exchange. 

As to your friend's argument, it is just asserted without any rationale, so I would say that it's a n on sequitur; it does not follow that it will accomplish any such thing.

Going to the pharmacy doesn't involve sitting in close proximity to people for hours on end, in an enclosed environment with lots of shared surfaces.

Going to the pharmacy doesn't have to be within a specific timeframe which forces large numbers to be present at the same time. 

And going to the pharmacy isn't the only way to obtain a face mask. 

answered on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 06:33:08 AM by Bryan

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Vegard writes:

Hi and thanks for your reply. I belive that was the fallacy I was looking for. "Non sequitur" beacuse we do not know that masking face masks required on airplanes will cause mass gatherings at pharmacies.

Am I thinking about "non sequitur" correctly? Anyhow thanks a bunch for your reply!

posted on Wednesday, May 20, 2020 01:23:10 PM
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Jason Mathias
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Its not a strawman unless he was distorting someone else argument. 

answered on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 07:43:18 AM by Jason Mathias

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Fx
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Its not a strawman unless he was distorting someone else argument. 

answered on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 08:43:31 AM by Fx

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