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G

Which fallacy is this?

The other day I was arguing with a Christian about God and he said that to define right, we need to first know what is wrong. And it struck me in the head and I think it is a fallacious statement.
asked on Sunday, Jun 18, 2017 12:07:13 AM by G

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skips777
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Well. I'm not sure if their reasoning is fallacious because essentially right and wrong have to coexist. What I mean by that is if everything were "right", for example, people would not need to assign a distinction to them and vice versa. Another example would be if every animal were female there wouldn't be a need to distinguish between male and female so the terms wouldn't exist. So maybe they are saying it based on needing a distinction. They may also be saying that God is the authority on right and wrong so they believe that the basis for them knowing right and wrong must first be established by God. It's really hard to assume what they may mean. And there's also the possibility I have absolutely no idea what the hell I'm talking about.
answered on Sunday, Jun 18, 2017 04:24:09 AM by skips777

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Bo Bennett, PhD
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I see no direct fallacy, but it borders on many, especially depending where this conversation is headed.

Why not "to define wrong, we need to first know what is right?" One can argue that this is an example of Circular Reasoning . This is a case where we have two opposites, let's say A and Z. Together, they make up a single concept. What we are really asking is to define the concept. Without knowing the concept, we cannot properly define A or Z. If we can't know what is Z, then we can't know what is A. If we can't know what is A, we can't know what is Z, and we're screwed.

What's "wrong"?
The opposite of "right."
What's right?
The opposite of "wrong."

Let's suppose we play this game and do as the person suggests and define "right" based on what we know about "wrong." What we end up with is the appearance of understanding, but actually a. Morality is perhaps the #1 concept that very few people understand yet pretend to, so they try to define it with examples (e.g., "It's wrong to torture a baby for fun."). By Appeal to Extremes , we once again give the illusion that we know what we are talking about, yet without an understanding of the concept itself, we are lost when it comes to determining right or wrong in more moderate cases.
answered on Sunday, Jun 18, 2017 05:35:31 AM by Bo Bennett, PhD

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