Question

...
Jason Mathias

Can subjectivity make a fallacy not a fallacy?

Professional artist A creates paintings. 

Person 1: Artist A's artwork is bad because he is a Biden supporter. 

Now, I know this is usually a non sequitur fallacy because the two things are completely unrelated. But, since artwork being good or bad is subjective does that change things? Say person 1 has negative feelings about Biden, and so when he looks at the artwork of a Biden supporter he gets negative feelings and it makes the artwork look bad to him. Or, maybe he is just lying for political reasons. How would we then tell if its a logical fallacy or not? 

asked on Monday, Dec 06, 2021 04:09:24 PM by Jason Mathias

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."

Uncomfortable Ideas: Facts don't care about feelings. Science isn't concerned about sensibilities. And reality couldn't care less about rage.

This is a book about uncomfortable ideas—the reasons we avoid them, the reasons we shouldn’t, and discussion of dozens of examples that might infuriate you, offend you, or at least make you uncomfortable.

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.

Get 20% off this book and all Bo's books*. Use the promotion code: websiteusers

* This is for the author's bookstore only. Applies to autographed hardcover, audiobook, and ebook.

Get the Book

Answers

...
Bo Bennett, PhD
2

This reminds me of the post a few weeks about not finding a trans woman attractive only after one realizes she is trans. Art is subjective, and it is possible that knowing unfavorable things about the artist can sway one's opinion. Another example, I honestly am not attracted to beautiful women with lousy personalities. I would say, "She is not attractive because she is a horrible human being." The clear implication, because we are dealing with an obviously subjective term, is that she is not attractive to me.

Regardless, we are not talking about an argument here; we are talking about an opinion (i.e., an expression of one's personal preferences), so no fallacy. This is unlike saying Artist A's claim that vaccines are safe and effective is wrong because he's a Biden supporter . The truth of the claim is objective, or independent of the mind - not an opinion.

Preferences are largely arational; that is, we can't find a rational basis for having them nor can we find them irrational. If you think the art sucks because it was painted by a Biden supporter, then so be it.

answered on Monday, Dec 06, 2021 05:20:33 PM by Bo Bennett, PhD

Bo Bennett, PhD Suggested These Categories

Comments

...
0
TrappedPrior (RotE) writes:

Yeah. I mean you  could  say, "well, that's not really dealing with the physical qualities of the art, is it?" but since it's an opinion (even if one thinks it's stupid), it's not fallacious.

posted on Monday, Dec 06, 2021 08:00:14 PM