Limited Scope example as Begging the Question
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Original Question
The "Example 2" of begging the question I think fits better under the limited scope .
The example is 'The reason everyone wants the new "Slap Me Silly Elmo" doll is because this is the hottest toy of the season!' and the explanation says 'it is simply rewording the claim'. I think it should be moved to the Limited Scope examples.
Comments on Question
I think you have a point.
The description for limited scope is:
"The theory doesn't explain anything other than the phenomenon it explains (that one thing), and at best, is likely to be incomplete. This is often done by just redefining a term or phrase rather than explaining it."
And the example seems to fit that! The claim is merely repeated in other words, instead of being explained.
Answers
1The way I understand limited scope is that it is a fallacy that proposes a theory to explain something, but the theory only explains that phenomenon and nothing else (and perhaps would be a subclass of question begging).
In the "Slap Me Silly Elmo" example, there is no proposed theory to explain something. It is a claim made about how things are, namely, everyone wants that doll (or "this is the hottest toy of the season"). Side note at the end.
If we develop a theory, however, to explain such a trend, we might commit the limited scope fallacy.
Ex: The reason everyone wants the new "Slap Me Silly Elmo" doll is that everyone thinks it is the hottest toy of the season.
The proposed theory is that everyone thinks that the toy is the hottest toy of the season, and that would explain why everyone wants it. We can write this example in argument form:
1. Everyone wants the new toy. (phenomenon)
2. Everyone thinks it is the hottest toy of the season (theory)
3. Therefore, line 2 explains line 1.
Notice how thinking that the new toy is the hottest toy of the season doesn't mean that you want it. So this might not be a limited scope fallacy. But if we add this: "everyone who thinks that it is the hottest toy of the season wants the toy," then we have a limited scope fallacy.
As a side note, we could always argue that everything is a theory. I remember reading about this in an intro to philosophy book. Under this notion, stating how things are would be theories.
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Hi guys. I will review this thread carefully when I have some time. I update the website in real time when I made changes, then update the book about once a year. It is about that time.