Question

...
87blue

What fallacy is it to dismiss something by comparing it to something similiar?

I am talking about the argument made in this tweet.

asked on Friday, Jul 19, 2024 06:10:02 PM by 87blue

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."

Eat Meat... Or Don't.

Roughly 95% of Americans don’t appear to have an ethical problem with animals being killed for food, yet all of us would have a serious problem with humans being killed for food. What does an animal lack that a human has that justifies killing the animal for food but not the human?

As you start to list properties that the animal lacks to justify eating them, you begin to realize that some humans also lack those properties, yet we don’t eat those humans. Is this logical proof that killing and eating animals for food is immoral? Don’t put away your steak knife just yet.

In Eat Meat… Or Don’t, we examine the moral arguments for and against eating meat with both philosophical and scientific rigor. This book is not about pushing some ideological agenda; it’s ultimately a book about critical thinking.

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

...
Dr. Richard
1

Please present the argument, not a link.

answered on Friday, Jul 19, 2024 06:45:42 PM by Dr. Richard

Dr. Richard Suggested These Categories

Comments

...
0
87blue writes:

It was a tweet made in response to someone watching the RNC. When the crowd was chanting "fight!" amd punching the air, the guy compared it to the cheering crowds in Nazi Germany, amd someone responded by posting some cheerleaders and asking if it's fascist to cheer fight in response to that? It was an appeal to mockery, but is it valid?

posted on Friday, Jul 19, 2024 07:32:00 PM
...
1
Dr. Richard writes:
[To 87blue]

To which of the two statements do you refer as mockery?

[ login to reply ] posted on Friday, Jul 19, 2024 07:49:18 PM
...
AI Fallacy Master
1
To address the argument in the given tweet by focusing on any logical fallacies, cognitive biases, poor logic, or poor reasoning, and to answer the specific question posed, here's a breakdown:

When a person dismisses something by comparing it to another similar thing, this often falls under the **False Equivalence** fallacy. This fallacy occurs when an argument incorrectly portrays two situations as similar, when they are not equivalently comparable in a meaningful or relevant context.

**Explanation and Examples**:

1. **False Equivalence**:
- **Fallacy Description**: False equivalence happens when it is assumed that because two things share one characteristic in common, they are equivalent in other respects.
- **Example**: Saying that "Smoking and eating candy are both bad for your health, so they must both be equally bad," fails to consider the vast differences in the degree and nature of harm caused by smoking as compared to eating candy.

2. **Other Potentially Related Fallacies**:
- **Strawman Fallacy**: Sometimes, while engaging in false equivalences, a person might misrepresent the original argument to make it easier to attack the comparison.
- **Red Herring**: In comparisons intended to dismiss an argument, the person might divert attention away from the core issue.

**Assessment of Logical Reasoning**:
- Arguments based purely on dismissive comparisons often miss the nuances and complexities involved in the issues.
- Relying on such comparisons without addressing the unique elements and context-specific factors leads to poor logic and reasoning.

Returning to your specific context—the tweet dismissing a group by comparing it to a similar group could indicate a failure to recognize the different underlying factors or contexts that differentiate the two groups, making it a case of false equivalence.

To conclude, the fallacy of dismissing something by comparing it to something similar is typically the **False Equivalence** fallacy, which assumes unjustifiable equality between two scenarios, aspects, or entities.
answered on Friday, Jul 19, 2024 06:10:12 PM by AI Fallacy Master

AI Fallacy Master Suggested These Categories

Comments