Question

...
Shawn

What is the difference between special pleading and a double standard?

Special Pleading: Adding an unjustified standard for a certain position.

Double Standard: Adding an extra standard that does not align with the previous standard.

The Examples I have seen on the internet are all the same, this fallacy is basically just a distinction but not a difference because they are interchangeable, I know many fallacies can fit into one argument but is there a case where one is a fallacy and the other isn't?

asked on Friday, Jan 14, 2022 01:06:22 PM by Shawn

Top Categories Suggested by Community

Comments
...
1
account no longer exists writes:

Gonna be honest I don't know and I don't think there is any difference.

posted on Friday, Jan 14, 2022 01:28:18 PM
...
0
Shawn writes:
[To River]

It is more a play on words than any real difference. 

[ login to reply ] posted on Sunday, Jan 16, 2022 07:45:25 AM
...
1
account no longer exists writes:

I agree. No difference.

posted on Friday, Jan 14, 2022 03:34:12 PM

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

...
TrappedPrior (RotE)
3

I think we can say that a Double Standard is not a fallacy itself, but more like an unfair convention that causes people to treat two things which should be treated the same, differently. Special Pleading would be the act of applying a Double Standard.

So, let's take misogyny for example.

Double Standard:

"It is okay for men to sleep around, but not for women to do the same."

Special Pleading:

Micah:  I can't stand it when women have multiple sexual partners. It's so slutty.

Lynn:  You've had multiple girlfriends, at once, in the past.

Micah:  Ah, but that's different.

answered on Friday, Jan 14, 2022 05:10:55 PM by TrappedPrior (RotE)

TrappedPrior (RotE) Suggested These Categories

Comments
...
1
Ed F writes:

I agree:   The two are closely related and that the fallacy is Special Pleading.  
 I notice (on the internet) that where they're both treated as fallacies, that with Double Standard the emphasis is on hypocrisy, whereas with Special Pleading, the emphasis is on inconsistency; i.e., the reasoner doesn’t apply his or her principles consistently (by allowing exceptions without any good basis for the exceptions).   They’re basically the same but the emphasis is different.
Dr. Bo's book has a list of various cognitive biases, including biases in decision making.  Having a Double Standard would appear to be a bias in decision making (toward one's self, or causes one believes in), which leads one to the Fallacy of Special Pleading.

posted on Saturday, Jan 15, 2022 11:05:48 AM