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'It's for your own good' fallacy?I would like to ask you good people about an apparent fallacy that frequently confronts me but I don't know which specific fallacy it is.
As a teacher (in Hong Kong) I often hear of kids being put under great pressure to do unseemly amounts of useless homework and attend numerous futile extracurricular classes, and the kids wilt under a spoon-feeding, elitist education system that sets grades and exam scores in much higher store than personal development. A spate of suicides and reports of depression among kids has prompted spirited pleas from some quarters for parents to ease off a bit and let the kids take a breath, to that they can achieve better personal development and grow through enjoying unstructured time. Some parents see the sense in this. However a hard core vanguard of 'helicopter / monster' parents persist with the overloading. When challenged by kids brave enough to stand up for themselves or other stakeholders, the argument is always the same: 'It's for your own good.' Variations on this include arguments that boil down to 'If you don't get straight As, you won't get a job and we'll all end up living under a bridge.' This way parents distance themselves from the burden they inflict on their offspring by making it appear like an act of charity. I would like to know if there is a specific term for this kind of fallacy. As far as I can see, it appears to be a rhetorical tactic of invoking an unanwswerable argument, for to dispute or debate it means to argue 'against' your 'own good' or to deny the importance of having a decently paying job. |
| asked on Thursday, Mar 16, 2017 04:06:44 AM by Stephen A | |
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Claims are constantly being made, many of which are confusing, ambiguous, too general to be of value, exaggerated, unfalsifiable, and suggest a dichotomy when no such dichotomy exists. Good critical thinking requires a thorough understanding of the claim before attempting to determine its veracity. Good communication requires the ability to make clear, precise, explicit claims, or “strong” claims. The rules of reason in this book provide the framework for obtaining this understanding and ability.
This book / online course is about the the eleven rules of reason for making and evaluating claims. Each covered in detail in the book.
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Variations on this include arguments that boil down to 'If you don't get straight As, you won't get a job and we'll all end up living under a bridge.'
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| answered on Thursday, Mar 16, 2017 07:12:10 AM by Bo Bennett, PhD | |
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