Question

...
The Dudeman

Fallacies by Fictional Characters

I'm writing about fictional characters and I was planning on doing a critical analysis section showing some fallacious statements made by them (I was initially inspired by the Yoda example in the book), and I just want some help determining if these three statements contain any fallacies. One of them, I have an idea (though I'm not very confident) of what the fallacy is if there is one, the others I'm not sure *if* there's a fallacy, let alone what they'd be. Help is appreciated.


1. "The only thing that is impossible is impossibility."

2. "We do have a lot in common, the same earth, the same air, the same sky. Maybe if we started looking at what's the same instead of always looking at what's different... Well, who knows?"

(This one feels like the Argument from Silence, but I'm not too sure.)

3. "People's values change over time. And so do the leaders of a country. So there's no such thing as an enemy in absolute terms. The enemies we fight are only in relative terms, constantly changing with the times."
asked on Monday, May 15, 2017 05:24:11 AM by The Dudeman

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."

Master the "Rules of Reason" for Making and Evaluating Claims

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

Take the Online Course

Answers

...
Bo Bennett, PhD
0

The only thing that is impossible is impossibility.


Tautology or self-sealing argument . But only if the context of an argument. Statements like this are usually meant to communicate a deeper philosophical meaning or even irony. One might respond to that with "If by 'only' you mean 'impossibility' and countless other things such as married bachelors, square circles, or doubling a cube, then sure."

We do have a lot in common, the same earth, the same air, the same sky. Maybe if we started looking at what's the same instead of always looking at what's different... Well, who knows?



Nothing jumps out at me here as a logical fallacy without being unreasonably critical. I actually like that idea.

People's values change over time. And so do the leaders of a country. So there's no such thing as an enemy in absolute terms. The enemies we fight are only in relative terms, constantly changing with the times.



Let's put this one into logical form:

P1. People's values change over time.
P2. Leaders of a country change over time.
C. Therefore, there's no such thing as an enemy in absolute terms.

I would say a simple non-sequitur —the conclusion does not follow. Perhaps even fallacy of four terms because we are introducing "enemy" in the conclusion, which was not in either of the premises.


answered on Monday, May 15, 2017 05:55:25 AM by Bo Bennett, PhD

Bo Bennett, PhD Suggested These Categories

Comments