Favorite Fallacies—of the Very Informal Kind

Favorite Fallacies—of the Very Informal Kind

Long ago, I started a thread on logical fallacies sometimes seen on here—not of the formal kind, or even run-of-the-mill informal fallacies—but ones formulated with, perhaps, a bit of whimsy. It is likely that they can be reduced to run-of-the-mill informal (or even formal) fallacies—but the idea is to present them in a fun way, based on stuff that has been seen on these threads.

For example:

Argument from Terribleness: “If that were true, then that would be just terrible; therefore, it cannot be true!”

Or:

The Any Idiot Argument: “Any idiot knows that—so, if you don’t already know it, there’s no sense in explaining it.” (Subtitle: “No epistemic justification needed”.)

Those may not be particularly good ones, but you get the idea. I thought it might be fun to see what people might come up with. So . . .?

Originally posted by vistesd
[b]Favorite Fallacies—of the Very Informal Kind

Long ago, I started a thread on logical fallacies sometimes seen on here—not of the formal kind, or even run-of-the-mill informal fallacies—but ones formulated with, perhaps, a bit of whimsy. It is likely that they can be reduced to run-of-the-mill informal (or even formal) fallacies—but the idea is to ...[text shortened]... but you get the idea. I thought it might be fun to see what people might come up with. So . . .?[/b]

Originally posted by vistesd
[b]Favorite Fallacies—of the Very Informal Kind

Long ago, I started a thread on logical fallacies sometimes seen on here—not of the formal kind, or even run-of-the-mill informal fallacies—but ones formulated with, perhaps, a bit of whimsy. It is likely that they can be reduced to run-of-the-mill informal (or even formal) fallacies—but the idea is to ...[text shortened]... but you get the idea. I thought it might be fun to see what people might come up with. So . . .?[/b]

Argument by Uninformed Opinion

For example; "I know nothing at all about evolution but I don't need to because I know it's false".

Good stuff! I’ll try to come with some more as well.

Along the lines of the "Any Idiot Argument" is the "Everybody knows" Argument.
Whenever I hear people say "everybody knows" [ whatever the subject], I always have to question that...usually

The "I don't understand it, therefore it belongs in a different category" argument. eg 'God did it', 'it's supernatural', 'it must have been aliens'. Even though a natural physical or human explanation is always the most reasonable explanation people tend to separate out certain phenomena they cant understand and invent a category that doesn't have to follow the normal rules and thus they have an excuse for not understanding. Of course they then make up a new set of rules regarding this category and can then proclaim to understand the phenomena without anyone else being able to contradict them.

Argument from someone else's lack of personal experience. Very common when discussing education/bringing up children.

"You wouldn't think that if you had actually had kids"

(even though you have cited 26 separate authoritative studies proving your point).

(I know, I had this thrown at me before I had kids. Now I have them, of course, I realise its true.) 🙂

Argument from complete linguistic contradiction.

"Scientists don't know everything."

(Indeed: if they did, they couldn't be scientists, by definition.)

Argument from bogus generalisation

"Of course you support milltary intervention, you are American."

"Why are you atheists all so angry all the time?"

Last one from me, then I'll shut up.

Argument from complete failure to appreciate we might not all be the same.

"I don't think anyone can be truly happy unless they are married."

"Err.....I am truly happy and I am not married."

"Ah, bless you, you just think you are....."

Argument non sequitur

Prove it, or else it doesn't exist.

Argument from similarity leading to equality.
This is Kellys favourite argument, but I most recently came across it from knightmeister:

Once you realize that your whole world view rests upon a premise which you cannot prove you will realize that we are ALL in the business of faith in a subtle way that many don't acknowledge.

Argument from Meaninglessnes: “Even if we don’t know what ‘good’ means when applied to George, we can still know that George is ‘good’.”

If You Can’t Show It Isn’t So, Then I’m Justified in Believing It: “Ha! You can’t know that there isn’t a tiny orange unicorn in the refrigerator who only shows up when the door is closed—so I’m just as justified in believing it as you are in denying it. Ya can’t prove a negative, ya know!”

Argument from Bizarro Definitions: “You don’t know—a banana might really be an orange, and then it really is a citrus fruit.”