It doesn't necessarily follow that the one who commits the least fallacies has the truth on their side.
Arguments that don't work
- Thread starter Flying Pig
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ParadigmShifter
Random Nonsense Generator
But you are a lawyer 
LucyDuke
staring at the clock
A few of them will, yeah. I usually run out of steam before I find them.
But you are a lawyer
So he should know!
Mark Young
Formerly Sir Eric
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2003
- Messages
- 1,799
That is essentially what it comes down to. Truth, I would say, is only established if a person is willing to accept it. But even then, I would argue that truth is always true irregardless of whether the receiver understands it or not.
Truth, is the one consistent constant. An opinion based on anything else is false.
Formaldehyde
Both Fair And Balanced
But you or anybody else typically has no idea what truth actually is in most cases. The only time you know for certain are the trivial cases based solely on indisputable facts, and which are not subject to argument by definition. You just have opinions you may think are true, just like everybody else.
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Nylan
Characters Welcome
Erik Mesoy
Core Tester / Intern
I think the following is a good example of a type of argument which comes about a lot, doesn't prove anything, and shouldn't be used.
The Sophisticate: "The world isn't black and white. No one does pure good or pure bad. It's all gray. Therefore, no one is better than anyone else."
The Zetet: "Knowing only gray, you conclude that all grays are the same shade. You mock the simplicity of the two-color view, yet you replace it with a one-color view..."
(hat-tip Eliezer Yudkowsky, The Fallacy of Gray.)The Zetet: "Knowing only gray, you conclude that all grays are the same shade. You mock the simplicity of the two-color view, yet you replace it with a one-color view..."
-- Marc Stiegler, David's Sling
Angst
Rambling and inconsistent
Good idea, but too advanced English to me. 
Using a bad argument well is an art skill in itself. Rhetoric gets things done, you know. It's all fine and dandy to yell out logical fallacies when you see them, but that doesn't mean whatever you want to happen is going to happen necessarily. It's the logic in the classroom vs. rhetoric in everyday life.
Mise
isle of lucy
I can't think of an argument or discussion I've had, here or IRL, in which I didn't commit a logical fallacy, nor one that I lost as a result.
MrPopov
King
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2006
- Messages
- 985
Spotlight fallacy: when a person uncritically assumes that all members or cases of a certain class or type are like those that receive the most attention or coverage in the media
I would say this charactirizes a lot of the discussions involving crime on this forum.
I would say this charactirizes a lot of the discussions involving crime on this forum.
Ziggy Stardust
Absolutely Sane
The analogy argument. Example from another forum over the argument whether religion is essential to spirituality. The 'argument' was:
When you have a can of tomatoes you need a can opener to get to those tomatoes. Just like religion is the can opener that will grant access to spirituality.
Not knowing how to react and trying to work with him to see what the heck he was on about, I opted many prefer their tomatoes uncanned and fresh and right from the tomato tree.
To which I got: No Ziggy, the analogy doesn't work that way.
When you have a can of tomatoes you need a can opener to get to those tomatoes. Just like religion is the can opener that will grant access to spirituality.
Not knowing how to react and trying to work with him to see what the heck he was on about, I opted many prefer their tomatoes uncanned and fresh and right from the tomato tree.
To which I got: No Ziggy, the analogy doesn't work that way.
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