Sunday 14 August 2011

Fallacies

A fallacy is a flaw in logic. Here is a guide to some of them (put in the familiar context of a intelligence design promoter):

Appeal to Authority
Example: Isaac Newton was Christian, therefore Christianity is right!
Definition: The idea that a person in charge/famous person supports your argument, so it must be right.
Counter Argument: Just because he was good at one thing, doesn't mean he is good at everything.

Appeal to the Masses
Example: There are 2 billion Christians, therefore Christianity is right!
Definition: The idea that a lot of people support your argument, so it must be right.
Counter Argument: A million people could believe that gravity is nonexistant or that pi=3, but that doesn't make those statements any more true.

Fallacy of Composition
Example: Humans are intelligent, humans are part of the universe, therefore the universe is intelligent
Definition: The idea the something true about a part means the same thing is true about the whole.
Counter Argument: Just because a part of something has a property, it doesn't mean the whole of it has a property. For example, though the universe contains empty space, doesn't mean that the whole universe is empty space.

Ad Hominem
Example: Soviet Russia promoted Atheism, so Atheism can't be right
Definition: The idea that someone's beliefs/actions are linked to negative things they did
Counter Argument: Soviet Russians also breathed, so by your logic, breathing is wrong.

Double-barreled question
Example: 
ID Promoter: Are you an atheist/evolutionist who attacks people for their beliefs?
Atheist: No.
ID Promoter: So you admit you are religious?
Definiton: A question that cannot be answered accurately with a yes/no question.
Counter Argument: I am an atheist, however I do not attack people.

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