Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I might go ahead and just ban evasion or "what-about"-ism.
So for instance, if someone makes an argument about "X," people would no longer try to squirrel out of the topic altogether by ignoring subject X and bringing up subject "Y" instead.
Quoting bits and pieces of an opposing statement, and/or pasting together from separate statements, to form an out of context and totally false appearance. This tactic is annoying beyond belief!!
A straw manargument is an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position. To "attack a straw man" is to create the illusion of having refuted a proposition by substituting a superficially similar proposition (the "straw man"), and refuting it, without ever having actually refuted the original position
1. Saying that something is wrong or shouldn't be done because it is "socialistic". I never see anyone who makes this argument actually define socialism. Nor, does anyone point out why if something were "socialistic" why that would make it bad. Is it "socialistic" to have a police force or an army? How about public schools, a health department, and a local sewer department? If these are "socialistic" are they bad?
2. Comparing your opponent and his arguments with either Naziis or Communists. Whenever I hear this argument I automatically decide the person making it has lost his side. This is such an extreme argument that its just silly.
Banning just one will do no good, because there are so many more to fall back on.
1. Anecdotal evidence. "My uncle smoked a pack a day and lived to be 86, so that proves that smoking is not harmful to your health."
2. Spurious cause-and-effect. "Hot lunches cause crime. The crime rate started going up as soon as schools started subsidizing hot lunch for low income children."
3. The "apples and oranges rebuttal". "That's apples and oranges, so your comparison means nothing."
4. The "Mission Accomplished" proof. "You quit arguing with me, so I must have been right."
5. Misnomers. Using words as though they meant something else. Like using 'socialism' to mean despotic tyranny, or "capitalism" to mean personal liberty.
Banning just one will do no good, because there are so many more to fall back on.
1. Anecdotal evidence. "My uncle smoked a pack a day and lived to be 86, so that proves that smoking is not harmful to your health."
2. Spurious cause-and-effect. "Hot lunches cause crime. The crime rate started going up as soon as schools started subsidizing hot lunch for low income children."
3. The "apples and oranges rebuttal". "That's apples and oranges, so your comparison means nothing."
4. The "Mission Accomplished" proof. "You quit arguing with me, so I must have been right."
5. Misnomers. Using words as though they meant something else. Like using 'socialism' to mean despotic tyranny, or "capitalism" to mean personal liberty.
1) The fallacy of composition: Person X plays for a great team, therefore person X must be a great player. Person X is a great player; therefore, the team person X plays for must be a great team. What is true for the whole cannot be assumed true of its parts and what is true of a part cannot be assumed true for the whole.
2) Ad Hominem fallacy: Person X makes a claim. Person Y cast aspersions upon person X. Therefore, what person X says has been discredited.
3) Straw Man Fallacy: Others have given examples.
4) The absence of evidence is evidence of absence.
5) The snap shot fallacy. Person X observes person Y being hit by person Z. Person X then argues that person Z is in the wrong, based upon that moment in time. This is a fallacy because what happened before that moment in time (snap shot) could alter the conclusion. If person Z was fighting off an unprovoked attack from person Y, then person Z actions are then seen in a different light.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
