Unnamed(?) logical fallacies

Started by MrBogosity, September 24, 2009, 04:12:10 PM

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I posted this in Fav Quotes, but it belongs here, too:

"Actions that would be considered reprehensible if done by an absolute dictator, are considered morally legitimate if done by a democratically-elected government." --Downsize DC Foundation, The Democracy Fallacy

Quote from: Lord T Hawkeye on September 24, 2009, 08:02:37 PM
I didn't see this one listed on the fallacy files but it's one I run into a lot.

The nirvana fallacy
Discrediting something by comparing it to a completely unrealistic ideal.

Turns out, this one's been named since 1969, so I removed it from our list. It's still a good one, though.

Quote from: MrBogosity on February 01, 2011, 11:53:10 AM
Turns out, this one's been named since 1969, so I removed it from our list. It's still a good one, though.
Really?  What's the name, if not "Nirvana Fallacy"?
"When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world—'No. You move.'"
-Captain America, Amazing Spider-Man 537

No, it's called the "Nirvana Fallacy." That's what it was named!

LOL! Damn! Incredible that we actually came up with what was already its actual name!
"When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world—'No. You move.'"
-Captain America, Amazing Spider-Man 537

What else can you call it anyway? Utopia fallacy?

Been trying to think of a good name for this. "The Tide Paradox" is the best I can come up with, even though it's not technically a paradox.

There used to be a commercial for Tide washing detergent where they'd start off showing a white sock. And you'd be like, "Wow, that sure is a white sock! Look at how white that sock is! No one would deny that that is one white sock there."

But then they'd show you a sock washed with Tide, and you'd be blown away--because that white sock would be so much whiter than the sock you just swore was so white. Which, of course, would impress you so much you'd run out and buy Tide that very minute--okay, maybe not, but it's still impressive.

So, when people talk about how great the Post Office is, or government roads, or anything of that sort, they only say that because they don't have anything to compare it to. If you never saw the sock washed with Tide, you wouldn't ever know how much better socks can look; by the same token, if the only provider of a service is government, you never see how much better it could be with a competitor. Because you never see the second, REALLY white sock.

What do you think? And what about the name? The White Sock Deficiency? The White Sock Fallacy? Any others?

False comparison fallacy?
Improper Comparison?
"When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world—'No. You move.'"
-Captain America, Amazing Spider-Man 537

It's not really a false comparison; it's more of a non-comparison. That's what led me to the word paradox: it seems to be so without actually being so.

How about "Null Comparison" then? Because more often than not is it being compared to a lack of something (e.g. government healthcare to a lack of healthcare, or the null of healthcare)?
"When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world—'No. You move.'"
-Captain America, Amazing Spider-Man 537



Quote from: VectorM on February 02, 2011, 07:41:45 PMWhat else can you call it anyway? Utopia fallacy?
I independently thought of:
Utopian Comparison Fallacy,
Unrealistic Comparison Fallacy, and
Special Pleading (I know this one already exists, but it still applies:  the person making the comparison never applies the nirvana-high standard of comparison to the state or whatever he's defending).

Quote from: VectorM on February 06, 2011, 07:56:02 PMTide Paradox sounds way cooler.
OBJECTION!
"When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world—'No. You move.'"
-Captain America, Amazing Spider-Man 537

Also, why does the latest version of the list not have "Strawman recursus"?
That is, falsely accusing someone of committing a strawman, thereby committing a strawman fallacy in the process?
"When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world—'No. You move.'"
-Captain America, Amazing Spider-Man 537

February 18, 2011, 07:08:06 AM #179 Last Edit: February 18, 2011, 09:12:42 AM by MrBogosity
Okay, this has GOT to be a fallacy of some kind.

You talk about economics. You talk about how prosperous the 1950s were and why, and how it was a time of genuine prosperity, not a bubble like the '20s or the '80s. You talk about the small government and monetary policies that gave us this benefit. And then you run into someone like this guy (start the video around 3:20):

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Yeah, as if the only way you can implement those policies is to reintroduce segregration!

(We won't get into the "What freedoms has Obama taken away?" part, because that's a list that could go on a long, long time...)

Anyway, the point is that employing that same economic policy does not in any way mean approval of or wishing to reinstate racial or sexist attitudes and policies of the time. IMO, there needs to be a named fallacy for associating irrelevant aspects just because they happened to coincide, for the purpose of discrediting the argument when, of course, absolutely nothing has been done to refute it.