@philosophyminis: Are you a true patriot? Are you a good Muslim? Are you a proper #music fan? Well, first you must pass this test. You must look, believe, and behave a certain way. If not, well, then I'm afraid you can't call yourself that. These are examples of what the #philosopher Anthony Flew called the ‘No True Scotsman’ fallacy. Imagine there's someone called John who's reading the news about a bloody and terrible crime, and he says, ‘I can't believe a Scotsman would do such a thing.’ And the next day, a #Scotsman is, in fact, found guilty. And so, rather than admit he's wrong, John says, ‘Well, no true Scotsman would have done such a thing!’ This fallacy, known as ‘the appeal to purity,’ works in two ways. First, it assumes that there is an idealised version of something that we have to live up to. It says that there is one definition of a true Muslim , a true patriot, or a true #Beatles fan. Everyone else is just a fraud. Second, there is no way to actually satisfy the No True Scotsman fallacy, because if you provide a counterexample, then you are dismissed as an irrelevant data point. If you say, for example, ‘But I believe the country should be like this,’ then you're told, ‘Oh, well, you're not a pure patriot, then.’ But who are the gatekeepers of what makes a ‘true’ movie fan, a ‘true’ socialist, a ‘true’ philosopher, or, whatever. The No True Scotsman fallacy is bad #logic , bad #science , and it's really irritating. If you are told that you are not a ‘proper’ or a ‘true’ anything, then it's an example of the fallacy at play, and it's a call to look at the definitions that people are using.

Jonny Thomson

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Monday 17 February 2025 14:49:50 GMT