PHILOSOPHY AND
POLITICAL FALLACY
WHEN CANDIDATES SUPPLANT REASONED DEBATE
WITH FALSE ARGUMENTS
BY TOM FOURNIER
22
MENSA BULLETIN
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Politicians courtesy of their campaigns, flag © iStockphoto.
HILOSOPHY IS GREEK for “love of wisdom.” Given the raucous nature of
political campaigns, one might think them a disagreeable environment for lovers of wisdom. Nonetheless, there is a long history of
philosophy’s entwinement with politics, as famously illustrated by
Socrates and his oratory encounters with the Athenian sophists – another
Greek term meaning “wise men.”
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The ad hominem attack diverts attention from the
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to the issue under debate.
Argument Ad Populum
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UHVRXUFHV6LPRQ%ODFNEXUQOxford Dictionary of Philosophy, Second Edition
2[IRUG2[IRUG8QLYHUVLW\3UHVVVHH´DUJXPHQWXPDGµSJ
%URRNH1RHO0RRUHDQG.HQQHWK%UXGHUPhilosophy: The Power of Ideas, Sixth
Edition, 1HZ<RUN0F*UDZ+LOOSS,UYLQJ0&RSLDQG
&DUO&RKHQ Introduction to Logic, Twelfth Edition 8SSHU6DGGOH5LYHU3HDUVRQ3UHQWLFH+DOOSS7KH&RSLDQG&RKHQWH[WSURYLGHVWKH
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JANUARY 2016
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False choice fallacies make a reasoning error
of assuming there is an exclusive, either/or
choice between two possibilities when, in
fact, there is a third option such as something in between or the coexistence of both.
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JANUARY 2016
25