Questions tagged [rhetoric]
the practice of effective persuasive speech/argumentation
8
questions
23
votes
2
answers
26k
views
What fallacy dismisses problems by presenting "bigger" problems?
Wasn't really sure how to phrase this, but I'm thinking of an instance in which someone diminishes a problem by presenting one of larger scope - as a rather shoddy example, "x political problem in ...
- 333
6
votes
5
answers
1k
views
What fallacy dismisses a conclusion because supporters give invalid arguments for it?
A person dismisses an otherwise valid argument, because some of its proponents support it for the wrong reason.
How is this fallacy called?
EDIT: Here is an example. A person defends the idea that ...
- 223
13
votes
10
answers
2k
views
Why do people who subscribe to self-refuting skeptical philosophies still argue with others?
The belief that everything is relative is obviously self-refuting, because it holds to an absolute.
However, in my experience, people who believe this (or some form of it) such as some Buddhists and ...
- 403
17
votes
6
answers
3k
views
What fallacy dismisses criticism of a bad law with "just don't break it"?
Let's say someone is criticizing the government for instituting some draconian policy, and/or for persecuting people for doing something minor. And the response is:"Just don't do it and you'll be fine"...
6
votes
1
answer
339
views
What happened to rhetoric as a branch of philosophy?
Long long ago, rhetoric was a branch of philosophy. As far as I can tell, nowadays there is no philosophical work in the domain of persuasion and argumentation; this is now done in the public-...
- 5,177
4
votes
1
answer
594
views
name this fallacy: A was P in the past -> A must be P now
I've been seeing arguments of this form for awhile:
(agreed true premise) Some predicate P was applicable to behavior/event/thing A in the past. Variations: P(A) may have been true at some particular ...
- 153
4
votes
1
answer
932
views
Why does Hume raise the Missing Shade of Blue?
From reading this question on Hume, having read the first seven sections of the Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (which covers the relevant section), a further question hit me. Hume dismisses ...
- 691
3
votes
4
answers
266
views
Money and Friendship - Is this a logical fallacy?
I overheard a conversation that went something like this:
A: You could buy that for me.
B: I can't afford that.
A: Are you going to let money get in the way of friendship?
Specifically, I like the ...
- 133