- Either you're for me or against me.
- America: love it or leave it.
- Either support Meech Lake or Quebec will separate.
- Every person is either wholly good or wholly evil.
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Fallacies of Distraction
Each of these fallacies is characterized by the illegitimate use of a logical operator in order to distract the reader from the apparent falsity of a certain proposition. The following fallacies are fallacies of distraction:
A limited number of options (usually two) is given, while in reality there are more options. A false dilemma is an illegitimate use of the "or" operator. Putting issues or opinions into "black or white" terms is a common instance of this fallacy.
Examples:
Proof: Identify the options given and show (with an example) that there is an additional option.
Arguments of this form assume that since something has not been proven false, it is therefore true. Conversely, such an argument may assume that since something has not been proven true, it is therefore false. (This is a special case of a false dilemma, since it assumes that all propositions must either be known to be true or known to be false.) "Lack of proof is not proof."
Examples:
- Since you cannot prove that ghosts do not exist, they must exist.
- Since scientists cannot prove that global warming will occur, it probably won't.
- Fred said that he is smarter than Jill, but he didn't prove it, so it must be false.
Proof: Identify the proposition in question. Argue that it may be true even though we don't know whether it is or isn't.
In order to show that a proposition P is unacceptable, a sequence of increasingly unacceptable events is shown to follow from P. A slippery slope is an illegitimate use of the "if-then" operator.
Examples:
- If we pass laws against fully-automatic weapons, then it won't be long before we pass laws on all weapons, and then we will begin to restrict other rights, and finally we will end up living in a communist state. Thus, we should not ban fully-automatic weapons.
- You should never gamble. Once you start gambling you find it hard to stop. Soon you are spending all your money on gambling, and eventually you will turn to crime to support your earnings.
- If I make an exception for you then I have to make an exception for everyone.
Proof: Identify the proposition P being refuted and identify the final event in the series of events. Then show that this final event need not occur as a consequence of P.
Two otherwise unrelated points are conjoined and treated as a single proposition. The reader is expected to accept or reject both together, when in reality one is acceptable while the other is not. A complex question is an illegitimate use of the "and" operator.
Examples:
- You should support home education and the God-given right of parents to raise their children according to their own beliefs.
- Do you support freedom and the right to bear arms?
- Have you stopped using illegal sales practises? (This asks two questions: did you use illegal practises, and did you stop?)
Proof: Identify the two propositions illegitimately conjoined and show that believing one does not mean that you have to believe the other.