Faulty logic is poor defense
The title of the letter is an overgeneralization as well as an oversimplification because many environmentalists want to balance economic development (growth) with the quality of life, but are unwilling to accept destructive systems that produce harmful waste and recycle it into the environment. Another overgeneralization is that "elite environmental activists choose to fight virtually every scientific advance man discovers to benefit the human race."The writer uses several instances of loaded language -- biased words: Environmentalists are "elitists," "nearly cult-like in their activities," "using hysterical scare tactics."
The writer makes yet another false analogy: Environmentalists asking questions of Virginia Uranium, Inc. concerning motives and intentions are allegedly like "toddlers" asking "why" questions to their mothers so toddlers "can get their way." However, the environmentalist Jacobs refers to in his letter is not analogous to a toddler trying to get his way, and Virginia Uranium is not analogous to mothers' relationships with children. The environmentalist was simply trying to get answers to questions concerning the uranium mining initiative. Another fallacy is card-stacking -- selecting information supporting only one's point of view or information supporting only one side of an issue. The writer selects information concerning only his view of alleged benefits of uranium mining for Southside Virginia and uses logical fallacies to ridicule concerns about risks.
It is not unreasonable to conclude that if the writer had sound reasoning and evidence to refute the position that the environmental risks of uranium mining are unacceptable, he would not have had to reduce the serious concerns of many people (not just an alleged "micro-minority") to a condition of absurdity and ridicule.
Example Of Logical Fallacies - News
What has a logical error to do with the economic doldrums in which many countries find themselves? Absolutely everything. The error in question is the “fallacy of composition”. This is defined by the Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy as
I appreciate the opportunity to consider some (not all) of the logical fallacies (errors in reasoning) in Randy Jacobs's recent letter to the editor titled "Environmentalists are anti-growth." The title of the letter is an
These arguments are based on the logical fallacy of the victimless crime. One thing that honest, intelligent, thinking people must acknowledge is that the filth of even private perversion pollutes the fresh wellspring upon which civil society depends
Perhaps we could relieve our overburdened penal system and simply send such errant protesters to logic school. Surely a few retired philosophers could be found, schooled in the Aristotelian method, who could teach them about logical fallacies and how
Last week, in a column on the Democrat-Gazette's Voices page, deputy editor Frank Fellone offered a logical fallacy posing as an affirmation of a core journalistic value: He argued that the newsgathering part of the paper is unbiased.
Logical Fallacies: Argument from Persecution « Exposing ...
Emotions are not logical.
Basic ExplanationThe argument from persecution is generally of the form, “My views are being persecuted, therefore they are correct.” Sometimes it has the post script, “After all, no one would put in this much effort to denounce my views if there weren’t something to them.” This addendum is effectively a “ Where there’s smoke, there’s fire ” fallacy.
Variant: The Galileo ArgumentA special form of this type of fallacy is sometimes given its own name, “The Galileo Argument.” The idea stems from Galileo’s own persecution by the Catholic Church in the early 1600s, and the way it is invoked is often, “Everyone’s saying I’m wrong, but that’s what everyone said about Galileo, too!” The conclusion they want you to draw is that they are correct, just as Galileo was.
A very quick rebuttal to this, besides it being a logical fallacy, is that Galileo actually had solid observational data that anyone could easily employ to see that he was correct.
Example from Young-Earth CreationismA decent, recent example from the YEC front comes from the Creation Ministries International article from September 21, 2011, entitled, “ Heavyweights move to ban creation .” With subject headings such as “Desperate to quash dissent,” the CMI article has the general tone of one who is persecuted, though finding a proper, clear example explicitly within the article is somewhat difficult.
Instead, I direct you to the comments, where Patrick states, “Rejoice in persecution… the opposition will increase and the Lord will provide new openings. The enemy will be confounded, but those who seek the Lord will renew their strength.”
Or Victor: “It is indeed disingenuous on the part of BHA to quote “All children should be free to grow up in a world where they are allowed to question, doubt, think freely, and reach their own conclusions about what they believe” when this is exactly what they are suppressing in terms of questioning “Evolution[.