3 1 2
C H A P T E R 1 5 ■ F a l l a c i e s o f R e l e v a n c e
Wholemovementsaresometimesaccusedofgeneticfallacies.Marxists
oftenrejectopposingviewsbecausethoseviewsaroseundercapitalism.
Freudianssometimesdismisscriticsonthebasisofhowthosecriticswere
raisedaschildren.Usually,thesamekindofargumentisavailabletotheir
opponentsaswell.CriticsofFreudsometimescitehischildhoodandtrain-
ingtoexplainawayhisviews.Thefactthatgeneticargumentscanbeused
justaswellforcontraryconclusionssuggeststhattheydonotreallysupport
eitherside.
Theproblemwithgeneticargumentsisthatlotsofgoodideashaveques-
tionableorigins.MuchmathematicsoriginatedwithinPythagoreancults.
Gravityandmuchofchemicaltheorywerefirstdiscussedbyalchemists
whoweretryingtoturnleadintogold.Thestructureofthebenzeneringis
reportedtohavecometoKekulevonStradonitzinadreamaboutasnake
bitingitstail.Earlyreligionswereclosetomagicandwereusedbyrichand
powerfulleaderstocontroltheirsubordinates.Inallofthesecases,theori-
ginoftheideascannotbeusedtorefutethoseviewsortheargumentsfor
them.Learningthegenesisofanideacanhelpimproveone’sunderstanding
ofitscontentandoftheprocessofdiscovery.Originssometimesindicate
wheretolookforevidenceorforobjections.Still,toevaluateanideaoran
argument,oneshouldfocusonthatideaorargument,notonitsorigin.
Foreachofthefollowingarguments,indicatewhetheritinvolves(1)anad
hominemdenieragainstaspeaker ’sclaimorargument,(2)anadhominem
silenceragainstaperson’srighttospeak,(3)anadhominemdismisseragainst
someone’strustworthiness,or(4)noneofthese.Explainyouranswer.Besure
tofocusonwhatisexplicitlysaidandnotonwhatmightbeconversationally
impliedineachexample.
Example: Sure,Sarasaysshesawmecheatinthegame,butSara’sstupid,
soyoushouldn’tpayanyattentiontoher.
Answer: Thisisanadhominemdismisser,sincethepointisthatSarais
unreliable.ThespeakerdoesnotdenywhatSarasaysorthatshe
hasarighttosayit.
1.Sure,Sadiesaysshesawmecheat,butitwasverydark,andhervisionis
horrible,soshemusthaveseensomethingelseandthoughtitwasmecheating.
2.Sure,Samsayshesawmecheat,buttheonlyreasonhesaysitisthathe
wantstowinthegame.He’sarealjerk.
3.Sure,Stevesaysshesawmecheat,buthewasn’tevenplayingthegame.
It’snothisplacetoaccusethoseofuswhowereplaying.
4.Sure,Sybillsaysshesawmecheat,butIdidn’teventaketheexam,so
Icouldn’thavecheatedonit.
5.Sure,Sallysaysshesawmecheat,butsheaccuseseveryone,andshe’s
almostalwayswrong,soyoushouldknowthatsheiswrongthistime,too.
Exercise I
97364_ch15_ptg01_307-322.indd 312 15/11/13 11:04 AM
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