Saturday, September 22, 2007

Illogical arguments

Over the past several days I have marvelled as we have inadvertently been treated to a carnival of illogical and fallacious arguments. Let's review.

Ad Hominem: attacking the person instead of his argument
example: "if you are going to continue a debate of this much importance, start speaking and typing like an MD"

Reductio Ad Absurdum: claiming that your opponent's argument leads to some absurd conclusion.
example: "there is no way that you can prove that ALL DEM's in practice are uneducated and do not know what their doing. Therefore, it would be improper for you or Amy or anyone else to say "they" when speaking of them."

Two Wrongs Make A Right: a charge of wrongdoing is answered by a rationalization that others have done it.
example: "Surely you're not telling me that you are unaware that many CNM's also integrate herbs and homeopathy into their practices."

Moving The Goalposts: if your opponent successfully addresses some point, then say he must also address some further point.
example: "Show me where it says that accredited DEM's do not have formal training, that their only experience is watching women give birth, and I will shut up" followed by "Like I said, if a midwife does not have formal training and is not licensed or regulated by their state, then they should not be practicing. With that said, back to my question"
"Licensed and regulated midwives work with physicians. Their patients are required to have visits with a physician to rule out any risks during the pregnancy." followed by "I told you that in many states midwives are required to have physician backup. I never said how many physicians are backing up midwives, did I?"

Begging The Question: reasoning in a circle.
example: "many midwives do NOT want to integrate hospital birth into their practice, that is why they don't practice there." and " I am not asking why midwives are not allowed to practice in hospitals.So, don't turn it into a debate about why they don't practice there."

Argument By Laziness (Argument By Uninformed Opinion): the arguer hasn't bothered to learn anything about the topic. He nevertheless has an opinion, and will be insulted if his opinion is not treated with respect.
example: "I am very aware that there are CNM's and OB's who attend homebirth but they are few and far between, not because they deem it unsafe but because that is not how they were formally trained, which is fine." and "DEM's who are licensed and regulated have gone through nearly the same clinical requirements as a CNM, therefore rendering them equals in the sense of knowledge-base regarding normal labor and delivery."

Equivocation: using a claim or word to mean one thing, and then later using it to mean something different
example:"Also, I was showing you that you were wrong in stating that most of the babies died before they reached the hospital, didn't you? I believe you did and tried to make it an argument that the physician can't resuscitate a dead baby. You did say that, didn't you Amy?
Amy said:"By the time they get to the hospital, he or she is dead"

Although these arguments might appear persuasive to the person making them, they violate the rules of logical argument and are therefore wrong.

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