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Psychogenetic Fallacy: if you learn the psychological reason why your opponent likes an argument, then he's biased, so his argument must be wrong. A good examp
by mynameishere 17y ago
Psychogenetic Fallacy: if you learn the psychological reason why your opponent likes an argument, then he's biased, so his argument must be wrong.
A good example of one of those sort-of fallacies. In reality, everyone is biased, and understanding those biases is part of politics. Politics is not a truth-seeking endeavor, and so fallacies are very much acceptable strategically. Someone who surrenders his own biases, and also surrenders examining his opponents' biases losses every time.
over-simplifying. As Einstein said, everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler. Political slogans such as "Taxation is theft" fall in this category.
Right, exactly. Actually, all taxation is in fact theft. The nuance that is missed by people who say that, is that some theft is positive-sum, even to the victim.
Similarly, a common justification for bribery is that "Everybody does it". And in the past, this was a justification for slavery.
"Slavery: Everybody does it"? Uh, no. I doubt anyone ever put together those words.
- jrockway 17y ago"Slavery: Everybody does it"? Uh, no. I doubt anyone ever put together those words. I am sure someone rationalized slavery to themselves like that. "All my neighbors have slaves, so I guess it's OK for me to have one too." This is how I convinced myself not to go to class in college. "Nobody else is going."
- mynameishere 17y agoUh, again, no. At least in the United States, there was the status quo which is not a matter of truth or falsehood, and then there were arguments. Slavery was always a matter of debate, and the South had lots of "good" reasons for the practice, and it was never "because everybody's doing it." That's a straw man, not that it matters.
- sorbits 17y agoAnd your argumentation falls under the Amazing Familiarity :) Twelve million Africans were shipped to the Americas from the 16th to the 19th centuries (according to Wikipedia), I doubt any of us know how every single person involved justified this enterprise.
- flare 17y agohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_proof http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_proof
- Confusion 17y agoConcerning 'taxation is theft': you are redefining theft. Theft is, by the definition everyone uses in practice, something immoral. Something that we don't want and that should be punished. If taxation is positive-sum, even to the victim, then it cannot possibly be theft. By asserting that 'taxation is theft', you muddle the discussion, because the point in question is whether taxation is immoral.
- gaius 17y agoTheft means taking someone's property without their consent. If we had a system by which taxation had some sort of optional element (e.g. it's up to you but if you don't pay you can't vote) then we could debate the morality of taxation. But from the perspective of the taxed, under the present system, there is no moral element - it's simply beyond your control.
- jacquesm 17y agokilling people = murder, but if the government does it it is no longer murder. Theft, murder and whole pile of other 'bad' things are legal when the entity that defines what is legal and what is not does it. That entity can be changed, that is why you have the vote so in the long run we all collectively determine what is legal and what is not. That's oversimplified but it shows you that tax is legal and theft is not legal so therefore they can't be equivalent.
- billswift 17y agoNobody said they are equivalent; taxation is a subset of theft, theft that is approved by the government. That is all taxation is theft (coercive appropriation) but not all theft is taxation (legal coercive appropriation).
- jacquesm 17y agoIf you think that taxation is a subset of theft I suggest that you try getting the government indicted for stealing because of them taking your taxes. Theft is defined by the government, not by you.