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conan
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Joined: 13 Jul 2009
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 784

26 Aug 2010, 6:25 am

visagrunt wrote:
CrinklyCrustacean wrote:
Before I say anything, don't worry, I'm not going to try this on anyone. One bad experience with my mum was enough to convince me otherwise. The equation is this:

If your argument is flawed, the emotions you feel because of it are unfounded, and your claims invalid.

People have a big problem with it. Why?


The primary logical flaw is misprison of causation. The speaker makes the assumption that the emotions are caused exclusively by the flawed argument. It is not established in the argument that the emotions are retricted to a single cause.

"You didn't give me a popsicle because you don't love me. That makes me feel bad. I deserve a popsicle."

I might feel bad because I think that you don't love me. But I also might feel bad because I am hungry. Unless we can establish that the emotions are exclusively linked to the flawed argument we cannot conclude that they are unfounded.

The same analysis can be made with respect to the claims. If the claim to a popsicle relies on the flawed argument, then yes, the claim is invalid. But the statement does not demonstrate this.


+1