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dydxforsn
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Does anybody know of a term for the logical fallacy of attempting to soften the damage of a factual statement by trying to play it off as an opinion?
dydxforsn said:Does anybody know of a term for the logical fallacy of attempting to soften the damage of a factual statement by trying to play it off as an opinion?
It's not a straw man:wuliheron said:It's your basic straw man argument where someone attempts to replace the original argument with a less compelling one. THE basic rhetorical technique where you either attack the message or the messenger or both as not being reliable starting with the message and working your way up.
Straw man: A straw man argument is an informal fallacy based on misrepresenting an opponent's position so as to more easily refute it.
Examples
Person A: Sunny days are good.
Person B: If all days were sunny, we'd never have rain, and without rain, we'd have famine and death. Therefore, you are wrong.
Problem: B has misrepresented A's claim by falsely suggesting that A claimed that only sunny days are good, and then B refuted the misrepresented version of the claim, rather than refuting A's original assertion.
Mom: You have been playing video games for too long these past few days. You should focus on your school work.
Son: You think I play video games for 20 hours?
Problem: The son has made an exaggeration of what the mom said when it is not what she said.
zoobyshoe said:It's not a straw man:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy
That is clearly different than this: "Admit it! One plus one is only two in the opinion of mathematicians! But history is full of examples of 'expert' opinion turning out to be wrong!"
Here, a fact has been re-characterized as a mere opinion.
I don't know if there's a name for this. It may not be a logical fallacy, just a kind of lie, as Phinds suggested.
With a strawman the attack is on something the person never said, as in the above example, the person never said all days should be sunny. They merely said sunny days are good. Recasting what the person said as opinion doesn't play a part here.
An attack on the "messenger", as you put it, is also not a strawman, but an ad hominem: "Joe is always presenting his personal opinions as fact, therefore his assertion that one plus one is two is certainly also just an opinion of his. We can discount it."
By your logic we can define just about any logical fallacy as a straw man because they all can be construed as misrepresenting the opponent's position in some way shape or form. An ad hominem fallacy misrepresents the opponents argument as being invalid due to his lack of personal integrity, therefore an ad hominem is a straw man.wuliheron said:To "attack a straw man" is to create the illusion of having refuted a proposition by replacing it with a superficially similar yet unequivalent proposition (the "straw man"), and refuting it, without ever having actually refuted the original position...
The straw man fallacy occurs in the following pattern of argument:
1. Presenting a misrepresentation of the opponent's position.
5. Oversimplifying an opponent's argument, then attacking this oversimplified version. Wikipedia
The original post did not mention someone merely denying the facts, but attempting to "play it off" as an opinion. Insisting facts are mere opinions is misrepresenting the argument, over simplifying the argument, and then attacking a straw man version of the argument is the logical conclusion if and when they ever get to it depending on how vigorously the position is defended.
C: We should give children ice cream after every school day.
D: That would be rather bad for their health.
C: Do you want our children to starve!?
C says that children should be given ice cream after every school day. D replies to that statement assuming that children would be getting this in addition to their regular meals, and states that this would be unhealthy. C replies with the unreasonable suggestion that if children were not given ice cream, they would starve. Person C does this because it is harder for D to argue that children should starve than to argue that children should not be unhealthy. Wikipedia
Note this example follows yours in Wikipedia and shows a clear attempt to misrepresent the argument by grossly over simplifying the argument as merely concerning starvation. In fact, your own argument could be described as a straw man argument about straw man arguments. An attempt to over simplify what constitutes a straw man argument.
Strawman said:"One plus one is two"
"No, one minus one is NOT two!"
? said:"One plus one is two."
"That's just your opinion!"
zoobyshoe said:By your logic we can define just about any logical fallacy as a straw man because they all can be construed as misrepresenting the opponent's position in some way shape or form. An ad hominem fallacy misrepresents the opponents argument as being invalid due to his lack of personal integrity, therefore an ad hominem is a straw man.
Misrepresenting the opponent's position is the central dynamic of the straw man, not an incidental epiphenomenon. The central dynamic described in the OP is, specifically, to recast fact as opinion. The central dynamic of an ad hominem is to attack the man rather than the argument. The fact the latter two also incidentally misrepresent the opponents position is just that: incidental.
Is much different than:
In the latter case, there is no misrepresentation of what the person said, it is agreed he said "one plus one is two". The tactic is to try and make that seem irrelevant by downgrading it from fact to opinion. In the former, there is outright misrepresentation of what the person said.
C: We should give the kids ice cream every day.
D: That would be bad for their health.
C: That's your opinion.
Obviously something wrong with the logic, but it's not a strawman. C has not misrepresented D as saying anything D didn't say, such as wanting the children to starve to death.
No. To be a straw man the initial position must be distorted by "replacing it with a superficially similar yet unequivalent proposition" which is then attacked.wuliheron said:D did not say it was their personal opinion, so C most definitely did say something D did not say and misrepresented their argument.
ImaLooser said:"Soft soaping?"
mikelepore said:Feigned modesty.
(Two plus two equals four, in my humble opinion.)
Galteeth said:It's called enim ad opinionem.
I think it should be called that at any rate.
zoobyshoe said:No. To be a straw man the initial position must be distorted by "replacing it with a superficially similar yet unequivalent proposition" which is then attacked.
"That's your opinion," does not do this. There has been no replacement of "One plus one equals two" with any superficially similar yet unequivalent proposition that is then attacked. Instead, it's accepted as stated, and the operative dynamic is to undermine it's importance.
I believe that's called ignorancedydxforsn said:Does anybody know of a term for the logical fallacy of attempting to soften the damage of a factual statement by trying to play it off as an opinion?
I know what you mean.dydxforsn said:Person A: "The holocaust was the genocide of millions of jews during WWII."
Person B: "We'll have to agree to disagree.."
I really want to have a quick response to this kind of logical dishonesty that completely shuts people down in the way simply shouting "strawman" does in logical discourse. I seriously find myself dealing with this kind of logical fallacy allll the time...
zoobyshoe said:I know what you mean.
This new example you posted points toward the psychological phenomenon of denial:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial
In the new example, downgrading a statement from fact to opinion is actually a roundabout way of exhibiting denial. Knowing that may help you develop a way to deal with it.
Galteeth said:Or an intentional blurring of the domains of objectivity and subjectivity.
The logical fallacy of turning fact into opinion occurs when someone presents a statement as a fact, but it is actually an opinion. This can be misleading and manipulative, as opinions are subjective and cannot be proven.
Turning fact into opinion can be harmful because it can lead to misinformation and misunderstanding. This can have serious consequences, especially in fields such as politics, where opinions can influence important decisions.
One example of turning fact into opinion is saying "X is the best movie ever made" instead of "I think X is the best movie ever made". Another example is stating "Scientists have proven that Y is the most effective treatment" instead of "Studies suggest that Y may be an effective treatment".
To avoid committing the fallacy of turning fact into opinion, one should clearly differentiate between facts and opinions when making statements. Using language such as "I believe" or "in my opinion" can help to indicate that a statement is subjective rather than objective.
Being aware of the fallacy of turning fact into opinion is important because it allows us to critically evaluate information and distinguish between objective facts and subjective opinions. This can help us make informed decisions and avoid being misled by manipulative tactics.