The “No True Scotsman” logical fallacy
Dominates Nearly Every Discussion Today
When a universal (“all”, “every”, etc.) claim is refuted, rather than conceding the point or meaningfully revising the claim, the claim is altered by going from universal to specific, and failing to give any objective criteria for the specificity (Logically Fallacious). In short what means is that nearly every discussion today is couched in “all or nothing” rhetoric; when exceptions are introduced the response is, “no true (fill in the blank) would be an exception. As the above graphic depicts, “All fundamental Christians are politically conservative, gun owners, anti-poor rednecks. Many fundamental Christians do not hold to these absolute views; therefore, they are not true Christians!” Continue reading “A “No True Scotsman” World”
