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Appeal To Motive
Appeal to motive is a pattern of argument which consists in challenging a thesis by calling into question the motives of its proposer. It can be considered as a special case of the ad hominem circumstantial argument. As such, this type of argument is an informal fallacy. A common feature of appeals to motive is that only the possibility of a motive (however small) is shown, without showing the motive actually existed or, if the motive did exist, that the motive played a role in forming the argument and its conclusion. Indeed, it is often assumed that the mere possibility of motive is evidence enough. Examples * "The Nature Conservancy promoted an " ivory-bill" in the Big Woods merely to raise funds from the public to purchase more conservation lands." * "That website recommended ACME's widget over Megacorp's widget. But the website also displays ACME advertising on their site, so they must be biased in their review." The thesis in this case is the website's evaluation of the r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Hunt Publishing
Collective Ink (formerly John Hunt Publishing) is a publishing company founded in the United Kingdom in 2001 under the name O Books.John Hunt Publishing – Reviewed The Independent Publishing Magazine, February 26, 2014 The publisher has 15 active imprints, the largest of which are Moon Books, O-Books and Zero Books (styled Zer0 Books). After changing ownership in 2021, in June 2023, John Hunt P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ad Hominem
, short for , refers to several types of arguments that are usually fallacious. Often currently this term refers to a rhetorical strategy where the speaker attacks the character, motive, or some other attribute of the person making an argument rather than the substance of the argument itself. This avoids genuine debate by creating a diversion often using a totally irrelevant, but often highly charged attribute of the opponent's character or background. The most common form of this fallacy is "A" makes a claim of "fact", to which "B" asserts that "A" has a personal trait, quality or physical attribute that is repugnant thereby going off-topic, and hence "B" concludes that "A" has their "fact" wrongwithout ever addressing the point of the debate. Other uses of the term are more traditional, referring to arguments tailored to fit a particular audience, and may be encountered in specialized philosophical usage. These typically refer to the dialectical strategy of using the target' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Informal Fallacy
Informal fallacies are a type of incorrect argument in natural language. The source of the error is not just due to the ''form'' of the argument, as is the case for formal fallacies, but can also be due to their ''content'' and ''context''. Fallacies, despite being incorrect, usually ''appear'' to be correct and thereby can seduce people into accepting and using them. These misleading appearances are often connected to various aspects of natural language, such as ambiguous or vague expressions, or the assumption of implicit premises instead of making them explicit. Traditionally, a great number of informal fallacies have been identified, including the fallacy of equivocation, the fallacy of amphiboly, the Fallacy of composition, fallacies of composition and Fallacy of division, division, the false dilemma, the fallacy of begging the question, the ad hominem fallacy and the appeal to ignorance. There is no general agreement as to how the various fallacies are to be grouped into cate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, United States. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Nature Conservancy has over one million members globally and has protected more than of land in its history. it is the largest environmental non-profit organization by assets and revenue in the Americas. History The Nature Conservancy developed out of a scholarly organization initially known as the Ecological Society of America (ESA). The ESA was founded in 1915, and later formed a Committee on Preservation of Natural Areas for Ecological Study, headed by Victor Ernest Shelford, Victor Shelford.Our History ". The Nature Conservancy. nature.org. Retrieved December 18, 2016.< ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ivory-billed Woodpecker
The ivory-billed woodpecker (''Campephilus principalis'') is a woodpecker native to the Southern United States and Cuba. Habitat destruction and hunting have reduced populations so severely that the last universally accepted sighting in the United States was in 1944, and the last universally accepted sighting in Cuba was in 1987. The ivory-bill is the largest woodpecker in the United States, and one of the largest in the world. Naturalist John James Audubon described it as the "Great chieftain of the woodpecker tribe". In adults, the bill is ivory in color, hence the species' common name, and the plumage is deep black and white, with a red crest in males. The bird was commonly found in bottomland hardwood forests, including dense swampland, and in temperate coniferous forests. Its diet consists of large beetle larvae, particularly wood-boring Cerambycidae beetles, supplemented by vegetable matter, including southern magnolia, pecans, acorns, hickory nuts, wild grapes, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Big Woods
Big Woods refers to a type of temperate hardwood forest ecoregion found in western Wisconsin and south-central Minnesota. "Big Woods" is a direct translation of the name given to the region by French explorers: . Trees and native vegetation The dominant trees are American elm, basswood, sugar maple, and red oak. The understory is composed of ironwood, green ash, and aspen. The Big Woods would have once covered in a diagonal strip long and wide. Today most of this region has been cleared for agriculture and urban development. Remnant and secondary stands of Big Woods remain in parks and other protected areas. Native vegetation based on soils information (note the bright green color) from the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture shows the historic extent of oak savannas in the Big Woods region (See accompanying pie chart, below). Ecology The soil of the Big Woods is thick glacial till of crushed limestone, deposited b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bulverism
Bulverism is a rhetorical fallacy that combines circular reasoning, ad hominem and the genetic fallacy with presumption or condescension. The Bulverist presumes that a speaker's argument is false or invalid and then explains why the speaker made that argument (even if said argument is actually correct) by attacking the speaker or the speaker's motive. Similar to Antony Flew's "subject/motive shift", Bulverism is a fallacy of irrelevance—one accuses an argument of being wrong based on the arguer's identity or motives (real or assumed), but these are ultimately irrelevant to the argument's validity or truth. The term ''Bulverism'' was coined by C. S. Lewis after an imaginary character to poke fun at a serious error in thinking that, he alleged, frequently occurred in a variety of religious, political, and philosophical debates. Source of the concept Lewis wrote about this in a 1941 essay, which was later expanded and published in 1944 in ''The Socratic Digest'' under the title ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Call-out Culture
Cancel culture is a cultural phenomenon in which an individual thought to have acted or spoken in an unacceptable manner is ostracized, boycotted, shunned or fired, often aided by social media. This shunning may extend to social or professional circleswhether on social media or in personwith most high-profile incidents involving celebrities. Those subject to this ostracism are said to have been "canceled". The term "cancel culture" came into circulation in 2018 and has mostly negative connotations. The term "call-out culture" is used by some for the same concept. Some critics argue that cancel culture has a chilling effect on public discourse, that it is unproductive, that it does not bring real social change, that it causes intolerance, or that it amounts to cyberbullying. Others argue that the term is used to attack efforts to promote accountability or give disenfranchised people a voice, and to attack language that is itself free speech. Still others question whether cance ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conflict Of Interest
A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations in which the personal interest of an individual or organization might adversely affect a duty owed to decision-making, make decisions for the benefit of a third party. An "interest" is a commitment, obligation, duty or goal associated with a specific social role or practice. By definition, a "conflict of interest" occurs if, within a particular decision-making context, an individual is subject to two coexisting interests that are in direct conflict with each other ("competing interests"). This is important because under these circumstances, the decision-making process can be disrupted or compromised, affecting the integrity or reliability of the outcomes. Typically, a conflict of interest arises when an individual occupies tw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cui Bono
''Cui bono?'' (), in English "to whom is it a benefit?", is a Latin phrase about identifying crime suspects. It depends on the fact that crimes are often committed to benefit their perpetrators; especially financially. Use The phrase is a double dative construction. It can also be rendered as ''cui prodest?'' ("whom does it profit?") and ''ad cuius bonum?'' ("for whose good?"). Background Cicero himself used the expression ''Cui bono'' in his 'Second Philippic', once again invoking Cassius as the source: "... adopt that maxim of Cassius: To whose advantage was it?"Cicero, Philippics2.(14).35/ref> American sociologist Peter Blau has used the concept of ''cui bono'' to differentiate organizations depending on who has primarily benefited: owners; members; specific others; or the general society.Blau, Peter (1962): 'Formal Organizations: A Comparative Approach'. See also * Cherchez la femme * Follow the money * Milgram experiment * Whodunit General: * Brocard (law) * Lis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Race Card
"Playing the race card" is an idiomatic phrase that refers to the exploitation by someone of either racist or anti-racist attitudes in the audience in order to gain an advantage. It constitutes an accusation of bad faith directed at the person or persons raising concerns as regards racism.Schraub, David. "Playing with Cards: Discrimination Claims and the Charge of Bad Faith." Social Theory and Practice 42, no. 2 (2016): 285-303. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24871344. Critics of the term argue that it has been utilized to silence public discourse around racial disparities and undermine anti-racist initiatives. Usage The phrase is generally used by people to allege that someone has deliberately and falsely accused another person or group of people of being a racist in order to gain some sort of advantage. An example of this use of the term occurred during the O. J. Simpson murder case, when critics accused the defense of "playing the race card", in presenting Mark Fuhrman's past as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shooting The Messenger
"Shooting the messenger" (also "killing the messenger", "attacking the messenger", "blaming the bearer of bad tidings", or "blaming the doom monger") is a metaphoric phrase used to describe the act of blaming the bearer of bad news, despite the bearer or messenger having no direct responsibility for the bad news or its consequences. Until the advent of modern telecommunication, messages were usually delivered by human envoys. For example, in war, a messenger would be sent from one camp to another. If the message was unfitting, the receiver might blame the messenger for such bad news and take their anger out on them. History An analogy of the phrase can come from the breaching of an unwritten code of conduct in war, in which a commanding officer was expected to receive and send back emissaries or diplomatic envoys sent by the enemy unharmed. During the early Warring States period of China, the concept of chivalry and virtue prevented the executions of messengers sent by opposing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
