You claim utility and yet I see irrational impulse guiding it.Ben JS wrote: ↑Sun Jun 01, 2025 2:21 amGood & bad are relative to an objective.
The credibility of an argument, does not rely on it's utility or value to the one examining it.
The credibility of an argument, relies on whether it's possibly true - and whether there's evidence supporting it.
(Things like berkeley's razor - and whether there are better alternative explanations
speak to whether an argument ought be adopted - not whether it is credible)
If it's self contradictory - based on our understanding, that makes it in discord with reality.
There are infinite concepts in discord with reality, and there's little reason for the rational mind to give them energy.
What has utility to the rational mind, the one with preferences, is to focus on understanding reality.
Understanding reality, enables one to utilize the patterns of reality to one's own ends.
A self contradiction is not a pattern of reality - but of imaginary concepts.
The ideas of these concepts exist, but the contents of these concepts don't necessarily exist.
It is believed reality does not contradict itself - thus, no contradiction is believed to not exist in reality.
Any self-contradictory claim is thereby considered non-credible - i.e. safe to dismiss.
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I believe to raise the question of whether logical fallacies are a bad thing is a bit of red herring, given the spirit of this thread.
The thread appears to be about detailing types of fallacies - common poorly constructed arguments -, such that they may be avoided.
I think it assumes one wants to make sound, constructive arguments.
Whether one ought make sound, constructive arguments - is not the question at hand.
It's moving the goal posts from 'What are logical fallacies?' to 'Are logical fallacies bad'?
Which I suspect you already know is entire different can of worms.
This makes me question your incentive to raise this question.
Do you seek only to cloud discussion?
If you think your question was clever, it wasn't to me.
I'm extending you the benefit of the doubt -
done so in good faith,
but it's on a thin line which I'm ready to cut,
if I suspect you only seek to cause derailment.
If good and bad are relative than under some contexts fallacies are good and necessary. What you consider a poorly constructed argument is merely a matter of impulse driven taste.
The question of whether fallacies are good or bad is the inherent offbranching of question of what fallacies even are...you say I am clouding but you seem to be suffocating things.