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The Appeal to Nature Fallacy

September 5, 2018

Philosophy

fallacy, ignorance, LGBT, marketing, nature

Remember those commercials that talk about “only natural flavors” in a certain product? Caramels with natural flavors must be better than those with artificial ones, right? Well, not exactly. In actual fact, this designation only refers to the way a certain chemical is extracted. But it sure sounds better if you write “natural” on the package! Welcome to the Appeal to Nature Fallacy.

The Appeal to Nature Fallacy is… not really a fallacy, strictly speaking. It’s more of rhetorical trickery, rather, as the speaker tries to validate his or her argument by appealing to nature. One of the most notorious Appeal to Nature examples you might have seen is when someone homophobic attacks gay people claiming it’s “against nature”.

There are several different problems with this, so let’s see them one by one.

appeal to nature fallacy
Raise your hand (or wing) if you’re a part of Nature
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The Only Game in Town Fallacy

April 18, 2018

Philosophy

fallacy, ignorance, reason

What Is the Only Game in Town Fallacy

Suppose we’re in my living room, watching TV. We suddenly hear a peculiar noise, one we have never heard before. We are completely baffled about its origin. “It must be a unicorn flying over the house,” I say. “Get out of here!” you reply. “Well, do you have another explanation?” I retort. You shake your head, at loss for words. “Then I’m right, it’s a unicorn,” I say. Welcome to the only game in town fallacy.

the only game in town fallacy
Just because you have no better explanation for something, it doesn’t mean the only one is also the correct one

The only game in town fallacy is essentially a placeholder. It is not a valid argument, because it is nothing more but an ad hoc explanation. In other words, it’s something you come up with to simply avoid saying “I don’t know”. The idea of divinity is essentially nothing more but the only game in town fallacy. “God did it” – another version is “Aliens did it”. 

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The Happiness Illusion Paradox

April 1, 2018

Philosophy

experience, feelings, happiness, musings

Do you feel happy right now? Let’s assume that you do. What if I told you that you’re wrong? What if I told you that you only think that you’re happy? Maybe you would then change your mind; or maybe, you wouldn’t. Defining happiness has been an elusive activity since ancient times. For Aristotle, for example, happiness was more of an activity and less of a state of mind. Today let’s take a look at an interesting aspect of happiness, which is subjectivity. Let’s talk about the happiness illusion paradox.

By happiness illusion, I refer to the hypothesis my questions above posed: what if you only think that you’re happy while you actually aren’t. The happiness illusion paradox exposes the fallacious notion that happiness is an objective state. In other words, the happiness illusion paradox underlines the fact that you cannot measure or detect happiness outside the experiencer. If you think you’re happy, then by definition you’re happy.

happiness illusion paradox
Can happiness be anything but subjective?
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