Critical Thinking DB #6

To complete this assignment, do the following:

· Discuss a fallacy (as described in the text) that you have encountered at home, work, in text, or in the media. This could also be one that you committed.

· Explain why the reasoning is fallacious in the context it was used.

Response #1

Brian Harvey posted Oct 6, 2019 7:48 PM

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The fallacy of composition is one that I see way too often and honestly have committed myself as well.  Too many times do we judge a group of people off of the actions of one person who may share one similar trait.  To ease into it, we could be talking about tall people, and that all tall people may be good at playing basketball.  Another instance based off 9/11, is that all muslims are terrorists.  We know that all muslims are not terrorists just like we know that all tall people aren't good at basketball.  This is because the argument can't be proven by fact.  The reason this statements are considered fallacies is because they are incorrect assumptions that involve opinions and/or others emotions.  It should never be assumed that because a small portion of a group or organization exhibits certain traits or features that the entire group as a whole is represented that way.  

Response #2

Allysa Tantala posted Oct 6, 2019 5:10 PM

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The fallacy I am choosing is tu quoque. This is when the accused turn it back around on the accuser/victim; answering criticism with criticism. A perfect example of this is victim blaming. Victim blaming in anything counts, but especially in rape culture and domestic abuse culture. One example of this is a case in Steubenville, Ohio. In this trial “two male high school football players were found guilty of raping a sixteen-year-old girl who was unable to consent to sexual activity after drinking alcohol at a party. Many individuals, both male and female, reacted to the trial and the guilty verdicts by harshly blaming the young woman for being raped, and declared the men’s innocence, despite the evidence against them” (Woodruff Lab, 2013, par. 1). There are also reports of news channels perpetuating this culture. They highlight all that the accused will be losing and nothing about what the victim went through and will continue going through. They, the accused and the media, turn everything on the victim and do not create a space where the guilty party has to own up to their crimes. The skewed story lines are not the only thing these women have to battle; the blame is also put in their hands. “Women are told repeatedly to dress less provocatively, drink less alcohol, and not put themselves in risky situations. This proliferates the belief that women are at fault when they are attacked, and leads to a lack of accountability for men” (Woodruff Lab, 2013, par. 3). 

This reasoning is greatly flawed. No matter what someone wears, how much they drink, or how they act, it does not make rape, sexual assault, or domestic violence okay. These perpetrators are hoping that placing the blame on the victim will shield themselves from the actual crimes; which they have committed. There’s no excuse for these crimes; and turning the blame on the victims is the lowest these criminals can go. Unfortunately, many people do not agree with me; which is what instigates the media to join in with victim blaming. Luckily, there has been more dialogue opened up about this issue and I hope in the future we, as a society and as human beings, will not have this problem. 

Resources:

Woodruff Lab. (2013). Changing the Culture of Victim Blaming. Retrieved from  https://www.woodrufflab.org/blog/changing-culture-victim-blaming