Sunday, April 14, 2013

10 Common theistic argumentative tactics

In all of my years of being an atheist I have come across just about every argument for God, Christ, the divine origins of the Bible, and just about everything else there is to say about Christianity under the sun. So for the uninitiated and even for theists who for some reason or another do not realize or understand what they are doing this is for you. These philosophical fallacies are  common argumentative tactics utilized by most Christian apologists.

1. Circular reasoning

  a use of reason in which the premises depends on or is equivalent to the conclusion, a method of false logic by which "this is used to prove that, and that is used to prove this"; also called circular logic






2. Ad hominem


1
: appealing to feelings or prejudices rather than intellect
2
: marked by or being an attack on an opponent's character rather than by an answer to the contentions made 
 


A fallacy in which the premise of an argument presupposes the truth of its conclusion; in other words, the argument takes for granted what it is supposed to prove.
 
 

something intended to divert attention from the real problem or matter at hand; a misleading clue. 
 
 


A fallacy in which an opponent's argument is overstated or misrepresented in order to be more easily attacked or refuted.
 
 
 
 A proposition is held to be true because it is widely held to be true or is held to be true by some (usually upper crust) sector of the population. 
 
 

An inference or conclusion that does not follow from the premises or evidence.
 
 

logical error: the fallacy of arguing that since one event happened before a second, the first caused the second
 
 

A fallacy in which any evidence that supports an opposing argument is simply rejected, omitted, or ignored.
 
 

A fallacy of oversimplification: an argument in which only two alternatives are provided when in fact additional options are available. Sometimes called the either-or fallacy.
 
 
I hope that this post has helped to clarify some of the more common logical fallacies out there and if you're interested in learning more you can find a comprehensive list at The Skeptic's Dictionary.
 

8 comments:

  1. Sadly, the average Christian is merely a parrot for the William Lane Craig's who must know that their "reasoning" is fallacious. Craig should be ashamed of himself.

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    1. So true! William Lane Craig loves to start all arguments with the presupposition that whatever he's arguing for is a "basic belief" and therefore true. He states religious tenets such as the resurrection of Christ as an indisputable fact!

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  2. I tire of religious people trying to apply reason to a matter of faith. Just own it, and we can sit on opposite sides of the room, smile at each other, and talk about our pets.

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    1. It's not entirely their fault. They don't realize that you can't use reason to describe faith. They don't see that using the two words together is an oxymoron. Btw, my two dogs are pretty cute.

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  3. We must take note that it isn't just Christians who use these tactics to dissuade anyone from questioning their religious beliefs. Muslims, theistic Buddhists, Pagans, theistic Satanists, they are are all equally guilty of running in circles dodging and misdirecting questions asked of them. I've had more than one run in with individuals from the aforementioned groups who seem to use the same check list of things to say in an argument with an Atheist, or someone of a different belief system.

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    Replies
    1. You're are absolutely right Ben! Most of the time I focus on Christianity because that is what I know better any other religion. But as you stated it applies to many other faith based beliefs.

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