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Shawn

Logical fallacy?

"The court accepts eye witnesses as evidence. Therefore, you should accept that I saw a ghost because I have eye witnesses."

asked on Monday, Jan 31, 2022 10:51:42 AM by Shawn

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Shawn writes:

Eyewitness testimony is more fallible than many people assume. You may wish to read this article which argues that, " that eye witness identification is vulnerable to distortion without the witness’s awareness. More specifically, the assumption that memory provides an accurate recording of experience, much like a video camera, is incorrect. Memory evolved to give us a personal sense of identity and to guide our actions. We are biased to notice and exaggerate some experiences and to minimize or overlook others. Memory is malleable."

posted on Monday, Jan 31, 2022 10:59:12 AM

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Answers

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Bo Bennett, PhD
3

This would be a weak analogy . They are arguing that an eyewitness for a natural, everyday event (e.g., witnessing a robbery) is the same as "witnessing" a ghost. The two are not even remotely the same. We don't even need to get into the fallibility of eyewitness accounts (but see Shawn's comment if you want details on that).

answered on Monday, Jan 31, 2022 11:14:27 AM by Bo Bennett, PhD

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TrappedPrior (RotE) writes:

You know, I was going for something similar, but backed out because I wasn't exactly sure if OP's example was trying to make an analogy. But you make a good point and we effectively agree - eyewitnesses can't just claim anything happened, they have to be plausible observations. Witnessing everyday things (like robbery) isn't the same as saying that you witnessed a ghost (impossible).

posted on Monday, Jan 31, 2022 01:18:19 PM
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Dr. Richard
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While eye witness testimony is accepted as evidence in courts, the trier of fact may (and does) weigh that evidence as to reliability---a great part of which depends upon substantiating circumstances and other evidence. I put seeing ghosts with no weight as to the existence of ghosts, but quite weighty as to the mental condition or veracity of the person who claims to see them.

answered on Tuesday, Feb 01, 2022 09:23:40 AM by Dr. Richard

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Ed F
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Eyewitness testimony is relevant to a conclusion only if the eyewitness is an authority (eyewitness) to the facts testified to.   To the extent they are not reliable, credible, or competent, to rely on such testimony is an  Appeal To Authority fallacy.

answered on Monday, Jan 31, 2022 11:14:45 AM by Ed F

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Destone writes:

It is not an appeal to authority.

posted on Monday, Jan 31, 2022 02:04:52 PM
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Ed F writes:
[To Destone]

I respectfully disagree.

The question here was: whether an eyewitness who claims to have seen a ghost should have their testimony accepted by the court since “the court accepts eyewitnesses as evidence.”

To break this down, why should a court (or anyone else) ever accept someone’s testimony or stated observations?  

To conclude X is true because a witness says it is is a form of inductive reasoning called “Argument From Authority.”  As stated by Patrick Hurley in his textbook A Concise Introduction To Logic, an “Argument From Authority is an argument that concludes something is true because a presumed expert or witness has said that it is…A lawyer might argue that Mack the Knife committed a murder because an eyewitness testified to that effect…”   A witness is an authority on the things they’ve observed.   The fallacy of Appeal To Authority occurs (per Hurley) when “the cited authority or witness lacks credibility.”  

 


I think that fits the question here.

[ login to reply ] posted on Monday, Jan 31, 2022 05:08:42 PM
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TrappedPrior (RotE)
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It'd be a non sequitur in my opinion.

Eye witness testimony can be accepted in court, but that doesn't mean that said witnesses can simply claim anything and get away with it. What they supposedly observed will be subject to critical examination. If they say they saw something which, for example, doesn't exist (like ghosts), it will be ignored by the court.

answered on Monday, Jan 31, 2022 10:55:17 AM by TrappedPrior (RotE)

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Arlo
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I'm not sure there's an actual fallacy in the way the term is used on this site (i.e., it isn't an error in reasoning, not commonly applied in arguments and not intended tone deceptive).  Having said that, the argument is very weak because of a weak analogy .  The argument is made even weaker because some terms and concepts aren't well defined or limited, making it possible for different people to understand different things from the comment.

For example, the "court accepts eye witness" testimony could be taken as meaning courts accepting anything an eye witness says just because the witness said it was so (which is not the case, making that premise false) or it could be taken as meaning that courts accept testimony about the physical items and actions that the witness observed.  

If we assume the latter and want to use someone's ghost sighting as evidence that ghosts exist, the analogy is very weak since the courts are accepting evidence about physical things and actions accepted by all to exist while the "ghost" situation doesn't involve physical items.

On the other hand, if we want to use the "ghost sighting" as acceptable evidence of someone's delusions  or of some unexplained phenomenon, the analogy would be stronger.

 

answered on Tuesday, Feb 01, 2022 10:58:12 AM by Arlo

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