Question

...
Zakari

Is this a Fallacy

“I'm sure I'll take you with pleasure!" the Queen said. "Twopence a week, and jam every other day."
Alice couldn't help laughing, as she said, "I don't want you to hire me - and I don't care for jam."
"It's very good jam," said the Queen.
"Well, I don't want any today, at any rate."
"You couldn't have it if you did want it," the Queen said.
"The rule is, jam tomorrow and jam yesterday - but never today."
"It must come sometimes to 'jam today," Alice objected.
"No it can't," said the Queen. "It's a jam every other day: today isn't any other day, you know.”

Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

asked on Friday, Jul 16, 2021 03:58:31 PM by Zakari

Top Categories Suggested by Community

Comments

Want to get notified of all questions as they are asked? Update your mail preferences and turn on "Instant Notification."

Eat Meat... Or Don't.

Roughly 95% of Americans don’t appear to have an ethical problem with animals being killed for food, yet all of us would have a serious problem with humans being killed for food. What does an animal lack that a human has that justifies killing the animal for food but not the human?

As you start to list properties that the animal lacks to justify eating them, you begin to realize that some humans also lack those properties, yet we don’t eat those humans. Is this logical proof that killing and eating animals for food is immoral? Don’t put away your steak knife just yet.

In Eat Meat… Or Don’t, we examine the moral arguments for and against eating meat with both philosophical and scientific rigor. This book is not about pushing some ideological agenda; it’s ultimately a book about critical thinking.

Get 20% off this book and all Bo's books*. Use the promotion code: websiteusers

* This is for the author's bookstore only. Applies to autographed hardcover, audiobook, and ebook.

Get the Book

Answers

...
TrappedPrior (RotE)
0

Sounds like equivocation on the Queen's part.

"Every other day" is relative in a given week to a specific day. Since it's a general rule, we should be able to apply it to some sort of specific period (otherwise, it's a meaningless statement). So Alice is spot-on that eventually, 'every other day' will come to a given day - which, if the present day, would be 'today' - yet, the Queen rejects that and claims that the present day is somehow exempt from ever possibly being classified as the 'other day' previously referred to.

When done in real life, it's usually someone being facetious.

Here's another example:

"They say one should do something nice for someone. I'm someone, so you should do something nice for me!"

Here, we go from 'someone' being 'a person other than oneself' to 'a specific person' (thus equivocating terms).

answered on Friday, Jul 16, 2021 09:02:53 PM by TrappedPrior (RotE)

TrappedPrior (RotE) Suggested These Categories

Comments

...
Dr. Richard
0

Or, in the immortal words of Humpty Dumpty who said in rather a scornful tone, “When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.” 

One might say it is an explicit statement of the usually concealed Fallacy of Equivocation. The misleading use of a term with more than one meaning, usually accomplished by glossing over the meaning initially intended in the discussion. Restated: it is to change the definition of a word within the discussion. Often, this is a technique in concert with moving the goal posts. 

answered on Saturday, Jul 17, 2021 11:49:34 AM by Dr. Richard

Dr. Richard Suggested These Categories

Comments