Question

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Sing

Contextomy

I was wondering whether this can be classified as a contextomy. This fallacy is committed when passages are quoted out of context. What if facts or arguments are criticized while their contexts are ignored. Is this a contextomy? 

Thanks a lot. 

asked on Saturday, Jul 10, 2021 12:57:28 PM by Sing

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Comments

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TrappedPrior (RotE) writes:

Any examples?

posted on Saturday, Jul 10, 2021 04:42:04 PM
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TrappedPrior (RotE) writes:

Your question lacks context. Please clarify.

 

posted on Saturday, Jul 10, 2021 09:55:10 PM
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Sing writes:
[To Prof M]

A company decided to cut its employees' pay to survive through the pandemic situation. People criticized that it was heartless without taking into consideration the context of that decision. Is this a contextomy?

Thank you very much.

[ login to reply ] posted on Sunday, Jul 11, 2021 08:23:46 AM
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TrappedPrior (RotE) writes:
[To Sing]

This could be considered jumping to conclusions but it depends on how reasonable assuming conclusion Y given event X is, and how much 'evidence' is needed.

If I cut someone's wages, is it fair to assume it's a heartless decision due to the nature of wage cuts, or would you need additional context?

Furthermore, to what extent is it just an opinion?

[ login to reply ] posted on Sunday, Jul 11, 2021 07:09:21 PM
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Kostas Oikonomou writes:
[To Sing]

This sounds to me more like cherry picking than contextomy. 

[ login to reply ] posted on Monday, Jul 12, 2021 11:10:49 PM
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Sing writes:

Thank you, everyone.

Is there any fallacy that accounts for ignoring contextual details?

posted on Thursday, Jul 15, 2021 11:35:31 AM

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Answers

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Bo Bennett, PhD
2

Contextomy is removing a passage from its surrounding matter in such a way as to distort its intended meaning. If a fact is a fact then "criticizing" it means nothing... like yelling at a block of cheese for being cheese. No use complaining that a circle has no corners—in any context. So let's stick with arguments. "Context" can by synonymous with the problems of the ambiguity fallacy and equivocation . A concept or term in the argument can mean one thing in a premise (i.e. in that context) and something else in the conclusion. This is where what we might call "context" matters—we would need to have a clear understanding of what the arguer means.

If you do provide an example, we can perhaps be more helpful.

answered on Sunday, Jul 11, 2021 07:34:44 AM by Bo Bennett, PhD

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Dr. Richard
1

Not contextomy, but, inter alia, a major lack of understanding of economics and business and an appeal to emotion. The Appeal to Emotion fallacy is an attempt to manipulate emotions rather than the use of valid reasoning.

answered on Sunday, Jul 11, 2021 12:53:00 PM by Dr. Richard

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Sing writes:

Thank you very much.

Is there any fallacy that accounts for ignoring contextual details?

posted on Thursday, Jul 15, 2021 11:42:20 AM
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Bo Bennett, PhD writes:
[To Sing]

If I may jump in, ignoring context can often result in a strawman fallacy . If it is not deliberate, it may just be that the person is not using good critical thinking skills by understanding the context around the argument.

[ login to reply ] posted on Thursday, Jul 15, 2021 11:48:31 AM