Question

...
Kevin Lav

"Evidence Informed"

Proponents of controversial Intervention X claim that X must be court ordered for the patient's own good, even though it undermines the patient's autonomy, and there are no risks to imminent safety of self or others; survivors of Intervention X claim it is traumatizing, harmful, and useless. Proponents of X have no empirical outcome studies on their side, but claim that because Intervention X incorporates some principles from evidence-based interventions A, B, and C, all critiques of it should be dismissed. (Think aversion therapy in A Clockwork Orange). What logical fallacy are proponents of X committing?

asked on Saturday, Jul 22, 2023 12:11:29 PM by Kevin Lav

Top Categories Suggested by Community

Comments

...
0
Petra Liverani writes:

Sounds very familiar.

posted on Sunday, Jul 23, 2023 07:35:36 AM

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

Grow Intellectually by Taking Dr. Bo's Online Courses

Dr. Bo is creating online courses in the area of critical thinking, reason, science, psychology, philosophy, and well-being. These courses are self-paced and presented in small, easy-to-digest nuggets of information. Use the code FALLACYFRIENDS to get 25% off any or all of Dr. Bo's courses.

View All Dr. Bo's Courses

Answers

...
Bo Bennett, PhD
3

Essentially, parts of the whole are true, therefore the whole is true. Sounds like fallacy of composition .

 

answered on Saturday, Jul 22, 2023 02:41:49 PM by Bo Bennett, PhD

Bo Bennett, PhD Suggested These Categories

Comments

...
0
Kevin Lav writes:

Fantastic! Thank you.

posted on Saturday, Jul 22, 2023 03:11:34 PM
...
Mchasewalker
0

 all critiques of it should be dismissed...

Sounds a tad hasty to me, but more opinion and weak argument than a fallacy.

answered on Saturday, Jul 22, 2023 12:58:08 PM by Mchasewalker

Mchasewalker Suggested These Categories

Comments

...
0
Kevin Lav writes:

I agree it is at least a weak argument. The central fallacy for me is that because A, B and C are evidence-based, and there are pieces of them in X, then by implication X should be considered at least evidence-adjacent (or "evidence-informed," as they call it). The problem is that A, B and C are all used to treat diagnoses that are recognized by psychiatry, while X is not. Intervention X is used to promote a preferred social construct, rather than a recognized psychiatric diagnosis. It seems to me that there is some sort of logical error, that if A, B and C are evidence-based, and X incorporates pieces of them, then drawing a conclusion that X has evidentiary support, even though that's not the correct process for determining whether or not an intervention has evidentiary support.

posted on Saturday, Jul 22, 2023 01:26:27 PM
...
David Blomstrom
0

Appeal to authority? If they're describing something as evidence-based, then they would appear to be invoking either science, government officials who supposedly conducted some sort of investigation, or possibly media rats with their polls and surveys.

If the "evidence" they speak of is faked, then there might also be another fallacy involved - or should we just call it a lie?

answered on Sunday, Jul 23, 2023 08:09:55 AM by David Blomstrom

David Blomstrom Suggested These Categories

Comments

...
Jack
0

There's a whole mess of problems here.

Near the end there, you have a classic fallacy of composition. Just because Intervention X incorporates some principles, does not mean that Intervention X inherits the property of 'evidence informed'.

This is part of a broader appeal to authority, as the proponents clearly don't actually care about the evidence at all, and are just convoluting some means to override the autonomy and testimonies of the people opposed.

Since it seems pretty clear what this is actually about, we can safely say that they are factually incorrect, to boot.

answered on Saturday, Apr 20, 2024 07:28:36 PM by Jack

Jack Suggested These Categories

Comments