No true Scotsman fallacy
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The story goes something like this: | The story goes something like this: | ||
| − | "No Scotsman would ever put sugar on his porridge!" | + | :"No Scotsman would ever put sugar on his porridge!" |
| − | "But what about Angus McMutton? He puts sugar on HIS porridge." | + | |
| − | "Och! I meant no TRUE Scotsman would ever put sugar on his porridge." | + | :"But what about Angus McMutton? He puts sugar on HIS porridge." |
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| + | :"Och! I meant no TRUE Scotsman would ever put sugar on his porridge." | ||
The implication is that since Angus puts sugar on his porridge, Angus is not a true Scotsman by definition, even though he (presumably) comes from Scotland. This is playing fast and loose with the definition of "Scotsman". | The implication is that since Angus puts sugar on his porridge, Angus is not a true Scotsman by definition, even though he (presumably) comes from Scotland. This is playing fast and loose with the definition of "Scotsman". | ||
Revision as of 08:28, 20 June 2006
The story goes something like this:
- "No Scotsman would ever put sugar on his porridge!"
- "But what about Angus McMutton? He puts sugar on HIS porridge."
- "Och! I meant no TRUE Scotsman would ever put sugar on his porridge."
The implication is that since Angus puts sugar on his porridge, Angus is not a true Scotsman by definition, even though he (presumably) comes from Scotland. This is playing fast and loose with the definition of "Scotsman".
In a similar fashion, many apologists try to prove that all Christians are good people by categorically denying that anyone who does a bad thing is a "true Christian". Unlike the word "Scotsman," there is no generally accepted definition of the word "Christian," so you can pretty much define it however you want. A very inclusive definition might be "Anyone who claims to follow the religion of Christianity." A very exclusive definition might be "Only those people who precisely practice the sect of Christianity that I agree with."
Obviously there is a lot of wiggle room between those two extremes. Since the Scotsman fallacy relies on ambiguity in the definition of the word Christian, it is a form of equivocation.
