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Phantom Distinction |
| Description: | ||
| The argument appeals to a distinction that ultimately cannot be explained or defended in a meaningful way. | ||
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| Comments: | ||
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| This fallacy is sometimes called drawing a "distinction without a difference." | ||
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| Examples: | ||
| "I'm not a feminist. I just think women should have the same rights as men." | ||
| "Before we condemn all violence used to promote a social agenda, we must remember that there is an important distinction between freedom fighters and mere terrorists." | ||
| "I'm opposed to gay marriage, but I think gay couples should be allowed civil unions that would give them all the same rights that heterosexual couples have." | ||
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| Discussion: | ||
| Obviously, good reasoning often involves drawing
distinctions. Indeed, the error in most of the Middle Ground Fallacies is
precisely that we are not asked to draw a distinction that should be
drawn. However, because the drawing of distinctions is so frequently associated with good reasoning, it becomes possible to mimic good reasoning by claiming to draw a distinction where in fact none exists. |
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| Classification: A Fallacy of Irrelevance (a deductive fallacy of soundness with a falsehood in the major premiss) in the Middle Ground Fallacies family. | ||
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| Source: This fallacy is referred to as "sham distinctions" in Jeremy Bentham's Book of Fallacies (1824). Bentham's book was apparently ghost-written in French by Etienne-Louis Dumont and translated into English for Bentham by Peregrine Bingham. The phrase "phantom distinction" is more modern, but I have not authoritatively identified its source. | ||
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