Category Archives: specious comparisons

OMG. What if?

Posted on 5/14/2013 by Scott Aikin

Mark Steyn’s recent contribution to NRO’s page is an exercise in (a) guilt by association, by way of (b) rampant speculation.  The ultimate payoff is to criticize the food stamp program.  Here’s how the line of argument goes: [The House … Continue reading →

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sneakyGodwin

Posted on 2/7/2013 by Scott Aikin

We’ve had discussions of the use of persuasive comparison with the Ad Hitlerum and Godwin’s Law here at the NS a few times.  (Just a sample from John HERE and from me HERE).  Here’s a stealthier version (hence, sneakyGodwin), one … Continue reading →

Posted in specious comparisons, Weak Analogy | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Lead with the Godwin!

Posted on 7/31/2012 by Scott Aikin

Thomas Sowell opens his article over at the American Spectator with a sentence that would make any fan of Godwin proud (see the know your meme bit on it!): It was either Adolf Hitler or his propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, … Continue reading →

Posted in specious comparisons, Weak Analogy | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Well, if they didn’t have the guns…

Posted on 7/24/2012 by Scott Aikin

Just as predictable as the question about whether we need stronger gun controls follows after a public shooting spree, there is the predictable response from conservatives that guns don't kill people, evil/crazy/bad people kill people, so stop with gun control. … Continue reading →

Posted in Red Herring, specious comparisons, Weak Analogy | Tagged , , | 13 Comments

Implicature by comparison

Posted on 7/10/2012 by Scott Aikin

We can find implicature all around us, from how we use sarcasm, to how we use innuendo.  I think that some comparisons can communicate something else, too.  So, say, for example, that I say: Today's as hot as hell. We … Continue reading →

Posted in Other problems, specious comparisons | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Some analogies are dangerous

Posted on 6/2/2012 by Scott Aikin

Sorry to all the NS readers for the long hiatus.  I'll be doing my best to blog more often, certainly over the summer. Vanderbilt's head football coach, James Franklin, has had a pretty good run.  He took Vandy to a … Continue reading →

Posted in General discussion, specious comparisons, Weak Analogy | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Things that are not equivalent at all, part MMXXI

Posted on 5/17/2012 by John Casey

Someone at Real Clear Politics has weighed in on the Naomi Schaefer Riley firing (talked about by us here and here–see links).  Part of her defense, not the worst part sadly, involved the following equivalence: Yet most left-of-center commentators who … Continue reading →

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Analogy and hypocrisy

Posted on 11/23/2011 by Scott Aikin

Cal Thomas thinks Newt Gingrich is being unfairly criticized for his consulting work for Freddie Mac.  The charges of hypocrisy, he holds, are off base.  Here's the defense: That Gingrich took money from Freddie Mac, an agency he now derides, … Continue reading →

Posted in Ad hominem tu quoque, specious comparisons, Weak Analogy | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Inner Witlessness

Posted on 11/16/2011 by pmayo

David Brooks has a problem with all you people and your outrage over the rape of young boys.  So take a break from feverishly trying assuage your liberal guilt with innumerable OMG SANDUSKEEZ A PERV OMG #librulzrule tweets and witness … Continue reading →

Posted in Ad hominem circumstantial, Appeal to the People, David Brooks, False equivalences, hollow man, oversimplified cause, Plain Bad Arguments, specious comparisons, Suppressed Evidence, Weak Analogy | 5 Comments

Slut walk? I’ll watch!

Posted on 6/23/2011 by Scott Aikin

Chrisopher Orlet begins his column at the American Spectator, "Feminist Foolery," with an interesting observation about the slut walk phenomenon. In the interest of clarity, a SlutWalk — the latest gambit in the increasingly raunchy women's movement — is when … Continue reading →

Posted in Ad hominem tu quoque, Argument from Double Standards, Argument from Inconsistency, specious comparisons | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment