English Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português 繁體中文 Bahasa Indonesia Tiếng Việt ภาษาไทย
All categories

FALLACY OF INTERROGATION

Description: The question asked has a presuppostion which the answerer may wish to deny, but which he/she would be accepting if he/she gave anything that would count as an answer. Any answer to the question "Why does such-and-such happen?" presupposes that such-and-such does indeed happen.

Other examples might begin, "Why did God..." or "Why do atheists," or "Why do homosexuals..."

2007-03-27 00:58:14 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture Religion & Spirituality

15 answers

Yeah, it's the whole "Does your mother know you're stupid?" or "Have you stopped beating your wife yet?" fallacy...

2007-03-27 01:14:49 · answer #1 · answered by John S 2 · 4 1

But as we have seen on here - many will say the exact opposite and that they do not believe that such and such happens at all.

Especially to questions that start off with "Why did God...?"
Anyone who does not believe there is a God will most likely say in this forum, God doesn’t exist, or it is a regular happening and take control of your life, etc. etc.

Just because there are some assumed qualities or even prodding to get a certain type of answer that the questioner wants to match their beliefs, the questions doesn’t always have to be answered to fulfill the assumptions given.

2007-03-27 08:10:42 · answer #2 · answered by Unity 4 · 1 0

I see it all the time. I have commented on it a few times in my answers. I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses. There are usually 30+ open questions on us. Of these about 70% make statements that are completely untrue as part of the question. One question that is up quite often is "Why do Kingdom Halls Never have windows?" While the wording is sometimes different the base question is the same. The very nature of the question fights against receiving answers. Not all Kingdom Halls have windows, but at the same time, not all Kingdom Halls are without windows.

Most people when having their questions picked apart only seem to get annoyed, though Some are nice enough to admit if they have gotten their facts messed up.

We must ALL remember that just because someone claims something on the internet, even as part of a question, does not make it true.

2007-03-27 08:11:51 · answer #3 · answered by Ish Var Lan Salinger 7 · 1 0

It's a way of making a statement into a question to provoke those on the "other side". It also plants thoughts in the minds of the readers. Much of what we "know" is really what we believe - we accept many things as true without evidence.

The interesting one yesterday was along the lines of "Is it ok for a nun to slap a child if they ask about the trinity", implying that this happened. It may have, but we all know that behaviour is unacceptable. One could have just as easily asked "Is it ok for an atheist teacher in a government funded school to berate a student for believing in God", and got the same answer - no.

2007-03-27 08:05:49 · answer #4 · answered by awayforabit 5 · 1 0

I've seen it a few times.
While you're here, you look like a smart guy...
I've got these three cups, and under one of them is a pea...
Questions like the one you've highlighted above are the same kind of thing - basically a confidence trick.
Look at the kind of people that ask that type of question. Tells you something about them, doesn't it?

2007-03-27 09:12:07 · answer #5 · answered by Orac 4 · 0 2

That's not exactly a logical fallacy, it's more of a rhethorical trick. A poor one, for that matter. A statement is masked as a question.

2007-03-27 08:04:13 · answer #6 · answered by NaturalBornKieler 7 · 4 1

Yes, they constitute at least 50% of the "questions" on R&S.

2007-03-27 08:25:29 · answer #7 · answered by Aspurtaime Dog Sneeze 6 · 2 0

Your question confirms the falacy of so-called Top Contributor!

2007-03-27 08:08:42 · answer #8 · answered by ? 6 · 0 1

Or this Question I saw...

"Do you find this a frequent logical fallacy employed in "Answers?"?"

Yes, I agree

2007-03-27 08:01:51 · answer #9 · answered by Dr. Linder 4 · 4 1

Sure, but it gets called every time.

2007-03-27 08:19:32 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

fedest.com, questions and answers