Aristotle (384-322 BC), in a 1st-2nd century Imperial Roman copy of an original portrait bust by Lysippos. \u00a0(Click to enlarge.)
The principles of logic have been formalized since at least his day, and there\u2019s much to be learned from and about them.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
A critic of the Church, writing last night, has faulted a list of scholars formerly associated with the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies and\/or the subsequent Maxwell Institute because they\u2019re all Latter-day Saints.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not the first time I\u2019ve seen such a thing. \u00a0Nor even the hundredth time. \u00a0This dismissal, on this basis, is very common among a certain type of critic.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
So I\u2019m going to cut to the chase. \u00a0Arguments \u2014 and I use the term here as scholars and logicians typically do, to refer to orderly presentations of evidence intended to support propositions, not to mere \u201cdisagreements,\u201d let alone to \u201cfights\u201d \u2014 are properly assessed on the basis of two elements:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
1) \u00a0Is the adduced evidence solid, and adequately representative of the situation?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
2) \u00a0Is it arranged according to the principles of sound logic?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
They aren\u2019t properly evaluated on the basis of who made them.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thus, if Polyneices says \u201cAll men are mortal, and Socrates is a man, so, therefore, Socrates is mortal,\u201d it doesn\u2019t matter whether Polyneices is a Mormon, or a Jew, or Black, or an adulterer, or a saint, or a serial killer, or an undertaker with a personal financial interest in the mortality of Socrates. \u00a0It doesn\u2019t matter whether his assertion has been peer reviewed, whether it\u2019s been published in the prestigious Journal of Truths Acceptable to the Fashionable\u00a0Elite<\/em>, or whether it\u2019s merely been inscribed into a watermelon using a dull Swiss Army knife. \u00a0What matters is whether or not all men really are mortal, whether Socrates really is a man, and whether the logical syllogism \u201cAll A are C, B is a member of the set of A, therefore B is C\u201d is logically valid. \u00a0It is, by the way: The conclusion follows from the premises, and the premises are true. \u00a0If the argument is going to be overturned, that will require disputing either the truth of the premises or the validity of the logic. \u00a0Pointing to Polyneices\u2019s movie preferences, or his hot temper, or his poor taste in shoes, or his bad hair, would be perfectly irrelevant.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
By the same token, if Alexandros says \u201cAll cacti are mammals, and Paris is in Germany, so, accordingly, Shakespeare is Thailand\u2019s greatest architect,\u201d that argument will be, um, problematic even if it passed peer review and was published in the Academic Journal Greater than All Other Academic Journals<\/em>. \u00a0Even if Alexandros holds views that most high-status folks share\u00a0on religion and politics. \u00a0And even if a poll of professors of dentistry shows that virtually all orthodontists, whether in North America or Europe, endorse it. \u00a0Why? \u00a0Because its premises are factually false \u2014 cacti aren\u2019t mammals, and Paris isn\u2019t in Germany \u2014 and because its logic is invalid. \u00a0(\u201cAll A are B, C is D, therefore E is F\u201d is a thunderously, screamingly, invalid logical form.)<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
To pronounce an argument dismissible solely because its author is Jewish, or Catholic, or Republican, or White, or even ugly and unpleasant (i.e., yours truly) is an instance of the ad hominem<\/em> logical fallacy \u2014 which, despite common misconceptions to the contrary, isn\u2019t about being nasty. \u00a0It\u2019s about focusing on irrelevancies. \u00a0(Which may explain why it\u2019s often classified as a \u201cfallacy of irrelevance.\u201d) \u00a0To dismiss an argument because it wasn\u2019t published in the Right Kind of journal is similarly irrelevant. \u00a0An argument can be sound\u00a0even without being published at all. \u00a0In fact, all sound published arguments were, prior to publication, originally sound\u00a0unpublished<\/em> arguments. \u00a0(Duh.)<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I addressed several of the\u00a0recurring objections to the scholarly legitimacy of the publications of FARMS (e.g., concerning peer review)\u00a0back in 2006, in an article entitled \u201cThe Witchcraft Paradigm: On Claims to \u2018Second Sight\u2019 by People\u00a0Who Say It Doesn\u2019t Exist.\u201d<\/a> \u00a0These objections\u00a0still<\/em> recur, of course, although now they\u2019re often focused on the Interpreter Foundation (FARMS having since been absorbed into the Maxwell Institute, which has now set its face resolutely against publishing the sorts of things that once generated controversy \u2014 and attention, and, in a way, general relevance \u2014 for it.) \u00a0But I stand by what I wrote in that article, and I encourage those who want to quarrel with me on these matters to read it first. \u00a0We\u2019ll all\u00a0save time that way.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 A critic of the Church, writing last night, has faulted a list of scholars formerly associated with the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies and\/or the subsequent Maxwell Institute because they\u2019re all Latter-day Saints. \u00a0 It\u2019s not the first time I\u2019ve seen such a thing. \u00a0Nor even the hundredth time. \u00a0This dismissal, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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