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Old 03-23-2008, 04:48 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by intricatic View Post
Best fallacy would probably be the Red Herring: Ignoratio Elenchi ("ignorance of refutation", Latin)




Because the argument wasn't presented that he should disown his mother, the premise of his argument was diversionary - he was effectively trying to alter the premise of the original argument by moving to an irrelevant topic.
I considered that it might be a red herring but I still think it falls under the excluded middle. Let me see if I can elaborate. The assumed premise is that Wright says racist things. The second is that his grandmother says racist things.
The third is that his grandmother isn't a racist because she helped raise him, sacrificed for him and loved him. Therefore Wright cannot be a racist. There is no necessary connection that arrives at the conclusion.
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