Special pleading

From Conservapedia

Special pleading is a fallacy of informal logic whereby a party to a controversy exempts himself (or one whom he has a special interest in protecting) from a criticism that he applies to others.

Contents 1 Argument structure 2 Types of exemptions claimed 2.1 Offering an Irrelevant Difference 2.2 Ignoring Unfavorable Evidence 3 Related Concept 4 References

Argument structure

The logical structure of a special pleading typically follows this form:

1. Person X criticizes opponent O on grounds G.
2. X could be criticized on the same grounds.
3. However, X is exempt from G.^[1][2]

Types of exemptions claimed

One engaged in special pleading might claim exemption from grounds G above in a variety of ways:

Offering an Irrelevant Difference

The usual form of special pleading is to cite a counter-ground that is simply irrelevant.^[1][3] The irrelevant ground might be either an alleged special circumstance^[1] or a unique or at least unshared perspective or credential^[3]. "How dare you criticize a (wo)man of my talent/education/training" is a crude example of the special-credential plea.

Ignoring Unfavorable Evidence

The other form of special pleading involves simply ignoring evidence unfavorable to one's position.^[4] One engaged in this form of special pleading concentrates only on one aspect of an issue, or a subset of aspects favorable to the person making the claim. Falsification of evidence is not involved here, but dissemblance might be.

Related Concept

In law, the introduction of a special circumstance intended to extenuate a crime or a tort, instead of denying that the crime or tort occurred or that the defendant did the deed, is often called a special pleading.^[4] Self-defense is the classic special plea in law. But this would not normally qualify as a special pleading in logic. Under the laws of most nation-states today, self-defense is directly relevant to a judgment of guilt for certain crimes, especially murder.

References

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} The Nizkor Project, Fallacy: Special Pleading (retrieved April 9, 2007)
2. ↑ T. Edward Damer, Attacking Faulty Reasoning: A Practical Guide to Fallacy-Free Arguments, 3rd ed., Wadsworth, 1995, pp. 122-124. Retrieved April 9, 2007, from The Fallacy Files
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Bruce Thompson, Special Pleading, in Bruce Thompson's Fallacy Pages (retrieved April 9, 2007)
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed., Definition of special pleading (retrieved April 9, 2007)