Thursday, January 22, 2009

Naturalistic and Moralistic Fallacies

Two logical fallacies that we must avoid

The naturalistic fallacy is the leap from is to ought – that is, the tendency to believe that what is natural is good; that what is, ought to be. For example, “Because people are genetically different and endowed with different innate abilities and talents, they ought to be treated differently.”

The moralistic fallacy refers to the leap from ought to is, the claim that the way things should be is the way they are. This is the tendency to believe that what is good is natural; that what ought to be, is. For example, “Because everybody ought to be treated equally, there are no innate genetic differences between people.”

The social scientists’ stubborn refusal to accept sex and race differences in behavior, temperament, and cognitive abilities, and their tendency to be blind to the empirical reality of stereotypes, reflect their moralistic fallacy driven by their liberal political convictions.

I leave you without commentary but reflect and keep these in mind and you’ll see world very differently. What should be doesn’t mean it is, nor vice-versa.

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