Contrarian Fallacy, The

David Fleming
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An argument which dismisses one proposition by emphasising another one. For example, the proposition, “Many London households in the age of Handel achieved a high level of culture and civility” may be disputed on the grounds that “eighteenth century London still had desperate poverty and open sewers.”

The problem is not that the objection is false; it is that it can effectively see off the original statement, which disappears from the discussion, allowing the easy ride of catch-all cynicism to continue uninterrupted. The Contrarian Fallacy—the inverse of the three monkeys who hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil—sees evil in every accomplishment, and claims that this dismal insight is what conscience requires.

 

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Irrelevance, Tu Quoque.

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David Fleming
Dr David Fleming (2 January 1940 – 29 November 2010) was a cultural historian and economist, based in London, England. He was among the first to reveal the possibility of peak oil's approach and invented the influential TEQs scheme, designed to address this and climate change. He was also a pioneer of post-growth economics, and a significant figure in the development of the UK Green Party, the Transition Towns movement and the New Economics Foundation, as well as a Chairman of the Soil Association. His wide-ranging independent analysis culminated in two critically acclaimed books, 'Lean Logic' and 'Surviving the Future', published posthumously in 2016. These in turn inspired the 2020 launches of both BAFTA-winning director Peter Armstrong's feature film about Fleming's perspective and legacy - 'The Sequel: What Will Follow Our Troubled Civilisation?' - and Sterling College's unique 'Surviving the Future: Conversations for Our Time' online courses. For more information on all of the above, including Lean Logic, click the little globe below!

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