Ad Hoc Hypothesis

[theVOID]

I've learned a new logical fallacy.

Wikipedia Article on Ad Hoc Hypothesis

In science and philosophy, an ad hoc hypothesis is a hypothesis added to a theory in order to save it from being falsified. Ad hoc hypothesizing is compensating for anomalies not anticipated by the theory in its unmodified form.

I used to mock these as "fudge factors" but now I've learned a more sophisticated term.

What is even worse is the fact than most times when people devise an ad hoc hypothesis it is as an objection to an argument against the position, such as Plantinga's ad hoc to Rowe's "evidential argument from evil" and posits the existence of phenomenon that the person making the ad hoc hypothesis doesn't even believe to be true.

Plantinga proposed that sin was caused by angels falling to earth, it was a theodicy that he used to show that Rowe's argument cannot disprove all logically possible conceptions of God, though he doesn't believe it for a second, thus the hypothesis he proposed to solve the problem is one that doesn't even fit with his own theology, so he hasn't absolved his own beliefs from the evidential argument, he only posited a logically possible scenario where God being omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent is not incompatible with evil even if there is no 'necessary evil' leading to a greater good.

Another example was the Htchens VS Sharpton debate where Rev Sharpton was arguing from a weak deist standpoint, proposing many solutions to criticisms that simply are not compatible with what he actually believes, that being rather fundamentalist Christian theism.

Imo to use such a tactic automatically makes you intellectually bankrupt, which is exactly what we expect from apologists anyway, even Plantinga admitted that God comes first and intellectualism comes second, and that any refutation of his beliefs, no matter how sound and valid, will never shake him. Thus he comes up with utter shit half the time to defend weak theism, but never manages to defend his own theology in the same way/