That's a logical fallasy!

[FatAndFaithless]

Erm..pointing out logical fallacies and delineating the flawed reasoning of an argument is a good way to counter-argue.

Except that most of the time there is none of the second bit that you said. When you just point out the logical fallacy and do none of the delineating (as happens most of the time) you are being lazy and stupid. Also it doesn't change that you are using a logical fallacy yourself, the fallacy fallacy.

...? Most of the time when someone identifies a fallacy, they already expect the reader or audience to understand what that fallacy is. If one doesn't know what a certain fallacy entails, they can look it up (or, if the opponent denies committing the fallacy, then it can be delineated for them). I don't think it has anything to do with being "Lazy and stupid".

As for the misuse of the fallacy objection, sure, lots of people call out perceived fallacies when there might not be any...which is exactly when opponents can ask for clarification or deny it, which would force the accuser to describe the fallacy.

And I'm not sure what you're trying to get at with the "fallacy fallacy" thing. I don't think any (reasonable) person here would look at a commentary on an argument and discard it just because someone accuses it of having a fallacy.


The point of identifying a fallacy isn't to automatically pull a trump card to overturn your opponent's argument, it's to show the dubiousness of their reasoning abilities and call into doubt the soundness of their assertions, which leads to further discussion and perhaps, eventually, a non-acceptance of their argument. But I haven't seen too many people, on here at least, just turn off their brains when someone else claims a fallacy.