1 | PREAMBLE
All of us have holes in our logic. The way our brains work often leads to quick generalizations that don’t hold up under scrutiny. These are called logical fallacies. All of these are present within each of us and can prevent us from correctly identifying and solving the problems we experience.
The bandwagon fallacy says that because an idea is popular it is therefore valid. At one point, it was widely believed that the world was flat. Just because most people were “on the bandwagon” of the earth being flat didn’t make it true or valid.
The ad hominem fallacy is an attempt to attack a person’s character and personal traits to undermine their argument. If a man wants to discuss women’s issues, he could be subject to the ad hominem argument that “you are not a woman, and therefore your opinion is invalid,” regardless of the merits of his opinion.
The straw man fallacy is an exaggeration or misrepresentation of an opinion to make it easier to attack. For example, when a John says that he would rather own a dog than a cat, and Susan responds, “Why do you hate cats so much?” Most likely, John just wants a dog. Susan’s assumption is that he doesn’t want a dog because he hates cats. Instead of addressing the information presented to her, she makes assumptions of John’s motives. John may be like me and hate cats. But most likely, he just would rather have a dog.
As we discuss these troublesome elephants in the room, it is important to admit that we all have biases and flaws in our logic that prevent us from having clear understanding. We all must practice all forms of humility – including intellectual – and admit that the human experience is complex and varied and can’t be generalized.
It is said that Socrates would often begin his talks with a definition of terms he would use so everyone could start at the same place. Anthisthenes, one of Socrates’ students was fond of saying “the beginning of education is the definition of terms.” I believe that in order to accurately discuss these issues, we must agree on definitions. I will do my best throughout this book to provide citations and sources for the terms and definitions that I use.
To arrive at these definitions, I have gone to the source. The terms and definitions I use in this book are not imagined or created by me but rather used by the creators of the terms themselves, with sources cited. It may be helpful to reference Appendix B as I use words like “discourse,” “intersectionality” or “antiracism.” Common terms like “social justice” often can mean something different to a particular writer or scholar than you or I may think it means. Throughout this book, I will share definitions to avoid confusion. Some definitions have been paraphrased or combined for simplicity.
I’m almost guaranteed to miss something. But what is written here represents the best knowledge I currently have in addressing these elephants in the room.
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