By Cassandra Kessler PHIL 1100 Critical Thinking Misplacing the Burden of Proof Definition a type of fallacy that occurs when a speaker or writer attempts to support or prove a point by trying to make us disprove it ID: 691983
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Misplacing the Burden of Proof & Begging the Question
By: Cassandra Kessler
PHIL 1100
Critical ThinkingSlide2
Misplacing the Burden of Proof
Definition: a type of fallacy that occurs when a speaker or writer attempts to support or prove a point by trying to make us disprove it
What they try to do: attempt to place the burden of proof on the wrong side of an
issueBurden of proof depends on contextIf the issue is factual, the speaker making the more absurd claim has the burden of proof because they have less credibilityIt also falls on those who want change rather than those who want to keep things alone
Example: Automatic handguns should be outlawed. I’ll bet you can’t think of one good reason why they shouldn’t.
Example (dialogue):
Ashley: We should invest more money in advertising our Girl Scout cookies.
Alice: That would be a costly mistake.
Ashley: How could anyone object to more advertising for our cookies? Slide3
Appeal to Ignorance
Misplacing the Burden of Proof is connected to the appeal to ignorance
Definition: a type of fallacy in which someone asserts that we should believe an assertion because nobody has proved it false, misplacing the burden of proof again on the listener
This type of fallacy requires more than an absence of disproofExample: No one has proved that ghosts don’t exist; therefore they do exist. Slide4
Begging the Question
Definition: a type of fallacy that occurs when a speaker or writer tries to “support” or “demonstrate” a contention by offering as “evidence” or “proof” what amounts to a reiteration of the very contention in question.
What they try to do: attempt to “support”
an assertion by offering as “evidence” which amounts to a repackaging of the very assertion in a question
Example: God exists is proved by scripture, because scripture is the word of God and thus, cannot be false.
Example: Obviously the president of the Walleye Lake Lodge told the truth about the missing money. He wouldn’t lie to us members about it. Slide5
Loaded Questions
Begging the question is closely related to loaded questions, a type of rhetoric
Example of a loaded question as begging the question (dialogue):
James: Do the DMV workers hate people because they deal with people all day long? Yes or no.Jamie: Umm….James: Well?**Remember loaded questions are questions that rest upon one or more unwarranted or unjustified assumptions**