Logically Fallacious: The Ultimate Collection of Over 300 Logical Fallacies (Academic Edition) (Dr. Bo's Critical Thinking Series)

by Bo Bennett

Can it be absolutely true that there are no absolute truths? The short answer is no. The longer answer: This borders on a “Yogibearra-ism” (e.g., “Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.”) but known in logic as a self-defeating statement. These are good ways to make people laugh, but not good uses of reason. It is fallacious to make a self-defeating statement (again, unless as a statement of irony). Here is a non-fallacious dialog related to absolute truth: Sally: “There is no absolute truth.” Bob: “So is THAT absolutely true??” (asked rhetorically) Sally: “I don’t know. In my worldview, my statements are probability based; they’re not based on a false sense of certainty.”