[lit-ideas] Re: On being a Marine and an American
- From: "John McCreery" <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 10 May 2006 15:39:17 +0900
Lawrence,
I don't believe that you grasped the logic of the True Scotsman
fallacy that Robert Paul was talking about. Let's try one more time.
Let us assume that Lawrence is right and that no one who has not been
a Marine can understand what it is to be a Marine or grasp the real
sense of what a Marine is talking about.
The underlying assumption is that no one who has not been an X can
understand what it is to be an X.
The same assumption applies with equal force to "No one who has not
been a Muslim can understand what it is to be a Muslim or grasp the
real sense of what a Muslim is talking about" or "No one who has not
been a centrist liberal Democrat who sees shades of gray where others
see black and white can understand what it is to be this person or
grasp the real sense of what he or she is talking about."
The number of possible examples is infinite. The conclusion is,
however, perfectly clear. If John, Judy, Robert or Omar cannot
understand what it is to be a Marine or grasp the real sense of what a
Marine is talking about then Lawrence, who has been neither a Muslim
or a liberal, has no business pontificating about what Muslims or
liberals think. His assertions can be dismissed out of hand, just as
he dismisses those made by people who disagree with him. QED.
Conversation ends. Too bad about that.
John
--
John McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN
US CITIZEN ABROAD?
THROW THE RASCALS OUT!
Register to Vote in '06 Elections
www.VoteFromAbroad.org
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
