To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (585227 ) 6/25/2004 11:38:42 AM From: DizzyG Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 769670 It's ironic Kenneth... That you state:Jake loves to use "guilt by association". You've accused another of using the "guilt by association" form of argument. But then you follow it up with: Reminds me of Joe McCarthy. The irony? You have used the "guilt by association" argument by comparing Jake's posting to Joe McCarthy. :) Diz- PS: Just for you, Kenneth:Description of Guilt By Association Also Known as: Bad Company Fallacy, Company that You Keep Fallacy Guilt by Association is a fallacy in which a person rejects a claim simply because it is pointed out that people she dislikes accept the claim. This sort of "reasoning" has the following form: It is pointed out that people person A does not like accept claim P. Therefore P is false It is clear that sort of "reasoning" is fallacious. For example the following is obviously a case of poor "reasoning": "You think that 1+1=2. But, Adolf Hitler, Charles Manson, Joseph Stalin, and Ted Bundy all believed that 1+1=2. So, you shouldn't believe it." The fallacy draws its power from the fact that people do not like to be associated with people they dislike. Hence, if it is shown that a person shares a belief with people he dislikes he might be influenced into rejecting that belief. In such cases the person will be rejecting the claim based on how he thinks or feels about the people who hold it and because he does not want to be associated with such people. Of course, the fact that someone does not want to be associated with people she dislikes does not justify the rejection of any claim. For example, most wicked and terrible people accept that the earth revolves around the sun and that lead is heavier than helium. No sane person would reject these claims simply because this would put them in the company of people they dislike (or even hate). nizkor.org