The fallacy of inconsistency occurs when someone uses contradictory reasoning or applies different standards to similar situations. The examples illustrate this by showing how people might prudently prepare for one type of risk while dismissing another, or how they attribute negative outcomes to one system while overlooking problems in another.
The fallacy of inconsistency involves contradictory reasoning or beliefs. It's demonstrated by selectively applying standards or judgments based on convenience rather than logical consistency, as seen in the examples of planning for military threats while dismissing environmental projections, or blaming one economic system for negative outcomes while ignoring similar issues in another.
| Fallacy | inconsistency |
|---|---|
| Definition and Examples | (e.g., Prudently plan for the worst of which a potential military adversary is capable, but thriftily ignore scientific projections on environmental dangers because they’re not “proved.” Or: Attribute the declining life expectancy in the former Soviet Union to the failures of communism many years ago, but never attribute the high infant mortality rate in the United States (now highest of the major industrial nations) to the failures of capitalism. Or: Consider it reasonable for the Universe to continue to exist forever into the future, but judge absurd the possibility that it has infinite duration into the past); |
Tags: fallacies
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