Question

Name the fallacy which provides the best evaluation of each of the following arguments. And use that fallacy as a tool to explain the main weakness of each argument. Your evaluations should be about 6-8 lines.

Let’s face it, originality is extinct. And I worry about the future when one of our most valuable possessions has disappeared from the face of the earth. I acknowledge that people do still seek their own unique identity by dressing in a certain way, corporations brand their products to differentiate them from what everyone else is selling, musical artists exploit diverse traditions to keep us entertained with new works, and so on. Yet all this is done by borrowing, copying, absorbing, recycling, and stealing ideas. Originality is nowhere to be seen.

Answer 1

Appeal to ignorance is the fallacy which best suits here. This is because, the argument is being supported by evidences with respect to way of dressing, products in the market and music. It is true that these evidences given here is true in exceptional ways but not 100%. At this point, I shall highlight the weakness of this argument as well. Here the narrater has missed the tribal community living in different parts of the world. We know that human beings live in different environment, broadly we can classify to 2 such as those living with modern technology and those living away from them inside forests where they are totally disconnected from modern world happenings. All tribal works whether art, dressing, etc are original without any influence from the modern world. Therefore, the argument here falls under appeal to ignorance primarily because the evidences mentioned are purely exceptional ones and cannot be considered as one which is universal.