Something Must Be Done

From Harridanic
Revision as of 10:37, 22 August 2012 by Paul Herring (talk | contribs) (Created page with "The "Politician's Syllogism" is a logical fallacy of the form: # We must do something # 'This' is something # Therefore we must do 'this' Aptly demonstrated in this episode o...")
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The "Politician's Syllogism" is a logical fallacy of the form:

  1. We must do something
  2. 'This' is something
  3. Therefore we must do 'this'

Aptly demonstrated in this episode of Yes Minister:

{{#ev:youtube|vidzkYnaf6Y}}

Sir Arnold: It’s the old logical fallacy: All cats have four legs. My dog has four legs…..

Sir Humphrey: ...Therefore my dog is a cat.

Sir Arnold: He’s suffering from politician’s logic.

Sir Humphrey: Something must be done, this is something, therefore we must do it.

Sir Arnold: But doing the wrong thing is worse than doing nothing.

Sir Humphrey: Doing anything is worse than doing nothing

References