Posted by Jason on December 27, 1996 at 20:06:42:
One aspect I enjoy about the Internet is its capacity to
educate. There are two concepts in particular that I would
like to learn more about. In critical thinking skills, two
concepts I'm having a little trouble understanding are
"plausible deniability" and "special pleading." I come
across these terms in books on critical thinking skills but
they're not explained that clearly. I would like to know
exactly what these terms mean because I've heard they're
commonplace in fallacious arguments.
I know that plausible deniability has something to do with
saving a leader from an embarrassing situation while
special pleading has something to with telling a person to
think in a certain way. Can anyone give a clear definition
and provide some good examples? Thanks.
- Jason