Re: [asa] True Scotsman fallacy - was Of m....

>
> I don't think that's the same thing at all.
>
> One can start with a scientific theory and then refine it as more
> knowledge comes in. E.g. Newton's second law becoming subject to
> relativistic correction clearly isn't an arbitrary adjustment. Perhaps the
> equivalent "No true .." to this would be if you said "No experiment
> measuring an accelerating body violates F=MA". Then you get measurements
> that show the Relativistic correction. "Ah, you say, no TRUE experiment
> violates F=MA, therefore yours can't be a proper experiment".
>

I think a key difference is that proper refinement admits that the initial
proposition was not entirely correct, whereas the "no true Scotsman" fallacy
seeks to maintain one's infallibility. A fixed definition is needed for
honest assessment of a claim.

This shifting of defintitions is especially common with regard to the
definition of evolution/ microevolution/ macroevolution. On the one hand,
clear examples of microevolution are attacked (e.g., peppered moths); on the
other hand, evolution of a new class can be microevolution because when you
look into the details, the series of changes is quite gradual (personal
experience).

I would define biological evolution broadly as genetic change in populations
over time. This means that attacks on evolution would by my definition
generally be questioning the extent of evolution rather than evolution
itself. Others can define evolution differently as long as they make it
clear what they mean and recognize that other people do not use the same
definition. In particular, assumed inclusion of philosophical or
theological baggage under the term "evolution", or assuming that someone
else is doing so, frequently causes problems.

  Iain Strachan (despite the name, not in any way a "true" Scotsman, in fact
> an Englishman who likes sugar on his porridge!)
>

"Campbell" ultimately derives from Scotland, but my actual ancestry is the
usual American hodgepodge of Europe, and I had sugar on my porridge this
morning.

-- 
Dr. David Campbell
425 Scientific Collections
University of Alabama
"I think of my happy condition, surrounded by acres of clams"
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