The Historians' Paradox: The Study of History in Our Time

Glossary: All the terminology introduced in the text, explained one more time.

183 Glossary A note to the reader: these are the bolded words and terms from the preceding pages. The definitions given below refer to the use of the words on those pages. Many of the words have other definitions, but these are omitted here. Ad hominem: literally “against the man,” a personal attack. Affirming the consequent, fallacy of: reasoning that the premise is correct because the conclusion is so. All-or-nothing (black-and-white, either-or) fallacy: an argument with no middle ground. Analogy: a comparison that has the form “If A is like B, then A has a particular characteristic in B.” Appeal to authority: let’s settle this dispute by asking someone who knows. Argument: in logic, a statement or series of statements purporting to be so. Not a yelling match. Argument from authority: it is true because an authority figure says so. Argument from consequences: the premise is true because I want the consequence to prove true. Atlantic City (gambler’s hope) fallacy: I’ve been losing , so the odds say I’ll win on my next throw. I’ll keep on betting. Axiom: a rule in a closed logical system: for example, in geometry, “The whole is greater than the part.” Begging the question: assuming the truth of what you are supposed to be proving; circular reasoning. Big lie: a boldface untruth, told with the intention of fooling lots of people. Category mistake: the error of assuming that the name of a collection of things is a thing itself. 184 Glossary Chaos theory (butterfly effect): the discovery that minute changes in initial conditions may lead similar events to result in widely different conclusions. Circular reasoning: a statement chasing its own tail, proving its truth by reasserting its premise. Clustering illusion: the fallacy of thinking that a cluster of events must be related to some other, nearby event. Concomitance, fallacy of: mistaking proximity in time or place for cause. Contrapositive: in formal logic, “If p then q, then if not q then not p.” Converse: in formal logic, “If p then q, then if q then p.” Deconstructionists: a group of literary critics and philosophers who ignore the context of texts in favor of the timelessness of texts. Deduction: in logic, reasoning from a definition or an infallible rule to a particular case. Denying the antecedent, fallacy of: in logic, “If p then q, not p, therefore not q.” Dogma, dogmatism: the claim that an authority is always right and must be accepted as such. It helps to be infallible on the subject. Double standard: do as I say, not as I do. Empiricist: someone who reasons from inference; the opposite of the metaphysician. Entropy: the second of the three classical laws of thermodynamics . Energy in the universe is not conserved; instead, it is in a steady process of dissipation. In other words, don’t waste your energy, you will not have it tomorrow. Experiment: testing a hypothesis through the use of controls and repetition. Evil, problem of: why, if God loves us and is good, is there evil; why do the innocents suffer? Fallacy: a mistake in logic, word use, or reasoning. False cause: mistaking motives or excuses for causes. False concreteness, fallacy of: wishing cannot make it so, and coining a term does not do it either. False identification fallacy: argument based on incorrect or misleading association of A and B. False question, fallacy of: a demeaning hypothetical in question form. Glossary 185 Formal logical fallacy: a mistake in formal logic; a form of statement that violates the rules of propositional reasoning. Formal (propositional) logic: a calculation of validity of statements based on a set of rules. Fractal theory: the theory describing how certain physical structures in nature (fractals) repeat themselves in miniature. Game theory: a series of strategies for making decisions that accounts for other players’ decisions as well. Gödel’s paradox: there are some large axiomatic mathematical systems whose axioms’ truth cannot be determined within the system itself; a theory of inherent indeterminacy. Greatest good for the greatest number: the mantra of John Stuart Mill’s nineteenth-century philosophy of utilitarianism. Guilt by association: the accusation that one’s adversary is hanging out with the wrong crowd. Hasty generalization: a statement about an individual or a group based on insufficient information, often demonstrating stereotyping. Hindsight, fallacy of: explanations of events based on their outcome; Monday morning quarterbacking. Hypothesis: a...