After a large group of students engaged in a vulgar cheer targeted at a religion, the U of Oregon has apologized and issued the usual “Begging the Question” fallacy statement: “That is not who we are”, immediately after university students showed that is, in fact, who they are.
When an organization suffers an embarrassing fiasco of their own making, they often respond with the silly “This is not who we are” claim, just after they’ve demonstrated that this is indeed who they are. This is known as the “Begging the question fallacy”.
Today, a PBS legal counsel was caught advocating for fire bombing the White House and sending children of Trump supporters to re-education camps. PBS has apparently fired the counsel, and made the usual “This is not who we are”, just after their own counsel demonstrated that this might be who they are… begging the question once again.
Police shove an elderly, 75 year old man, causing a serious head and brain injury. They walk right past his unconscious body. Then they lie about it. And afterwards the city proclaims this “doesn’t reflect the true character of the Buffalo PD” when, in fact, it is exactly their true character. This is known as the “Begging the question fallacy”.
After firing employees for doing good deeds, the CEO of US Bank asserts “this is not who we are”. This is known as the “begging the question” fallacy, which is to assert that something is true, in spite of actual events, and assert everyone agrees with this. This method is extremely common in corporate and government propaganda efforts.
After Boeing’s internal records show employees criticizing the safety of the 737 MAX, Boeing insists “this is not who we are”. This is known as the “begging the question” fallacy, which is to assert that something is true, in spite of actual events, and assert everyone agrees with this. This method is extremely common in corporate and government propaganda efforts.