# What is this type of argument called? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 16, 2007, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-type-of-argument-called/388250 "2007-01-16T21:52:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cegstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@Cegstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cegstar)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-type-of-argument-called/388250/1 "2007-01-16T21:52:10Z")
I’ll explain the argument using in example: In Buddhism, some will say, “We all suffer, and are thus connected. To cause another person grief would be to harm oneself in a “vicious cycle” sort of way.” The person speaking is using the word “connected” loosely, and then later in the sentence is referring back to it as if it means we are literally connected in a way, that if we hurt someone else we must be hurting ourselves. I think I once heard that there is a name for this type of argument, but I can’t recall what it is and I couldn’t find anything using Google. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-type-of-argument-called/388250/2 "2007-01-16T21:57:18Z")
I told you once. ---
**Author:** ![Cegstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@Cegstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cegstar)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-type-of-argument-called/388250/3 "2007-01-16T21:58:40Z")
What? ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-type-of-argument-called/388250/4 "2007-01-16T22:06:28Z")
[QUOTE=Cegstar] What? [/QUOTE] Shut your festering gob, you tit! Your type really makes me puke, you vacuous, coffee-nosed, maloderous, pervert!!! ---
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-type-of-argument-called/388250/5 "2007-01-16T22:11:37Z")
[QUOTE=Lamar Mundane] Shut your festering gob, you tit! Your type really makes me puke, you vacuous, coffee-nosed, maloderous, pervert!!! [/QUOTE] This response is really disgusting. Shame on you. The word is “malodorous.” ---
**Author:** ![Cegstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@Cegstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cegstar)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-type-of-argument-called/388250/6 "2007-01-16T22:12:08Z")
What the hell are you guys talking about? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-type-of-argument-called/388250/7 "2007-01-16T22:13:19Z")
[QUOTE=Lamar Mundane] Shut your festering gob, you tit! Your type really makes me puke, you vacuous, coffee-nosed, maloderous, pervert!!! [/QUOTE] _You_ want to complain? I’ve been on my feet all day… **Cegstar** , it’s as if we are but dandelions in a field. Since we’ve established that we have the same anatomy as dandelions, … Is that the sort of thing you’re talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-type-of-argument-called/388250/8 "2007-01-16T22:13:29Z")
You came to insulted, right? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-type-of-argument-called/388250/9 "2007-01-16T22:14:28Z")
[QUOTE=Carnac the Magnificent!] This response is really disgusting. Shame on you. The word is “malodorous.” [/QUOTE] No it’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-type-of-argument-called/388250/10 "2007-01-16T22:15:51Z")
This isn’t an example of that argument, since ‘connected’ is used in the same sense each time (admittedly in a decidedly mystical way); it’s formally called equivocation: using one word in two different ways (not noun vs. verb, but different meanings within the same part of speech. ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-type-of-argument-called/388250/11 "2007-01-16T22:16:08Z")
To answer the OP with as few Monty Python references as possible, I believe this is [False Analogy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_analogy). ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-type-of-argument-called/388250/12 "2007-01-16T22:16:25Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] No it’s not. [/QUOTE] This isn’t an argument. It’s just contradiction. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-type-of-argument-called/388250/13 "2007-01-16T22:17:44Z")
[QUOTE=Carnac the Magnificent!] This response is really disgusting. Shame on you. The word is “malodorous.” [/QUOTE] And it’s “toffee-nosed”, not “coffee-nosed”. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-type-of-argument-called/388250/14 "2007-01-16T22:18:09Z")
Look, an argument is a connected series of statements designed to support a proposition. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-type-of-argument-called/388250/15 "2007-01-16T22:19:01Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] You came to insulted, right? [/QUOTE] No, I came here for an argument. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-type-of-argument-called/388250/16 "2007-01-16T22:19:02Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] And it’s “toffee-nosed”, not “coffee-nosed”. [/QUOTE] No it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-type-of-argument-called/388250/17 "2007-01-16T22:21:42Z")
[Equivocation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equivocation) ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-type-of-argument-called/388250/18 "2007-01-16T22:24:42Z")
> [@](#): > > In Buddhism, some will say, “We all suffer, and are thus connected. To cause another person grief would be to harm oneself in a “vicious cycle” sort of way.” I’m a Buddhist. I really don’t think anybody who would use “we all suffer, and are thus connected” as a basis for the argument of equanimity could really be considered to have a firm grasp on Buddhism. But then… I REALLY don’t understand the question. I’m kind of lost here. Maybe if you supplied more background? ---
**Author:** ![Cegstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@Cegstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cegstar)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-type-of-argument-called/388250/19 "2007-01-16T22:25:53Z")
Thanks. I think equivocation is what I was thinking of, but I’m not sure it would accurately describe my example since “connected” isn’t actually used twice in the argument; it’s just used loosely and then meant later to be taken more literally. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-type-of-argument-called/388250/20 "2007-01-16T22:58:23Z")
My reading of the intended argument is: Each of us has causal connections with others. So what you do generally has effects on others, and what others do often has effects on you. Say you act to harm someone. Then you are endorsing the principle “it is okay to harm someone.” Say others also endorsed this principle. Then their actions are likely to harm you. So you clearly don’t want others endorsing this principle. But that just means you don’t endorse the principle yourself. And that means that, on the basis of self-interest, because others’ actions have effects on you, you endorse the principle “Do not harm” whether you claim to or not. And this in turn means you can not harm someone without turning against your own principles. I know, I know, that’s reading a lot into it, but a lot needs to be read into such a brief and ambiguous pair of sentences. -FrL- [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-type-of-argument-called/388250.md?page=2)