A G K Y R A

A. C. Grayling is a philosopher and professor at Birkbeck College in the University of London, a highly regarded department of philosophy. I myself am an owner of Grayling’s An Introduction to Philosophical Logic (Blackwell). He ought to know how to spot an informal fallacy.

That is what makes his egregious mistake in an essay for The Guardian (UK) so surprising. It is nothing less than a blunder. The essay is entitled “Gotta have faith?” and in it, he accuses theists who make claims such as, “atheism is itself a faith position” of having made the informal fallacy of tu quoque.

“Tu quoque” is Latin and means “You too.” It’s a real fallacy and amounts to pointing the finger at your accuser rather than answering the charges. If you’re on trial for shoplifting, it doesn’t matter whether the judge or the prosecutor also shoplifted at some time in their lives; you’re on trial, not them. Their guilt, if indeed they are guilty, is irrelevant to the question of your guilt.

As with many other informal fallacies, it is fallacious because it doesn’t use reasons to address the truth or falsity of the opponents’ claims. “You too” is really a tacit admission of guilt but with the caveat that your guilt doesn’t matter since the person accusing you is guilty too. Perhaps your accuser is guilty, but that doesn’t make you any less guilty or the charge against you any less just.

Where, then, has Grayling made his misstep?

The setting Grayling apparently envisions is as follows. The theist sits in the dock looking nervous. The atheist barrister stands up, points the finger, and in his most loud and accusing voice declares, “I put it to the court that you, Mr. Theist, are guilty of basing your views on FAITH!” The audience gasps and the defendant cringes. Mr. Theist, cowed by the damning charge and with no hope of a legitimate defense points a limp finger back at Atheist, Q.C., and meekly utters, “You too.”

Unfortunately for Grayling, that’s not a correct portrayal. When theists point out to atheists that the atheistic position is founded on faith, we’re not thereby accusing atheists of having made a mistake. Faith is no crime. We’re not admitting to guilt and trying to avoid a just verdict on the grounds that atheists also have faith. The trial is not taking place as he seems to envision it. Faith is necessary! We have nothing whatsoever to answer for.

Neither do atheists, I should point out. It’s just that atheists typically do think of faith as a liability to the Christian position (even though it’s not) and uniformly fail to recognize the faith basis of their own position. One of the best ways for us to help atheists to think more critically, understand their own position better, and perhaps thence to embrace it more fully, is to point out its faith basis.

For the charge of tu quoque to be correct, it must first be agreed that having faith is an intellectual vice. Grayling himself has committed the fallacy of petitio principii or “begging the question.” Oops!

Grayling has got one thing right: tu quoque is a fallacy. “Atheism is a faith position” is not tu quoque.

One final qualification. Grayling’s charge was precipitated by a document called Doing God: A Future for Faith in the Public Square, published by a public theology think tank called Theos. I haven’t read the document myself, so perhaps it does adopt a “guilty” stance that would invite the charge of tu quoque. I doubt it. In any case, Grayling has invited this rebuttal by directing his attack against general propositions about atheists and faith.

(Hat tip: Beep! Beep! It’s Me!)

Technorati Tags: theism atheism theist atheist agnostic agnosticism grayling fallacy informal+fallacy tu+quoque informal+logic critical+thinking apologetic apologetics christian

I do leave comments at other blogs sometimes. In case anyone happens to be interested, I’m going to begin posting links to other blogs where I comment. Sometimes, there is more content in my comments, here and elsewhere, than in my posts themselves.

• Jewish Atheist: “Fear is at the Root of Fundamentalism“
• Jewish Atheist: “The Torah, Pedophilia, and Subjective Morality“

Those are the most recent. I’m off now to ETS!