no true Scotsman : Java Glossary

no true Scotsman
One of the logical fallacies, dishonest ways of debating and arguing.
Imagine Hamish McDonald, a Scotsman, sitting down with his Glasgow Morning Herald and seeing an article about how the “Brighton Sex Maniac Strikes Again.” Hamish is shocked and declares that “No Scotsman would do such a thing.” The next day he sits down to read his Glasgow Morning Herald again and this time finds an article about an Aberdeen man whose brutal actions make the Brighton sex maniac seem almost gentlemanly. This fact shows that Hamish was wrong in his opinion but is he going to admit this? Not likely. This time he says, “No true Scotsman would do such a thing.”
~ Antony Flew (born: 1923-02-11 age: 89), Thinking about Thinking, 1975

CMP homejump to top You can get the freshest copy of this page from: or possibly from your local J: drive (Java virtual drive/mindprod.com website mirror)
http://mindprod.com/jgloss/notruescotsman.html J:\mindprod\jgloss\notruescotsman.html
logofeedback Please email your feedback for publication, letters to the editor, errors, omissions, typos, formatting errors, ambiguities, unclear wording, broken/redirected link reports, suggestions to improve this page or comments to Roedy Green : feedback email If you want your message kept confidential, not considered for posting, please explicitly specify that.
mindprod.com IP:[65.110.21.43]
view BlogYour face IP:[38.107.179.210]
You are visitor number 11.