Appeal to the open mind

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Open Mind: A mind open to new ideas, lacking in prejudice, not dogmatic.

John Jackson © 2004.

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It is very common for people who are putting forward a claim to say something like, “you must consider this with an open mind“, or if their claim is rejected they will say something like, “well of course you don’t believe it, you’re closed-minded“.

There are many ways that this ‘appeal to open mindedness’ manifests itself, so let’s have a look at why it is not usually a valid argument: (more…)