Haddad-Adel and the Fallacy of False Analogy

Gholamali Haddad-Adel: To clarify the difference between slander and a question: if someone asks another, “Is it true that you are the illegitimate child of your parents?”—in your opinion, is this a question or slander? If the author means that posing such a question amounts to slander, and thereby intends to conclude that Mr. Mahmoud Sadeghi’s question constitutes slander against the head of the judiciary;

in this form of reasoning, there are relevant differences that turn it into the fallacy of false analogy or faulty comparison. Faulty comparison, or the fallacy of false analogy, technically refers to extending the ruling of one matter to another without there being a complete similarity between the two.

These relevant differences are: 1) In Mr. Mahmoud Sadeghi’s question, three legal persons are present: a member of parliament, the Minister of Justice, and the judiciary. Hence, it differs from me, as a natural person, asking a question of my neighbor, as another natural person. 2) Mr. Mahmoud Sadeghi, as a legal person in the role of a member of parliament, legally has the “right and duty” to pose such a question, whereas I, as a natural person, have neither the right nor the duty to ask such a question of another.

3) Mr. Mahmoud Sadeghi’s question concerns the legal and religious basis of the relationship without referring to its non-religious and illegal aspect, whereas in the question posed by Mr. Haddad-Adel, the illegitimate aspect of the parents’ relationship with the child is pointed out, and this aspect affects the nature of the addressee’s response.

Therefore, the conclusion inferred from the example attributed to Mr. Haddad-Adel cannot be extended to Mahmoud Sadeghi’s question.

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Haddad-Adel and the Fallacy of False Analogy

Let’s Think Critically: The Fallacy of False Analogy in the Tweet Attributed to Mr. Haddad-Adel

Author: Majid Heidari Charvadeh (Author’s Website - Author’s Channel)

For further reading, refer to the book Critical Thinking: A Student’s Introduction by Gregory Bassham, William Irwin, Henry Nardone, and James M. Wallace, translated by Kamyab, Minuy-e Kherad Publications, pages 191 to 197.

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