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| − | The fallacy of the '''stolen concept''', also known as the fallacy of the '''self-negating statement''', is the [[logical fallacy]] of implicitly affirming what one wants to disprove or, alternatively, implicitly denying what one wants to prove. That is, the [[conclusion]] [[contradiction|contradicts]] one of the [[premise]]s. The term "stolen concept" referst to a concept that is "stolen" from the [[out of context|context]] that gives that concept meaning.
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| − | ==Examples==
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| − | *[[Socialist]]s claim that property is theft, but the concept of theft presupposes a right to own property.
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| − | *[[postmodernism|Postmodernists]] claim to know objectively that objective knowledge is impossible.
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| − | *[[Liberal Christianity|Liberal Christians]] claim that the [[Bible]], when [[Cafeteria Christianity|"rightly" divided]] and [[allegorical interpretation|"correctly" interpreted]], is the ultimate authority on [[faith]]. However, for that to work, the truly ultimate authority on faith would be the standard used for choosing which Bible verses to follow and for interpreting them, not the Bible itself.
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| − | *[[Liberal]] [[collectivist]]s want greater [[government]] intrusion into our lives to protect [[freedom]].
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| − | *[[Pro-abortion]] activists argue that since there are no such things as [[unalienable rights]], there is no [[right to life]], so that there is an unalienable right to [[abortion]].
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| − | *Liberal [[nanny state|nanny statists]] argue that some acts are contrary to universally accepted standards and that if they are not prevented, everyone will want to do them.
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| − | *Liberals justify [[special rights]] as furthering [[equality]] and oppose genuine equality as a special right.
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| − | *Liberals argue that the [[Equal Protection Clause]] was meant only to protect certain politically favored groups. That interpretation defeats the whole point of that clause.
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| − | *Liberals argue that the debt ceiling should be raised whenever reached. This argument makes the entire ceiling worthless in preventing excessive spending.
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| − | *[[Evolutionists]] use the [[argument from poor design]] to attempt to disprove [[creationism]]; however, according to evolutionism, natural selection should have selected out all suboptimal designs.
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| − | *Liberals will glady tear down real [[family|families]] to support the concept of the institution of the family as they understand it.
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| − | ==See also==
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| − | *[[Reductio Ad Absurdum]], a form of argument that can be used to expose a stolen concept
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| − | ==References==
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| − | *[http://www.goodart.org/stolen.htm Stolen Concept]
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| − | [[Category:Logical Fallacies]]
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