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Appeal to Mystery |
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| The argument proposes, as an explanation, the claim that there can be no explanation, i.e. that the fact to be explained is unexplainable. | ||
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| Some common words used to express this fallacy are "mysterious," "inscrutable," "ineffable," etc. Sometimes the fallacy involves invoking the romance of the unknowable: "What a dull world it would be if everything were known!" | ||
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| Examples: | ||
| "We cannot know why God allows the good to suffer on this earth. Who can fathom the ways of the creator?" | ||
| "What caused 500 hats to appear on Bartholomew Cubbins' head? It was just something that happened to happen, and isn't very likely to happen again." | ||
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--with apologies to Dr. Seuss |
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| Discussion: | ||
| Few philosophers claim to know anything with certainty. The
more one inquires into any subject, the more one is inclined to accept the
wisdom of Socrates: I know only that I do not know. There is a good reason,
then, that the language of doubt and uncertainty strikes us as wise and
reasonable. The fallacy of Appeal to Mystery is often persuasive because it
mimics epistemological modesty. However, there is a difference. A good
hypothesis is understood to be provisional. We understand that errors are
possible. When a scientist offers a real hypothesis to explain some
phenomenon, he may modestly add, "Of course, this might be wrong," but no
such apology is really necessary. We already know he might be wrong. If his
theory is wrong, we hope it will eventually be replaced by a better theory,
and we remark that the theory might be wrong in order to encourage comment
and criticism with a eye toward finding the correct theory all the sooner.
Real epistemological modesty is an invitation to further inquiry. The Appeal
to Mystery, by contrast, is used, not to invite further inquiry in a quest
after truth, but to shut down further inquiry by claiming that truth
is unattainable. It says, "This might be wrong," not in order to replace one
theory with a better theory, but in order to replace one theory with no
theory at all. Here is an important epistemological distinction: certainty may be unattainable, but truth becomes unattainable only if we never strive to attain it. Appeal to Mystery is one form of what is often called an "untestable hypothesis." There are various ways in which a hypothesis might be untestable. Some hypotheses are untestable for merely practical reasons, often involving technological or budgetary limits. Appeal to Mystery is untestable for a more fundamental reason. It offers as an explanation something that is mysterious, i.e. untestable by definition. |
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| Classification: A retroductive Fallacy of Circularity. | ||
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| Source: I named this fallacy. | ||
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Go to: WELCOME EXPLANATION of PRINCIPLES TABLE of FALLACIES EXERCISES INDEX