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THE BEST ESSAY EVER: THE FALLACY OF WISHFUL THINKING

THE BEST ESSAY EVER: THE FALLACY OF WISHFUL THINKING It is argued that wishful thinking is an informal logical fallacy and is distinguished from self-deception and delusion. Wishful thinking is unique in that a human desire is the starting point, which remains unfulfilled because of insufficient, no evidence, or ignorance, despite the agent’s beliefs. It contrasts with self-deception, a more serious mental state in which the agent hides or denies the truth from himself, regardless of whether it is desired. Wishful thinking is a logical fallacy, depending on the agent’s genuine beliefs as an epistemic dilemma or merely a harmless fantasy. Keywords: wishful thinking, informal fallacy, self-deception, desires http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Review of Contemporary Philosophy Addleton Academic Publishers

THE BEST ESSAY EVER: THE FALLACY OF WISHFUL THINKING

Review of Contemporary Philosophy , Volume 12 (1): 13 – Jan 1, 2013

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Publisher
Addleton Academic Publishers
Copyright
© 2009 Addleton Academic Publishers
ISSN
1841-5261
eISSN
2471-089X
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

It is argued that wishful thinking is an informal logical fallacy and is distinguished from self-deception and delusion. Wishful thinking is unique in that a human desire is the starting point, which remains unfulfilled because of insufficient, no evidence, or ignorance, despite the agent’s beliefs. It contrasts with self-deception, a more serious mental state in which the agent hides or denies the truth from himself, regardless of whether it is desired. Wishful thinking is a logical fallacy, depending on the agent’s genuine beliefs as an epistemic dilemma or merely a harmless fantasy. Keywords: wishful thinking, informal fallacy, self-deception, desires

Journal

Review of Contemporary PhilosophyAddleton Academic Publishers

Published: Jan 1, 2013

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