Know it when you see it.

 

“A very common (and newly-named) informal rhetorical trick I’ve been observing, both online and in real life, is this one right here. The motte-and-bailey fallacy (also known as the ‘motte-and-bailey doctrine’). Although it is often found in arguments made by supporters of social justice, a lot of extremist ideologies also use it.

Effectively, it is bait-and-switch. Example:

Monique: All white people are racist.

Joshua: Why do you believe that, when you don’t know every white person nor their beliefs?

Monique: Well, when we say “all whites are racist”, what we really mean is, all whites are racially biased as a result of being brought up with certain beliefs in the context of a racialised society.

Ignore the lack of specificity in Monique’s argument for a moment. Notice what she does. She asserts a controversial position (the bailey), which is desired, but hard to defend. When Joshua challenges her, she retreats to a less controversial position (the motte), which is easier to defend, but undesired. She then attempts to equate the two positions to obscure the fact that her claim was effectively stepped down.

The power of this fallacy lies in the ability to defend a less controversial, or “weaker” position, while giving the impression that a “stronger”, or more controversial one, was defended instead.

Another example of bait-and-switch:

Tim: Feminism is the radical notion that women are people. If you believe that, then surely, you must be a feminist.

This is motte-and-bailey as well, but without the bailey at first – call it the ‘Hidden Bailey’ fallacy. Tim gives an uncontroversial position, and equates it with his ideology – feminism – which is actually more than is implied in that statement. Virtually everyone will agree that women are people, yet, other concepts in feminism – like patriarchy theory, rape culture, etc. are far more contested and may not be agreed upon by people who accept the first statement. Tim is baiting people into thinking they agree with him, only to switch to his real beliefs afterwards.”

Did you want to learn about the Motte and Bailey with further context of how it is being used to leverage specious ‘social justice’ claims in our society? Take a listen to the New Discourses podcast on the topic.