Unwarranted Assumption

Unwarranted Assumption

Kimberly Baltzer‐Jaray

BLIND MAN :

I am healed! The Master has healed me!

BRIAN :

I didn’t touch him!

BLIND MAN :

I was blind and now I can see. Arrgghh. [whump]

FOLLOWERS :

A miracle! A miracle! A miracle!

SIMON :

Tell them to stop it. I hadn’t said a word for eighteen years till he came along.

FOLLOWERS :

A miracle! He is the Messiah!

SIMON :

Well, he hurt my foot!

FOLLOWERS :

Hurt my foot, Lord! Hurt my foot. Hurt mine.

ARTHUR :

Hail Messiah!

BRIAN :

I’m not the Messiah!

ARTHUR :

I say You are, Lord, and I should know. I’ve followed a few.

FOLLOWERS :

Hail Messiah!

BRIAN :

I’m not the Messiah! Will you please listen? I am not the Messiah, do you understand?! Honestly!

GIRL :

Only the true Messiah denies His divinity.

Monty Python, Life of Brian

The Monty Python Film Life of Brian is built entirely on one unwarranted assumption: that Brian is the Messiah. Brian was born on the same day as Jesus and right next door to him; the three wise men accidentally visit and temporarily mistake him for Christ. As a young man, he attends Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, and later when he lands in a line‐up of would‐be mystics and prophets who spout off speeches to the passing crowd in the plaza, he utters something he heard Jesus say. This inadvertently leads to Brian’s developing a following, and any time something unusual happens, it is hailed as a miracle and the crowd of loyal worshipers grows. No matter how hard he tries, or his mother tries for that matter, to prove to the followers that he is not the Messiah, their belief increases and strengthens – in their firmly made‐up minds he IS the Messiah. While this movie takes unwarranted assumptions to a ridiculous end, it was able to make a solid point about the dangers of being too willing to believe things without evidence and also to make some sharp satirical digs at trade unionists, left‐wing politics, guerrilla organizations, religion, and revolutionary groups. So, what have those bloody Romans done for us anyway? Oh, sanitation, education, medicine, wine, public order, roads, fresh water, public health, just about everything!

Unwarranted assumptions are claims or beliefs that possess little to no supporting evidence, things we might take for granted as true, or just completely false ideas we inherited without reflection. When we reason using implicit assumptions or further propositions whose truth is uncertain or implausible, we commit the fallacy of unwarranted assumption and the truth of our conclusions is grossly affected. Prejudices and stereotypes are some common ways in which we make unwarranted assumptions. For example, all Irish are alcoholic bar‐fighting people; the only food in America is McDonald’s; or all Canadians drink maple syrup instead of water.

There are several kinds of fallacies that involve or rely on unwarranted assumptions. Begging the question (see Chapter 70), loaded question, false dilemma (see Chapter 81), fallacy of accident (see Chapter 67), and false cause (see chapters 78–80) are just some examples. In the case of a loaded question, the fallacy involves a question that has a presupposition built in, often implying something questionable: “Have you stopped beating your children?” The question assumes already that the person it is directed at abuses her children, and for that person to answer this question is a real catch‐22 since if she says “yes,” then that entails she used to beat her children, and if she says “no,” then she is still beating them. Concerning the fallacy of accident, when a statement that is generally true is misapplied or is used in an atypical way, such as “Since women earn less than men for doing the same work, that means Ellen Degeneres makes less than all the other male talk‐show hosts,” the problem lies in mistaking this general rule to be a true universal premise, which is true for all cases (no exceptions!). In these cases, the assumptions implicitly or explicitly found in the premises prevent one from establishing the conclusion as true.

The key to preventing this fallacy is evidence: warranted assumptions have evidence and ways of demonstrating their truth with certainty. It’s best to not hold something as true or applicable without proof that it is true and applicable. This implies that we need to make sure our biases, prejudices, generalizations, and stereotypes don’t find their way into our arguments – we need to assess our ways of thinking and belief formation critically. The old saying, “When you assume, you make and ass out of U and Me,” speaks volumes about the cost of such faulty, uncertain reasoning. But preventing this fallacy isn’t only about yourself; the task extends to others: you must be ready to recognize and call out when others use arguments that contain unwarranted assumptions. This requires educating yourself on the issues or details before passing judgment or adding your voice to the argument.