Tevfik Uyar

According to Thagard, the behavior of practitioners of a field may also be used for demarcation between science and pseudoscience due to its social dimension in addition to the epistemic one. I defended the tendency of pseudoscientists to commit fallacies, and the number of fallacies they commit can be a secondary tool for demarcation problem and this tool is consistent with Thagardian approach. In this paper, I selected the astrology as the case and I revealed nine types of logical fallacies frequently committed by astrologers while introducing their field and/or defending their claims against the scientific inquiries and refutation efforts. I also argued that recognizing these fallacies may help the audience to demarcate between the scientific and the pseudoscientific arguments.

Astrology, a pseudoscience, is highly popular in Turkey. Astrologers, who are its practitioners, produce discourses in the scientific field at the media and at their own platforms. Furthermore, it is possible to find some instances of astrology related activities in Turkish universities. In this article, demarcation of science from pseudoscience and the pseudoscientific status of astrology were discussed in a first place. Next, threats of astrological discourse within economic, educational and medical fields and their threats to society were expressed with some examples. Instances of the astrological activities within higher education institutions, such as an astrology-based master degree thesis, the astrology certificate programs, and an astrology column in an official medical school magazine were evaluated, and it was put forward that they contributed to increase the level of threat and it was also claimed that the existence of astrological activities in the universities contradicts the main purpose and principles of the higher education. In conclusion, some regulatory actions like the implementation of the scientific literacy and demarcation problem to each level of educational curriculum, a general policy for excluding the pseudoscience from higher education institutions and a recommended health warning at the top of the astrology were suggested.

Sosyal medyada cereyan eden tartışmalarda sık sık “kişinin dil bilgisi ve yazım kurallarına uygun yazmadığı ve bu nedenle de kişinin söylediklerine güvenilemeyeceği veya söylediklerinin yanlış olduğu” şeklinde argümanlara rastlanmaktadır. Bu makalede konunun özellikle kişinin dil bilgisi ve yazım kuralları hakkındaki bilgi ve becerisi olmadığı her hâl ve durumda bu türden argümanların ad hominem olarak değerlendirilmeleri gerektiği savunulmuştur. Sık karşılaşılan safsata alt tiplerine ayrı bir isim verilmesinin tespitlerini kolaylaştıracağı düşüncesiyle, konu edilen bu özel ad hominem alt türü “de ayrı safsatası” olarak adlandırılmıştır. Ayrıca bu alt tipe benziyor olmasına rağmen biçim olarak farklılık gösteren ve bu nedenle safsata niteliği göstermeyen argüman örneklerine değinilmiştir.