That's your opinion

The Dude uses the phrase in casual conversation.

About

Saying "That's your opinion" (or other words to the same effect) in response to a reasoned argument is possibly the simplest form of the argument from subjectivity. It dismisses any rational argument that was offered while simultaneously ruling the subject matter out of bounds for rational discussion.

It is the 2nd-person-attacking form of opinion equivocation, and similar to the "That's your bias" attack.

Links

to file

• 2009-03-29 The Ethics of Framing Science: Four Guiding Principles "...pundits such as Richard Dawkins use their authority as scientists to argue their personal opinion that science undermines the validity of religion..." – totally ignoring the fact that Dawkins made a rational, evidence-based case for this conclusion. The assumption seems to be that certain issues are definitionally "matters of opinion", and therefore any position taken on those issues must also be "opinion" regardless of what the facts might be.

discussion

• 2015-01-24 Google+ (G+ gone, post not archived)