Black box argument

Overview

A black box argument is any argument where the supporting details of the argument (premises and reasoning) are not open to debate. It is a form of rhetorical deception in that the lack of falsifiability means that emotional arguments are much more likely to be effective in convincing the audience to agree.

The phrase "black box" refers to the systems concept of a device or other system whose internals are either unknown or irrelevant.

Black box arguments include:

• argument from authority: the source of this argument cannot be wrong on this subject
• the Chewbacca defense: the argument is incomprehensible
• the appeal to belief: everyone believes it, so it must be true

Black box arguments do not include:

• the appeal to consensus: a true consensus involves discussion of lines of reasoning which can be further examined by those outside the consensus. If those lines of reasoning are not available for examination, then the consensus becomes simply an unsubstantiated belief.