Black box argument

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Revision as of 16:01, 2 August 2006 by Woozle (talk | contribs) (→‎Overview: explanation of "black box")
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Overview

A black box argument is any argument where the premise is for any reason not debatable. The phrase "black box" refers to the systems concept of a device or other system whose internals are either not known or not relevant.

Black box arguments include:

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 reasononing are not available for examination, then the consensus becomes simply an unsubstantiated belief.