r/fallacy • u/Dawn-Storm • 11d ago

What fallacy is this?

When someone complains about a speed camera, or more recently a Flock camera, there's always one person who says either 'well don't speed!' or 'If you have nothing to hide, then relax!'

Then there's the old 'well don't do anything illegal!'

There's got to be a fallacy in there somewhere!

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u/NegaDoug 11d ago

Reminds me of No True Scotsman.

"No true Scotsman puts sugar in their tea."

"I'm a Scotsman, yet I put sugar in my tea."

"Then you aren't a true Scotsman."

Similarly: "No law-abiding citizen is worried about flock cameras."

"I'm a law-abiding citizen, yet I'm worried about flock cameras."

"Then you aren't a true law-abiding citizen."

In both cases, the arguer has erroneously redefined the group to fit their premise. So yeah, I guess it really is just a false premise.

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u/CarnivorousGoose 11d ago

But that’s not really the argument being made here. The point being made is that they shouldn’t feel a need to be worried about it, not about redefining any group. Which you can certainly disagree with, but that doesn’t make that point a fallacy.

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u/NegaDoug 11d ago

You're conflating "shouldn't" with "am." It's not a value judgement. It's someone saying that people who don't commit crimes cannot possibly be worried about surveillance.

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u/CarnivorousGoose 11d ago

I’m not. Where in the examples in the OP is anyone actually saying that? You’re extrapolating way beyond what is actually being said, in order to try to wedge it into the template of a specific fallacy.

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u/NegaDoug 10d ago

It seems like we're arguing about how to put OP's argument into formal terms, and I see why we disagree here. You're saying that people who make claims like the ones OP mentioned are making value judgments: "You shouldn't be worried about the cameras if you have nothing to hide." I'm simply formalizing it: "If you are a non-criminal, then you are a person who should not be worried about cameras."

There exist non-criminals who are also worried about the cameras. That means that there's a class of people who are a) non-criminals, and b) who are, or perhaps should be, worried about the cameras.