Floating Abstraction Fallacy

Whenever a logical fallacy is committed, the fallacy has its roots in Agrippa's trilemma. All human thought (without Divine revelation) is based on one of three unhappy possibilities. These three possibilities are infinite regression, circular reasoning, or axiomatic thinking. This is known as Agrippa's trilemma. Some have claimed that only logic and math can be known; however, that is not true. Without Divine revelation, neither logic nor math can be known. Science is limited only to pragmatic thinking because of the weakness of human reasoning, which is known as Agrippa's trilemma. The floating abstraction fallacy, a form of axiomatic thinking, is one of these three unhappy possibilities.

Floating Abstraction Fallacy occurs when a conclusion is drawn from a concept that is disconnected from reality. Classes, where tests must be taken and passed, are good for developing and hardening this type of fallacy in the minds of students. A floating abstraction is not directly connected to anything that can be observed or sensed in any way, though observations or real research may be used to defend them. It is implied that the research or observations do support them when there is no way to deduce the floating abstraction from the research or observations. They are, in fact, memorized thought castles. They are abstractions that are distinct from the actual observations, from material reality. Leonard Peikoff: “. . . it is a memorized linguistic custom representing in the person's mind a hash made of random concretes, habits, and feelings that blend imperceptibly into other hashes which are the content of other, similarly floating abstractions."

Examples of the Floating Abstraction Fallacy

The Big-Bang-Billions-of-Years-No-Flood-Molecules-to-Man story is a floating abstraction.

Atheism is a floating abstraction.

Agnosticism is a floating abstraction.

Fallacy Abuse

Sandy: "Christianity is a floating abstraction."

Roxanne: "You would need to define Christianity."

Sandy: "Belief in God or in Christ is a floating abstraction."

Roxanne: "Either you don't understand what a floating abstraction is or you don't understand what I, and many people I know, are experiencing. You see, we know Jesus Christ personally. He leads us moment by moment and teaches us, leading us to higher heights and deeper depths in Him. If that wasn't so, we would have a make-believe faith. It is possibly true that many, who call themselves Christian, have a make-believe faith in a floating abstraction they call "Jesus," but I actually know the real Jesus."