I'm entitled to my opinion

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I'm entitled to my opinion or I have a right to my opinion is a logical fallacy in which a person discredits any opposition by claiming that they are entitled to their opinion. The statement exemplifies a red herring or thought-terminating cliché. The logical fallacy is often presented as Let's agree to disagree. Whether one has a particular entitlement or right is irrelevant to whether one's assertion is true or false. To assert the existence of the right is a failure to assert any justification for the opinion. Such an assertion, however, can also be an assertion of one's own freedom or of a refusal to participate in the system of logic at hand.[1][2][3]

Philosopher Patrick Stokes has described the expression as problematic because it is often used to defend factually indefensible positions or to "[imply] an equal right to be heard on a matter in which only one of the two parties has the relevant expertise".[4]

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References[edit]

  1. ^ Whyte, Jamie (2004). "The Right to Your Opinion". Crimes Against Logic. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-144643-5.
  2. ^ Deleuze, Gilles (1994). "The Image of Thought". Difference and Repetition. Paul Patton (trans.). New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-08159-6.
  3. ^ Whyte, Jamie (August 9, 2004). "Sorry, but you are not entitled to your opinion". The Times. News UK. Archived from the original on February 8, 2011. (Subscription required (help)).
  4. ^ Stokes, Patrick (9 October 2012). "You're not entitled to your opinion". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 7 April 2017.

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