I am entitled to my opinion

In logic, I am entitled to my opinion is an informal fallacy where someone rejects arguments against them by claiming the right to hold certain views. Alt URL  This bad argument is sometimes used to defend false and harmful beliefs for political reasons.

Issues

Whether someone is able to believe something has nothing to do with whether his or her view is true. The truth of something that a person says is separate from that person's legal or moral rights to say or believe that thing.

Academic views

Philosopher Patrick Stokes 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".

In the field of journalism, many professors use a metaphor about reporting the weather to teach about this fallacy. The ethics of journalism tends to say that it it is important to check the facts, rather than simply to report different opinions. A journalist from NBC shares this metaphor like this:

Our job is not to report both sides. One side says it’s raining and the other side says it is not raining. Our job is to look out the window.

This metaphor shows an example of why the "I am entitled to my opinion" fallacy is a bad argument. Both people in the metaphor might believe they are correct, and both people might be allowed to say what they think the weather is, but that does not change what the actual weather outside is.

Related pages

 Sophism
 Non sequitur

References

Category:Logic
Category:Politics
Category:Philosophy
Category:Logical fallacies
Category:Critical thinking