| Godwin's Law |
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Information AboutGodwin's Law |
As an online discussion grows longer, the Probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one. There is a tradition in many Usenet Newsgroup s that once such a comparison is made the Thread in which the comment was posted is finished and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically lost whatever Debate was in progress. It is considered poor form to arbitrarily raise such a comparison with the motive of ending the thread. There is a widely recognized that any such deliberate invocation of Godwin's Law will be unsuccessful. Although in one of its early forms Godwin's Law referred specifically to Usenet discussions2, the law can be applied to any threaded online discussion: Electronic Mailing List s, Message Board s, and so on. DEBATE AND CONTROVERSY One common objection to the invocation of Godwin's Law is that sometimes using Hitler or the Nazis is an apt way of making a point. For instance, if one is debating the relative merits of a particular leader, and someone says something like, "He's a good leader, look at the way he's improved the economy," one could reply, "Just because he improved the economy doesn't make him a good leader. Even Hitler improved the economy." Some would view this as a perfectly acceptable comparison, because this example uses Hitler as a well-known example of an extreme case that requires no explanation to prove that a generalization is not universally true. Some would argue, however, that Godwin's Law applies especially to the situation mentioned above, as it portrays an inevitable Appeal To Emotion as well as holding an implied Ad Hominem attack on the subject being compared, both of which are Fallacious in irrelevant contexts. Hitler, on a Semiotic level, has far too many negative connotations associated with him to be used as a valid comparison to anything but other Despotic dictators. Thus, Godwin's Law holds even when making comparisons to normal leaders that, on the surface, would seem to be reasonable comparisons. Godwin's standard answer to this objection is to note that Godwin's Law does not dispute whether, in a particular instance, a reference or comparison to Hitler or the Nazis might be apt. It is precisely because such a reference or comparison may sometimes be appropriate, Godwin has argued, that Hyperbolic overuse of the Hitler/Nazi comparison should be avoided. Avoiding such hyperbole, he argues, is a way of ensuring that when valid comparisons to Hitler or Nazis are made, such comparisons have the appropriate impact. ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION From a Philosophical standpoint, Godwin's Law could be said to exclude Normative (emotional) considerations from a Positivist (rational) discussion. Frequently, a reference to Hitler is used as an evocation of evil. Thus a discussion proceeding on a positivist examination of facts is considered terminated when this objective consideration is transformed into a normative discussion of subjective right and wrong. It is exacerbated by the frequent fallacy "Hitler did A, therefore A is evil" ('' Reductio Ad Hitlerum ''). However, as noted, the exceptions to Godwin's Law include the invocation of the Hitler comparison in a positivist manner that does not have a normative dimension. Many people incorrectly say Godwin's Law has been "violated" rather than "invoked." {Link without Title} {Link without Title} Godwin's Law can only be ''violated'' by an Infinitely Long thread that never mentions Hitler or the Nazis. TRIVIA On December 12 , 2005 , Godwin's Law was the subject of a question in the UK television quiz show '' University Challenge ''. SEE ALSO
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