Though the examples don’t matter, they do fit.
Everyday arguments regularly leave some premises unstated.
Kafka trap conditions someone is x
someone is an enemy of the government
an objector to the policy either hates non-binary gender identities or is secretly non-binary
an objector to the policy is racist.
Whether they affirm or deny the conditions doesn’t matter.
If they affirm, then the condition (trivially) follows.
If they deny, that’s taken as evidence the condition is true.
Then (by affirming the antecedent they are an objector to the policy) the condition applies.
I can’t stress enough that your own source says that a Kafka trap is when someone saying “I’m not X” is used as evidence that they are in fact X.
The first example fits. The fact that the person said they aren’t an enemy of the state is used as evidence that they are in fact an enemy of the state.
In the latter two examples, the evidence that a person is in some way bigoted has nothing to do with their claims that they aren’t bigoted.
A school system system implements progressive policies and explains that these policies are intended to improve tolerance of non-binary gender identities. If a parent has concerns that these policies may be resulting in unintended consequences, this is evidence that the parent either hates non-binary gender identities or is secretly non-binary.
How is this an example of someone saying they aren’t X, and that assertion being used as evidence that they are X? The parent in this situation is not saying “I’m not against non-binary people” and then being accused of being against non-binary people because they said that. They’re against policies intended to improve the lives of non-binary individuals, and being accused of being against non-binary people because of that.
Any parent who is not arguing against these policies could make the claim that they are not against non-binary people, and would not be accused of being against non-binary people because of it.
A policing service implements progressive policies and explains that these policies are intended to improve social justice. If a citizen has concerns that these policies may be resulting in unintended consequences, this is evidence that the citizen is racist.
The citizen in this example is not being accused of being racist because they said they aren’t racist. They’re being accused of being racist because they’re against these progressive policies. Any citizen who is not against these progressive policies would not be accused of being racist if they also said that they aren’t racist. These aren’t Kafka traps, by the web page’s own definition.
I can’t stress enough that your own source says that a Kafka trap is when someone saying “I’m not X” is used as evidence that they are in fact X.
Stressing something untrue doesn’t make it true.
Here’s the definition again.
A Kafka trap is a fallacy where if someone denies being x it is taken as evidence that the person is x since someone who is x would deny being x.
Note the keyword if: this definition concerns a conditional statement.
A Kafka trap is an argument that has or assumes as premise the conditional statement if someone denies being x, then that person is x: in other words, it is undeniable that person is x.
Per definition, the argument doesn’t require your extra premise someone denies being x.[1]
The arguments you deny fit the Kafka trap assume these premises.
It is undeniable an objector to the policy either hates non-binary gender identities or is secretly non-binary.
It is undeniable an objector to the policy is racist.
Asserting the conditional statement doesn’t require asserting the antecedent.
What if they are x?
Conclusion trivially follows.
If they aren’t, then they’ll deny.
Neither possibility asserted?
Doesn’t matter, because conditional statement is asserted: all possibilities lead to same conclusion.
That’s the fallacy.
Consider the conditional statement: if the moon is made of cheese, then we can eat it.
Is it true?
Yes.
Is the moon made of cheese?
No.
The reason you aren’t getting through to people is because you’re violating the maxim of manner. Your erudite and verbose loquaciousness obfuscates the intended meaning of your statements. Speak clearly and concisely.
You’re exceptionally bad at explaining things, but I do get it now. Let me compress your 500 page novel into a single sentence: A Kafka trap is a situation in which someone has already been accused of being x, and then their denial of being x is taken as further evidence that they are in fact x. Let’s see if this far better definition applies to this thread.
Yeah what the hell is this comment section? What a way to out yourselves as assholes by acting like this comic is personally attacking you
And
When this kinda comic triggers you so hard its super telling for everyone else.
Oh wow, it doesn’t. At what point did they use someone’s assertion that they aren’t [the kind of person in this comic] as evidence that they are [the kind of person in this comic]? Their accusation was entirely based on people assuming the comic was about them. And yeah, if you assume this comic about a guy acting like a douchebag is about you, then what else are we supposed to assume? A guy that doesn’t act like a douchebag shouldn’t assume that this comic is about him.
The reason you aren’t getting through to people is because you’re violating the maxim of manner.
Failing to comprehend plain, direct language calling things by their proper names is a skill issue.
I do get it now
A Kafka trap is a situation in which someone has already been accused of being x, and then their denial of being x is taken as further evidence that they are in fact x.
Nope.
A Kafka trap is an argument that assumes a premise of the form “if someone denies an assertion (about themselves), then that assertion is true”.
Only that conditional statement is needed.
That assumption implies the assertion is true no matter what.
The commenter observed criticism of the comic and decided they’re the kind of person the comic criticizes.
How?
They assume it’s undeniable that a critic of the comic is the kind of person the comic criticizes.
Even if a critic of the comic denies it, they are the kind of person the comic criticizes.
That’s the essential assumption of the Kafka trap fallacy: no extra premises are needed.
if you assume this comic about a guy acting like a douchebag is about you
The commenter (and now you) are making this wild assumption, not the critics who are merely criticizing the flaws.
A Kafka trap is an argument that assumes a premise of the form “if someone denies an assertion (about themselves), then that assertion is true”.
Only that conditional statement is needed.
That assumption implies the assertion is true no matter what.
Okay, so you’re doubling down on the definition that super doesn’t apply to the examples on the wiki page, nor any of the comments in this thread.
This isn’t a kafka trap, though I understand the confusion - the fandom site you linked to appears to have a faulty understanding of what it is. To be a kafka trap requires accusation.
The yucky example from your fandom page about a parent criticizing progressive policies to support non-binary students is a great example of how this doesn’t work: for it to be a kafka trap, the accusation that they (hate non-binary/are themselves non-binary) would have to be made in response to their concerns and then their denials be taken as an admission. Just raising them initially is not a kafka trap.
And that isn’t what’s happening in the above comment, either. People aren’t being criticized for defending themselves, people are being criticized for
A: Their behavior while defending themselves
B: That they have self-identified as feeling they themselves were being criticized, or that they feel the behavior in the comic is worth defending.
To be a kafka trap they would have to have been directly accused (“Hey I think you’re a shitty person”) and then because they’re defending themselves (“You say you’re not a shitty person?”) have the conclusion drawn that they are a shitty person (“Only shitty people say they’re not shitty people”).
Criticizing them for feeling that they were the one being accused is not a kafka trap. Were I to say “I think people who are paranoid are bad” and some random passerby were to say “Well I’m for one not bad!” it would be pretty reasonable to draw conclusions about them considering themveslves to be paranoid.
This comic is not criticizing all men. This comic is criticizing men who engage in a depressingly quite common pattern of behavior. There’s an extremely interesting discussion to be had about why that pattern of behavior is so common when so many men aren’t the ones doing it (basically a loud minority can make an outsized impact on broad perceptions) but in their haste to attest to how offended they are, that never seems to be considered.
I don’t doubt that most of the people attacking this comic aren’t at all guilty of what the comic is criticizing. But that doesn’t make the comic at all wrong, or the experiences of the many women in this comment section somehow made up.
Now you’re admitting failure to understand definitions.
A denial isn’t a problem or part of the trap: denials can be stated without Kafka trap.
The trap is the assumed conditional statement denial implies the denied assertion as the definition explicitly states:
A Kafka trap is a fallacy where if someone denies being x it is taken as evidence that the person is x since someone who is x would deny being x.
This is a fallacy because it’s a form of circular reasoning: a person who is not x would truthfully deny being x.
Hence, the fallacy implies if a person is not x, then they are x.
This is logically equivalent to assuming the person is x.
Notice an actual denial isn’t necessary to draw that presupposition as a conclusion: only the conditional statement that defines a Kafka trap was necessary.
What a way to out yourselves as assholes by acting like this comic is personally attacking you
They are claiming the people who criticize the fallacies in the comic are ‘outing themselves as assholes’ as ‘personally attacked’.
They assume it’s undeniable someone criticizes the comic only due to being the type of person the comic criticizes: even if someone denies their criticism is only due to that reason, it is.
There’s no possible way the comic has an actual flaw to criticize.
This is a Kafka trap with the condition x as someone who criticizes the comic only due to being the type of person the comic criticizes.
The trap supposes the condition is always true.
It implies anyone who criticizes the comic must be the type of person the comic criticizes.
By ad hominem fallacy, they proceed to discredit any critic’s claims that the comic could have an actual flaw to criticize.
In symbolic logic
A: the critic criticizes the comic
B: the critic is the type of person the comic criticizes
Cx: the critic claims x
A
¬(A → B) → C¬(A → B)
C¬(A → B) → A → B: Kafka trap premise
¬(A → B) → A → B: 2, 3 hypothetical syllogism
A → B: 4 logical equivalence (¬a→a⟚a)
B: 1, 5 modus ponens
Whether or not you accept the argument conforms to a Kafka trap, the fact remains they unjustifiably assume faulty premise A → B, conclude B, & proceed to dismiss critics’ objections via apparent ad hominem.
The frequent defense of & blindness to fallacies is an interesting phenomenon that isn’t that mysterious to explain: some people are stubborn, shitty reasoners.
Now to address irrelevancies (you includes commenter):
Their behavior while defending themselves
Assumption: you’re supposing they’re defending themselves.
The critics are simply criticizing the comic.
You know absolutely nothing about the critics but their arguments.
That they have self-identified as feeling they themselves were being criticized, or that they feel the behavior in the comic is worth defending.
Assumptions: you’re assuming all that.
Criticizing a dumb comic doesn’t mean defending depicted behavior, either.
Criticizing them for feeling that they were the one being accused
means assuming they were feeling that way.
At no point do you consider the critics could just be criticizing an actual fault with the comic.
You’re pulling wild presuppositions (critics must be defending themselves or identifying with the character or defending bad behavior or feel accused) out of nowhere & claiming they’re true no matter what.
It’s an insult to your own intelligence.
Yeah what the hell is this comment section? What a way to out yourselves as assholes by acting like this comic is personally attacking you
Nice Kafka trap again. The irrational love repeating their fallacies.
And then it lists two examples that don’t fit this definition. I get the feeling Debate Wiki isn’t the best primary source
Though the examples don’t matter, they do fit. Everyday arguments regularly leave some premises unstated. Kafka trap conditions someone is x
Whether they affirm or deny the conditions doesn’t matter. If they affirm, then the condition (trivially) follows. If they deny, that’s taken as evidence the condition is true. Then (by affirming the antecedent they are an objector to the policy) the condition applies.
Another comment shows a treatment in symbolic logic.
I can’t stress enough that your own source says that a Kafka trap is when someone saying “I’m not X” is used as evidence that they are in fact X.
The first example fits. The fact that the person said they aren’t an enemy of the state is used as evidence that they are in fact an enemy of the state.
In the latter two examples, the evidence that a person is in some way bigoted has nothing to do with their claims that they aren’t bigoted.
How is this an example of someone saying they aren’t X, and that assertion being used as evidence that they are X? The parent in this situation is not saying “I’m not against non-binary people” and then being accused of being against non-binary people because they said that. They’re against policies intended to improve the lives of non-binary individuals, and being accused of being against non-binary people because of that.
Any parent who is not arguing against these policies could make the claim that they are not against non-binary people, and would not be accused of being against non-binary people because of it.
The citizen in this example is not being accused of being racist because they said they aren’t racist. They’re being accused of being racist because they’re against these progressive policies. Any citizen who is not against these progressive policies would not be accused of being racist if they also said that they aren’t racist. These aren’t Kafka traps, by the web page’s own definition.
Stressing something untrue doesn’t make it true. Here’s the definition again.
Note the keyword if: this definition concerns a conditional statement. A Kafka trap is an argument that has or assumes as premise the conditional statement if someone denies being x, then that person is x: in other words, it is undeniable that person is x. Per definition, the argument doesn’t require your extra premise someone denies being x.[1]
The arguments you deny fit the Kafka trap assume these premises.
Asserting the conditional statement doesn’t require asserting the antecedent. What if they are x? Conclusion trivially follows. If they aren’t, then they’ll deny. Neither possibility asserted? Doesn’t matter, because conditional statement is asserted: all possibilities lead to same conclusion. That’s the fallacy.
Consider the conditional statement: if the moon is made of cheese, then we can eat it. Is it true? Yes. Is the moon made of cheese? No.
(Re)learn logic. ↩︎
The reason you aren’t getting through to people is because you’re violating the maxim of manner. Your erudite and verbose loquaciousness obfuscates the intended meaning of your statements. Speak clearly and concisely.
You’re exceptionally bad at explaining things, but I do get it now. Let me compress your 500 page novel into a single sentence: A Kafka trap is a situation in which someone has already been accused of being x, and then their denial of being x is taken as further evidence that they are in fact x. Let’s see if this far better definition applies to this thread.
And
Oh wow, it doesn’t. At what point did they use someone’s assertion that they aren’t [the kind of person in this comic] as evidence that they are [the kind of person in this comic]? Their accusation was entirely based on people assuming the comic was about them. And yeah, if you assume this comic about a guy acting like a douchebag is about you, then what else are we supposed to assume? A guy that doesn’t act like a douchebag shouldn’t assume that this comic is about him.
Failing to comprehend plain, direct language calling things by their proper names is a skill issue.
Nope. A Kafka trap is an argument that assumes a premise of the form “if someone denies an assertion (about themselves), then that assertion is true”. Only that conditional statement is needed. That assumption implies the assertion is true no matter what.
The commenter observed criticism of the comic and decided they’re the kind of person the comic criticizes. How? They assume it’s undeniable that a critic of the comic is the kind of person the comic criticizes. Even if a critic of the comic denies it, they are the kind of person the comic criticizes. That’s the essential assumption of the Kafka trap fallacy: no extra premises are needed.
The commenter (and now you) are making this wild assumption, not the critics who are merely criticizing the flaws.
Okay, so you’re doubling down on the definition that super doesn’t apply to the examples on the wiki page, nor any of the comments in this thread.
You’re a deeply unserious person. Get a life
This isn’t a kafka trap, though I understand the confusion - the fandom site you linked to appears to have a faulty understanding of what it is. To be a kafka trap requires accusation.
The yucky example from your fandom page about a parent criticizing progressive policies to support non-binary students is a great example of how this doesn’t work: for it to be a kafka trap, the accusation that they (hate non-binary/are themselves non-binary) would have to be made in response to their concerns and then their denials be taken as an admission. Just raising them initially is not a kafka trap.
And that isn’t what’s happening in the above comment, either. People aren’t being criticized for defending themselves, people are being criticized for
To be a kafka trap they would have to have been directly accused (“Hey I think you’re a shitty person”) and then because they’re defending themselves (“You say you’re not a shitty person?”) have the conclusion drawn that they are a shitty person (“Only shitty people say they’re not shitty people”).
Criticizing them for feeling that they were the one being accused is not a kafka trap. Were I to say “I think people who are paranoid are bad” and some random passerby were to say “Well I’m for one not bad!” it would be pretty reasonable to draw conclusions about them considering themveslves to be paranoid.
This comic is not criticizing all men. This comic is criticizing men who engage in a depressingly quite common pattern of behavior. There’s an extremely interesting discussion to be had about why that pattern of behavior is so common when so many men aren’t the ones doing it (basically a loud minority can make an outsized impact on broad perceptions) but in their haste to attest to how offended they are, that never seems to be considered.
I don’t doubt that most of the people attacking this comic aren’t at all guilty of what the comic is criticizing. But that doesn’t make the comic at all wrong, or the experiences of the many women in this comment section somehow made up.
Now you’re admitting failure to understand definitions. A denial isn’t a problem or part of the trap: denials can be stated without Kafka trap. The trap is the assumed conditional statement denial implies the denied assertion as the definition explicitly states:
This is a fallacy because it’s a form of circular reasoning: a person who is not x would truthfully deny being x. Hence, the fallacy implies if a person is not x, then they are x. This is logically equivalent to assuming the person is x.
Notice an actual denial isn’t necessary to draw that presupposition as a conclusion: only the conditional statement that defines a Kafka trap was necessary.
They are claiming the people who criticize the fallacies in the comic are ‘outing themselves as assholes’ as ‘personally attacked’. They assume it’s undeniable someone criticizes the comic only due to being the type of person the comic criticizes: even if someone denies their criticism is only due to that reason, it is. There’s no possible way the comic has an actual flaw to criticize.
This is a Kafka trap with the condition x as someone who criticizes the comic only due to being the type of person the comic criticizes. The trap supposes the condition is always true. It implies anyone who criticizes the comic must be the type of person the comic criticizes.
By ad hominem fallacy, they proceed to discredit any critic’s claims that the comic could have an actual flaw to criticize.
In symbolic logic
Whether or not you accept the argument conforms to a Kafka trap, the fact remains they unjustifiably assume faulty premise A → B, conclude B, & proceed to dismiss critics’ objections via apparent ad hominem.
The frequent defense of & blindness to fallacies is an interesting phenomenon that isn’t that mysterious to explain: some people are stubborn, shitty reasoners.
Now to address irrelevancies (you includes commenter):
Assumption: you’re supposing they’re defending themselves. The critics are simply criticizing the comic. You know absolutely nothing about the critics but their arguments.
Assumptions: you’re assuming all that. Criticizing a dumb comic doesn’t mean defending depicted behavior, either.
means assuming they were feeling that way. At no point do you consider the critics could just be criticizing an actual fault with the comic.
You’re pulling wild presuppositions (critics must be defending themselves or identifying with the character or defending bad behavior or feel accused) out of nowhere & claiming they’re true no matter what. It’s an insult to your own intelligence.