WEIGHT OF CIRCUMSTANCES

1. Weight of Circumstances – Strong Will Argument

The weight of circumstances argument invokes the nature of things or the external constraints, as imposing a deterministic solution to a social problem. The choice is presented as causally determined by the context: « the facts leave us no choice », « what is happening  in the world forces us to do this ».

In 1960, Charles de Gaulle, the President of the French Republic, held a referendum on the question of the independence of Algeria, with which France had been at war since 1954. He urged the people to vote for Algerian independence.

No one could doubt the extreme importance of the country’s response. For Algeria, the right granted to its peoples to determine their own destiny will mark the beginning of a whole new era. Some may regret that prejudices, routines and fears previously have prevented the assimilation of Muslims, if it were possible. But the fact that they make up eight ninths of the population, and that this proportion is increasing  their favor; the evolution of men and things that has been set in motion by events, and in particular by the insurrection; and, finally, what has happened and is happening in in the world — make these considerations chimerical and these regrets superfluous.
Charles de Gaulle, speech of December 20, 1960 [1].

The strong will argument denies precisely this determinism: « where there is a will, there is a way« . In May and June 1939, the Belgian, British, French and Dutch armies were completely routed by the German Nazi armies. In what seemed to many to be a desperate situation, General de Gaulle rejected the armistice that Marshal Petain had just signed with the German Nazi enemy, and from London called on the BBC to continue the fight:

Of course, we were subdued by the mechanical, ground and air forces of the enemy. Infinitely more than their number, it was the tanks, the airplanes, the tactics of the Germans which made us retreat. It was the tanks, the airplanes, the tactics of the Germans that surprised our leaders to the point to bring them there where they are today.
But has the last word been said? Must hope disappear? Is defeat final? No!
Believe me, I speak to you with full knowledge of the facts and tell you that nothing is lost for France.
[…] Whatever happens, the flame of the French resistance not must not be extinguished and will not be extinguished.
Charles de Gaulle, text of the appeal of June 18, 1940[2]

Important political decisions combine the two forms of argumentation, strong will and the weight of circumstances.

2. Naturalistic argument

In law, the naturalistic argument refers to the hypothesis of an impotent legislator who argues that it is impossible to legislate in certain areas, or of a judge who waives the application of the law on the pretext of special circumstances, see Juridical arguments.

The naturalistic argument is also used in the area of religious law; Luther uses it in connection with the pope’s prohibition of priestly marriages. According to Luther, most priests « [cannot] do without a woman », at least for their household:

So if [the priest] takes a wife, and the pope allows it, but does not let them marry, what is this but expecting a man and a woman to live together and not to fall? I t is as if one were to set fire to straw, and command that it should neither smoke nor burn.
Since the pope has no authority for such a command [forbidding the priests to marry], any more than for forbidding a man to eat and drink, or to digest, or to become fat, no one is bound to obey it, and the pope is responsible for every sin against it.
Martin Luther, Address to the Nobility of the German Nation, [1520][3]

A priori, the naturalistic argument has little to do with the naturalistic fallacy, which systematically values ​​the natural, see fallacious (2). However, the charge of fallacious naturalism could be used to refute the argument of the force-of-circumstances argument.

[1] http://fresques.ina.fr/de-gaulle/fiche-media/Gaulle00063/speech-of-20-December-1960.html (20-09- 2013).
[2] http://lehrmaninstitute.org/history/index.html (01-20-2017).
[3] Quoted after http://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/luther-nobility.asp, (01-20-2017).