My enemy's enemy

Part of the series on Logic and rhetoric

Key articles

Logical fallacy Syllogism Argument

General logic

Appeal to nature Argument from authority False analogy Hoyle's fallacy Self-fulfilling prophecy Slothful induction

Bad logic

Anecdotal evidence Appeal to fiction Argument from authority Fallacy fallacy Fallacy of accident Presupposition v - t - e

This page contains too many unsourced statements, and needs to be improved. My enemy's enemy could use some help. Please research the article's assertions. Whatever is credible should be sourced, and what is not should be removed.

“”Remember — the lesser of two evils is still evil, and the enemy of my enemy is not my friend.

—Penn Jillette, Penn & Teller: Bullshit!

"My enemy's enemy is my friend" is an old Arab saying.

It explains some strange political, religious and epistemological alliances, such as the Second World War alliance of the US and Britain with the USSR, the alliance between the US and Pol Pot, or the right-wing Mormons and right-wing Catholics during the Proposition 8 campaign in California.

A short-hand version of the saying provides the name for this proverb's entry on TV Tropes, where it's known as "Enemy Mine" (the film starring Dennis Quaid and the story it was based on by Barry Longyear were named after this).

The Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist) uses this argument extensively in international relations.

See also

• Two wrongs don't make a right

External links

• Maxim 29: Enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy, no more, no less.

References

This article is a stub.
You can help RationalWiki by expanding it.