Sociology: Definitions of Appeal to Defeasibility

Excerpts from the Paper

Sociology: Definitions of Appeal to Defeasibility
Appeal to Defeasibility: “...invokes a division in the relation between action and intent, suggesting that the latter was malfunctioning with respect to knowledge, voluntariness, or state of complete consciousness” (Lyman and Scott, 136-137). The famous argument that Dan White was not guilty of the murder of Harvey Milk and George Moscone because he had eaten a twinkie and was, thanks to the ensuing rush of blood sugar, not in a state of complete consciousness, is a classic (if transparently foul) appeal to defeasibility.
Appeal to Biological Drives: An excuse for behavior grounded in the explanation that a basic biological drive compelled the actor to take a particular action (there are,...

.....French say, tout comprendre, c’est tout pardonner (“to know all is to forgive all”). Accounts and disclaimers offer different forms of ‘knowing’ the speaker and her circumstances in order to excuse, understand, or condone behavior.
Accounts and disclaimers are a form of identity work because, in explaining and excusing ourselves to others, we exercise and refine our own self-concept, which stays with us even when we are no longer in a social context.
References
Henslin, James M. Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth
Approach. New York: Taylor & Francis US
Lyman, Stanford M. & Scott, Marvin B. Sociology of the Absurd.
New York: Rowman Altamira, 1989
Partington, Alan. The Linguistics of Political Argument. New
York: Routledge, 2003