— The —
Daily Prophet
Daily Prophet
Price One Knut
June 3rd, 1890
Forfang's Fallacy
Letter To The Editor
To The Editor,
New Research for Wizardkind has made a grave error in inviting the reclusive “Professor Marlowe Forfang” to publish further work, after putting forth an edition of such ill-conceived research that it threatens to irreparably damage the wizarding community.
Forfang has chosen to focus his study on the “habits of werewolves”, using subjects personally “afflicted with lycanthropy.” I ask, therefore, how Professor Forfang expects his research or supposed “research subjects” to be trusted? Perhaps he ought to unpick his research methods for us more fully. I can see two possibilities here; I leave it to the reader to decide which option is the more injurious. For either he is harbouring the confidences of these criminals, fully conscious of their identities - and thus, unwittingly contravening the Ministry’s laws on werewolves by making himself a conspirator - or these subjects are retaining their anonymity and feeding our eminent “Professor” all manner of fabricated details, which are impossible to verify and leave Forfang no choice but to feebly swallow this hearsay. How is Forfang able to prove his subjects are truly werewolves, without knowledge of their identity?
Indeed, even if they are werewolves, werewolves in hiding are known to be persistent liars with little care for harming others - even the more gullible researchers among us, I am sad to say. It is quite reasonable to extend the logic of these creatures who lurk about in hiding as being generally more inclined to divert society at large away from the truth, rather than wanting to shine a light on their murky activities around the full moon. It remains the case that if the werewolves Professor Forfang has been mixing with truly desire to aid our community in combating the affliction and the suffering of innocents, the best thing they can do is to promptly turn themselves in.
Forfang may think this angle of study a noble pursuit, but research of this kind is entirely insensible to the real issues at stake. It is already engendering effects of the wrong attitude in those with the power to stamp out lycanthropy once and for all, and the public has proof of it. One only needs to look at the quote from Mr. Adlard, assistant head of the department tasked with (I quote) “Regulation and Control” of creatures published in response to Forfang’s work. “May lead to fewer cases,” he comments, hoping that werewolves left to their own devices might do his job for him. With idlers like Mr. Adlard leading so laissez-faire a charge to protect our community, it is a wonder any werewolves are ever caught at all.
It is my earnest hope, therefore, that Professor Forfang quickly learns the error he has made, and endeavours in future to put his admirable energies towards researching werewolves in a way that protects society rather than jeopardising it. If the reader desires more information on this subject, one can peruse my full published review or my previous publications, such as Lupine Lawlessness: Why Lycanthropes Don't Deserve To Live (1888).
New Research for Wizardkind has made a grave error in inviting the reclusive “Professor Marlowe Forfang” to publish further work, after putting forth an edition of such ill-conceived research that it threatens to irreparably damage the wizarding community.
Forfang has chosen to focus his study on the “habits of werewolves”, using subjects personally “afflicted with lycanthropy.” I ask, therefore, how Professor Forfang expects his research or supposed “research subjects” to be trusted? Perhaps he ought to unpick his research methods for us more fully. I can see two possibilities here; I leave it to the reader to decide which option is the more injurious. For either he is harbouring the confidences of these criminals, fully conscious of their identities - and thus, unwittingly contravening the Ministry’s laws on werewolves by making himself a conspirator - or these subjects are retaining their anonymity and feeding our eminent “Professor” all manner of fabricated details, which are impossible to verify and leave Forfang no choice but to feebly swallow this hearsay. How is Forfang able to prove his subjects are truly werewolves, without knowledge of their identity?
Indeed, even if they are werewolves, werewolves in hiding are known to be persistent liars with little care for harming others - even the more gullible researchers among us, I am sad to say. It is quite reasonable to extend the logic of these creatures who lurk about in hiding as being generally more inclined to divert society at large away from the truth, rather than wanting to shine a light on their murky activities around the full moon. It remains the case that if the werewolves Professor Forfang has been mixing with truly desire to aid our community in combating the affliction and the suffering of innocents, the best thing they can do is to promptly turn themselves in.
Forfang may think this angle of study a noble pursuit, but research of this kind is entirely insensible to the real issues at stake. It is already engendering effects of the wrong attitude in those with the power to stamp out lycanthropy once and for all, and the public has proof of it. One only needs to look at the quote from Mr. Adlard, assistant head of the department tasked with (I quote) “Regulation and Control” of creatures published in response to Forfang’s work. “May lead to fewer cases,” he comments, hoping that werewolves left to their own devices might do his job for him. With idlers like Mr. Adlard leading so laissez-faire a charge to protect our community, it is a wonder any werewolves are ever caught at all.
It is my earnest hope, therefore, that Professor Forfang quickly learns the error he has made, and endeavours in future to put his admirable energies towards researching werewolves in a way that protects society rather than jeopardising it. If the reader desires more information on this subject, one can peruse my full published review or my previous publications, such as Lupine Lawlessness: Why Lycanthropes Don't Deserve To Live (1888).
Professor Emerett Picardy