What is "genuine inquiry" as opposed to pseudo inquiry"?
According to Rachel's "genuine inquiry" is distinguished from "pseudo inquiry" by motive.
On the one hand, genuine inquiry is motivated by the desire to find the truth no matter what that truth happens to be. This desire is what the scientists have called "the scientific attitude." On the other hand, pseudo inquiry is motivated by the desire to make a case for a claim that you have already settled on in advance. There are two kinds of pseudo inquiry.
First, there is "sham reasoning" which refers to making a case for a claim your commitment to which is sincere and you care that the claim is true, but which is also immune from the evidence or the argument. No matter what the evidence shows you will not change your mind even if required to do so by the evidence.
Second, there is "fake reasoning which refers to making a case for a claim not because you have a sincere commitment to it since the reality is that you don't really care whether the claim is true or false, but because you think doing so will be to your own advantage. (Politicians and Preachers do this all the time!)
Deciding in advance that abortion is immoral and then reading the bible or anything else especially any other religious document in a selective manner in order to find evidence to support your claim while ignoring evidence against you claim is "sham reasoning" rather than genuine inquiry.
