Denial Out Of Fear Or Hate?

[Eyeron]

Is there a proper name for these two conditions?

The first is to deny something exists because it is so horrific that it can not be comprehended. For example, "Stalin never did rule a communist regime and did not kill millions of people simply for not being communist. It is too horrible to comprehend so it must not have happened under any circumstances. Anybody who says so is lying."

The second goes like this: "I hate Highlander 2 so much because it is so different from the first film that it doesn't exist, period."

So is there a proper name for these and are they a form of mental illness?

[tesscaline]

http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/appeal-to-fear.html

[Eyeron]

Well, I don't think it's an appeal to fear in terms of a logical argument being presented. It is something that a person actually believes.

[theprestige]

Is there a proper name for these two conditions?

The first is to deny something exists because it is so horrific that it can not be comprehended. For example, "Stalin never did rule a communist regime and did not kill millions of people simply for not being communist. It is too horrible to comprehend so it must not have happened under any circumstances. Anybody who says so is lying."

The second goes like this: "I hate Highlander 2 so much because it is so different from the first film that it doesn't exist, period."

So is there a proper name for these and are they a form of mental illness?
I can't imagine refusal to admit the existence of Highlander 2 as anything other than a clear sign of mental health.

[tesscaline]

Well, I don't think it's an appeal to fear in terms of a logical argument being presented. It is something that a person actually believes.

I refuse to believe X because (something that scares me).
I must believe X because if I didn't (something that scares me).

It's a classic appeal to fear. It's just that these people have used that appeal on themselves, in the course of an internal thought process, instead of on other people, in the course of a discussion.

[Eyeron]

Ah, okay, thanks.

[El_Spectre]

Hey hey hey, lets not slander Stalin by comparing him to ... THAT film...

[CapelDodger]

Well, I don't think it's an appeal to fear in terms of a logical argument being presented. It is something that a person actually believes.

Which is apparently logical if the person even thinks that far, and even they are bad judges in the main.