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entitled to conclude, solely on that basis, that it is true. Another way of expressing this is that a proposition is true only if proven true, and a proposition is false only if proven false. If no proof is offered (in either direction), then the proposition can be called unproven, undecided, inconclusive, an open problem or a conjecture. In debates, appealing to ignorance is sometimes an attempt to shift the
260:
69:
is true because it has not yet been proven false or a proposition is false because it has not yet been proven true. If a proposition has not yet been proven true, one is not entitled to conclude, solely on that basis, that it is false, and if a proposition has not yet been proven false, one is not
180:
is a logically valid rule of inference that allows the creation of a new proposition from the negation and reordering of an existing one. The method applies to any proposition of the type "If A then B" and says that negating all the variables and switching them back to front leads to a new
98:
This example clearly states what appeal to ignorance is: "Although we have proven that the moon is not made of spare ribs, we have not proven that its core cannot be filled with them; therefore, the moon's core is filled with spare
87:"I take the view that this lack (of enemy subversive activity in the west coast) is the most ominous sign in our whole situation. It convinces me more than perhaps any other factor that the sabotage we are to get, the
329:
Though the authors here caution that this may not be an entirely appropriate use of the argument as the onus of providing proof for a substantive statement, like "there are WMDs in Iraq",
493:
844:
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181:
proposition i.e. "If Not-B then Not-A" that is just as true as the original one and that the first implies the second and the second implies the first.
161:
There may be seventy kazillion other worlds, but not one is known to have the moral advancement of the Earth, so we're still central to the
Universe.
157:
There is no compelling evidence that UFOs are not visiting the Earth; therefore, UFOs exist, and there is intelligent life elsewhere in the
Universe.
110:
501:
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activities are to get, are timed just like Pearl Harbor ... I believe we are just being lulled into a false sense of security." –
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118:"Simply because you do not have evidence that something exists does not mean that you have evidence that it doesn't exist."
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206:. A search for water on the ground may yield a null result (the ground is dry); therefore, it probably did not rain.
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163:) This impatience with ambiguity can be criticized in the phrase: absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
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is probably not fallacious and depends entirely on the truth of the first premise (the ability to know it).
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95:, then California's Attorney General (before a congressional hearing in San Francisco on 21 February 1942).
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If Q were false then I would know it; in fact I do not know it; therefore Q cannot be false.
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If P were true then I would know it; in fact I do not know it; therefore P cannot be true.
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155:: the claim that whatever has not been proved false must be true, and vice versa. (e.g.,
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In practice these arguments are often unsound and rely on the truth of the supporting
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is exactly the same thing as
Contraposition, described in a different language.
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494:"You look but do not find: why the absence of evidence can be a useful thing"
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109:, argued against the argument from ignorance when discussing the
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383:(11th ed.). Boston, Mass.: Cengage Learning. p. 140.
408:. University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press.
282: – General rule rejecting claims made without evidence
358:(14th ed.). Routledge Publication. p. 146.
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544:. "Chapter 12: The Fine Art of Baloney Detection".
65:. The fallacy is committed when one asserts that a
528:"Logical Fallacies Bootcamp: Appeal to Ignorance"
651:"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"
404:Hansen, Hans V.; Pinto, Robert C., eds. (1995).
294: – Labelling real experiences as delusional
61:represents "a lack of contrary evidence"), is a
300: – Philosophical problem-solving principle
150:
116:
845:Affirmative conclusion from a negative premise
567:Fallacies: classical and contemporary readings
406:Fallacies: Classical and Contemporary Readings
850:Negative conclusion from affirmative premises
720:
8:
649:Alton, Douglas G.; Bland, J. Martin (1995).
492:Brown, Deborah; Key, Brian (22 April 2019).
200:is a term often used in science to indicate
74:. The term was likely coined by philosopher
312: – Analogy devised by Bertrand Russell
225:Arguments from self-knowing take the form:
1578:
1425:
1300:
903:
754:
727:
713:
705:
674:
610:"Nonfallacious Arguments From Ignorance"
634:. Pennsylvania State University Press.
443:An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
346:
322:
288: – List of faulty argument types
7:
331:lies with the party making the claim
565:Hansen, Hans V.; Pinto, Robert C.
439:"Book IV, Chapter XVII: Of Reason"
25:
111:lack of evidence for WMDs in Iraq
1726:
1725:
701:– article on Appeal to Ignorance
617:American Philosophical Quarterly
306: – Risk management strategy
258:
173:Contraposition and transposition
381:A Concise Introduction to Logic
131:". The usefulness of this as a
1223:Correlation implies causation
240:. For example, the claim that
1:
1762:Barriers to critical thinking
333:, not with those opposing it.
585:(14th ed.). Routledge.
242:If I had just sat on a wild
472:www.LogicallyFallacious.com
78:in the late 17th century.
1778:
1647:I'm entitled to my opinion
379:Hurley, Patrick J (2012).
218:
215:Argument from self-knowing
1721:
1630:
1503:
468:"Argument from Ignorance"
63:fallacy in informal logic
50:argumentum ad ignorantiam
18:Argumentum ad ignorantiam
1673:Motte-and-bailey fallacy
773:Affirming the consequent
667:10.1136/bmj.311.7003.485
631:Arguments from Ignorance
1693:Two wrongs make a right
1024:Denying the correlative
547:The Demon-Haunted World
354:Copi, Irving M (2016).
304:Precautionary principle
144:The Demon-Haunted World
107:US Secretary of Defense
41:Argument from ignorance
1678:Psychologist's fallacy
1615:Argument to moderation
1605:Argument from anecdote
1555:Chronological snobbery
1179:Quoting out of context
1146:Overwhelming exception
1029:Suppressed correlative
929:Quoting out of context
804:quantificational logic
778:Denying the antecedent
292:Martha Mitchell effect
165:
120:
113:prior to the invasion:
48:
37:
1641:The Four Great Errors
1621:Argumentum ad populum
1610:Argument from silence
1314:Argumentum ad baculum
1092:Faulty generalization
783:Argument from fallacy
583:Introduction to Logic
356:Introduction to logic
274:Argument from silence
141:explains in his book
33:
1659:Invincible ignorance
1465:Reductio ad Stalinum
1451:Reductio ad Hitlerum
1407:Wisdom of repugnance
1174:Moving the goalposts
1039:Illicit transference
964:Begging the question
885:Undistributed middle
793:Mathematical fallacy
768:Affirming a disjunct
437:Locke, John (1690).
246:then I would know it
135:may vary by context.
129:No news is good news
1752:Relevance fallacies
1392:Parade of horribles
1368:In-group favoritism
1194:Syntactic ambiguity
837:Syllogistic fallacy
760:propositional logic
628:Walton, D. (2010).
608:Walton, D. (1992).
221:Autoepistemic logic
203:evidence of absence
153:Appeal to ignorance
55:appeal to ignorance
1478:Poisoning the well
1295:Proof by assertion
1270:Texas sharpshooter
1204:Questionable cause
1141:Slothful induction
1100:Anecdotal evidence
960:Circular reasoning
855:Exclusive premises
817:Illicit conversion
38:
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1713:
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1653:Ignoratio elenchi
1565:
1564:
1415:
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1377:Not invented here
1082:Converse accident
1004:Correlative-based
981:Compound question
924:False attribution
919:False equivalence
893:
892:
641:978-0-271-04196-4
286:List of fallacies
266:Philosophy portal
210:Related arguments
53:), also known as
16:(Redirected from
1769:
1729:
1728:
1700:Special pleading
1579:
1440:Appeal to motive
1426:
1402:Stirring symbols
1382:Island mentality
1320:Wishful thinking
1301:
1017:Perfect solution
994:No true Scotsman
989:Complex question
974:Leading question
953:Question-begging
939:No true Scotsman
904:
827:Quantifier shift
822:Proof by example
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500:. Archived from
498:The Conversation
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310:Russell's teapot
280:Hitchens's razor
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27:Informal fallacy
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1683:Rationalization
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1421:Genetic fallacy
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1189:Sorites paradox
1169:False precision
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1131:Double counting
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985:Loaded question
969:Loaded language
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559:Further reading
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504:on 15 June 2021
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103:Donald Rumsfeld
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72:burden of proof
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1513:Accomplishment
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1265:Slippery slope
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693:External links
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592:978-0205820375
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575:Copi, Irving M
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178:Contraposition
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1373:Invented here
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1136:False analogy
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1105:Sampling bias
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880:Illicit minor
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875:Illicit major
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699:Fallacy Files
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661:(7003): 485.
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623:(4): 381–387.
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860:Existential
812:Existential
579:Cohen, Carl
542:Sagan, Carl
477:23 November
464:Bennett, Bo
197:Null result
191:Null result
93:Earl Warren
67:proposition
1746:Categories
1664:Moralistic
1598:Sealioning
1592:Ad nauseam
1519:Ipse dixit
1431:Ad hominem
1255:Regression
1057:Ecological
870:Four terms
788:Masked man
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139:Carl Sagan
76:John Locke
57:(in which
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1757:Ignorance
1705:Straw man
1583:Arguments
1572:fallacies
1546:Tradition
1536:Etymology
1508:Authority
1489:Tu quoque
1473:Bulverism
1243:Gambler's
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1156:Ambiguity
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865:Necessity
737:fallacies
601:862726425
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244:porcupine
133:heuristic
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1338:Children
1235:Post hoc
1115:McNamara
1077:Accident
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581:(2010).
448:12 March
424:30624864
252:See also
125:aphorism
82:Examples
1550:Novelty
1525:Poverty
1387:Loyalty
1353:Novelty
1330:Emotion
1279:Appeals
1248:Inverse
1228:Cum hoc
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741:list
681:PMID
636:ISBN
597:OCLC
587:ISBN
510:2022
479:2016
450:2015
420:OCLC
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