examples of "rejecting a view based on inadequate argument"

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• 4 Likes

  canihazJD Alum Member Sage ⭐

  May 2021 8460 karma

  "Lack of evidence is not evidence of lacking," or an appeal from/to ignorance.

  This is where one claims a proposition is true because it has not been proven false or a proposition is false because it has not been proven true.

  In other words, you can't say a claim is false just because a bad argument was made for it.
• 1 Like

  KevinLuminateLSAT Alum Member

  May 2021 edited May 2021 983 karma

  @yoojin2782 Check out PT72 Section 3 #11 and PT86 Section 4 #16
• 1 Like

  qcolo1224 Core Member

  May 2021 edited May 2021 49 karma

  What @canihazJD said is great. Here's a supporting example:

  Michael argues that we should have gun control. He bases his conclusion on a comparison between the U.S and Australia. The U.S. has many mass shootings and few gun control laws. Meanwhile, Australia enacted gun control and subsequently saw a reduction in mass shootings. However, everyone knows Australia and the U.S. are substantively different. Therefore, we should not have gun control.

  This has the same flaw. Just because someone has not adequately proven an argument does not make that position false. Think about it - there can (and tbh are) other more compelling reasons to have gun control outside the premise Michael provides. The only reasonable conclusion the above author can draw from the premises is something like "Thus, Michael's argument rests on a faulty assumption" or "Michael does not present a persuasive argument."