The Argument from fallacy reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Argument from fallacy

The argument from fallacy, also known as argumentum ad logicam or fallacy fallacy, is a logical fallacy which assumes that because a fallacious argument has been put forward, its conclusion must be false.

Examples:

Anne: "All cats are animals. Ginger is an animal. This means Ginger is a cat.".

Bill: "Ah you just committed the affirming the consequent logical fallacy. Sorry, you are wrong, which means that Ginger is not a cat". But of course, while it is not certain that Ginger is a cat, Ginger might be one.

Bill: "OK - I'll prove I'm English - I speak English so that proves it".

Anne: "But Americans speak English too. You have committed the package deal fallacy, speaking English and being English don't always go together. That means you are not English". But, if Bill were born and raised in Shropshire and remains a British subject, Anne would have been wrong.

Showing that arguments given for a position are fallacies does not disprove the position. It may, nevertheless, be correct; the arguement merely should not compel anyone to believe, either way.

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