Refuting

Cogito ergo sum Logic and rhetoric

Key articles

Logical fallacy Syllogism Argument

General logic

Argumentum ad baculum Equivocation Survivorship bias Argumentum ad dictionarium Appeal to fear Silver bullet

Bad logic

Equivocation Wronger than wrong Fallacy fallacy Scapegoat سفسطه‌ی حد وسط Teoria da cegueira deliberada v - t - e

Refuting means to disprove or debunk an assertion, by presentation of facts and/or logical analysis.

One of our delightful IP visitors, however, thinks this:

[Refuting:] To disagree, or assert the opposite.

The original meaning was to DISPROVE something, but no one uses that anymoer

A modern example is "The Prime Minister refuted the suggestion that he was a fool, by saying that he wasn't." (sic)

Probably because they disagree with something we said. Refutation of pseudoscience and illogic is an essential part of RationalWiki's mission.

See also

• Backfire effect

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