Examples
One way to demonstrate the invalidity of this argument form is with a counterexample with true premises but an obviously false conclusion. For example:
- If Bill Gates owns Fort Knox, then he is rich.
- Bill Gates is rich.
- Therefore, Bill Gates owns Fort Knox.
Owning Fort Knox is not the only way to be rich. Any number of other ways exist to be rich.
Arguments of the same form can sometimes seem superficially convincing, as in the following example:
- If I have the flu, then I have a sore throat.
- I have a sore throat.
- Therefore, I have the flu.
But having the flu is not the only cause of a sore throat since many illnesses cause sore throat, such as the common cold or strep throat.
The following is a more subtle version of the fallacy embedded into conversation.
- A: All Republicans are against gun control.
- B: That's not true. My uncle's against gun control and he's not a Republican.
B attempts to falsify A's conditional statement ("if Republican then against gun control") by providing evidence he believes would contradict its implication. However, B's example of his uncle does not contradict A's statement, which says nothing about non-Republicans. What would be needed to disprove A's assertion are examples of Republicans who support gun control.
Read more about this topic: Affirming The Consequent
Famous quotes containing the word examples:
“Histories are more full of examples of the fidelity of dogs than of friends.”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)
“No rules exist, and examples are simply life-savers answering the appeals of rules making vain attempts to exist.”
—André Breton (1896–1966)
“In the examples that I here bring in of what I have [read], heard, done or said, I have refrained from daring to alter even the smallest and most indifferent circumstances. My conscience falsifies not an iota; for my knowledge I cannot answer.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)