Denying A Conjunct
Denying a conjunct is a fallacy when in the following form:
- It is not the case that both A is true and B is true.
- B is not true.
- Therefore, A is true.
The conclusion does not follow from the premises as it could be the case that A and B are both false.
An example of denying a conjunct would be:
- It is not the case that both I am at home and I am in the city.
- I am not at home.
- Therefore, I am in the city.
While the conclusion may be true, it does not follow from the premises. For all the reader knows, the declarant of the statement very well could neither be at home nor in the city, in which case the premises would be true but the conclusion false. This argument is still a fallacy even if the conclusion is true.
Read more about this topic: Non Sequitur (logic)
Famous quotes containing the words denying a and/or denying:
“The waste of moments sleeping,
The waste of pleasure weeping,
By denying and ignoring
The waste of nations warring.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“Poetry is concerned with using with abusing, with losing
with wanting, with denying with avoiding with adoring
with replacing the noun. It is doing that always
doing that, doing that and doing nothing but that.
Poetry is doing nothing but using losing refusing and
pleasing and betraying and caressing nouns. That is
what poetry does, that is what poetry has to do no
matter what kind of poetry it is. And there are a
great many kinds of poetry.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)