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Irrelevant Conclusion
(ignoratio elenchi )
Definition:
An argument which purports to prove one thing instead
proves a different conclusion.
Examples:
- You should support the new housing bill. We can't
continue to see people living in the streets; we must have
cheaper housing. (We may agree that housing s important
even though we disagree with the housing bill.)
- I say we should support affirmative action. White males
have run the country for 500 years. They run most of
government and industry today. You can't deny that this
sort of discrimination is intolerable. (The author has proven
that there is discrimination, but not that affirmative action
will end that discrimination.)
Proof:
Show that the conclusion proved by the author is not the
conclusion that the author set out to prove.
References:
06 October 1995
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