Appeal to Ignorance: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

==== Also called ====

* Argument from Ignorance

:: The claim that a statement is true because it has not been proven false, or that a statement is false because it has not been proven to be true. Famously refuted by [[Carl Sagan]] with the statement, "[[Absence of Evidence|Absence of evidence]] is not evidence of absence." Based on shifting the burden of proof onto whichever side of the argument you want to lose. If something can not be proven either way, just act like the opinion opposite of yours is inherently sillier, and you can assert that your position must be assumed correct until someone from the other side can prove you wrong. Usually involves an appeal to ''one's own'' authority and/or Burden of Proof Fallacy, and is essentially a claim of personal omnipotence; if the arguer cannot imagine a way for something to have happened, it is clearly impossible.

 

* The popular argument "you cannot prove X does not exist, so it does" (or vice-versa) is the typical case. X can be [[God]], aliens, [[Government Conspiracy|a huge government conspiracy]], unicorns, whatever. It's more common with arguments that are harder to prove, one way or the other.

 

[[Category:Logic Tropes]]

[[Category:Logical Fallacies]]