Denying the Antecedent: Its Effective Use in Argumentation

Authors

  • Mark A. Stone Furman University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22329/il.v32i3.3681

Keywords:

Argument, argumentation, conditional, denying the antecedent, fallacy, undermine

Abstract

Denying the antecedent is an invalid form of reasoning that is typically identified and frowned upon as a formal fallacy. Contrary to arguments that it does not or at least should not occur, denying the antecedent is a legitimate and effective strategy for undermining a position. Since it is not a valid form of argument, it cannot prove that the position is false. But it can provide inductive evidence that this position is probably false. In this role, it is neither defective nor deceptive. Denying the antecedent provides inductive support for rejecting a claim as improbable.

Publication Facts

Metric
This article
Other articles
Peer reviewers 
1
2.4

Reviewer profiles  N/A

Author statements

Author statements
This article
Other articles
Data availability 
N/A
16%
External funding 
N/A
32%
Competing interests 
N/A
11%
Metric
This journal
Other journals
Articles accepted 
20%
33%
Days to publication 
26
145

Indexed in

    —
Editor & editorial board
profiles
Academic society 
N/A
Publisher 
University of Windsor

Author Biography

Mark A. Stone, Furman University

Philosophy Associate Professor

Downloads

Published

2012-09-18

Issue

Vol. 32 No. 3 (2012)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright for each article published in Informal Logic belongs to its author(s). Informal Logic has the right of first publication. Permission to reprint any article that appears in Informal Logic MUST be obtained in writing from the author(s). In addition to any form of acknowledgement required by the author(s), the following notice must be added to the statement of copyright permission made in the reprint (with the appropriate numbers replacing the ellipses): [Article Title] was originally published in Informal Logic, [year], Volume ..., Number ..., pp. ...-... .