ignoratio elenchi
the fallacy of offering proof irrelevant to the proposition in question.
Origin of ignoratio elenchi
1Words Nearby ignoratio elenchi
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use ignoratio elenchi in a sentence
The attempts, for instance, to disprove the population doctrines of Malthus, have been mostly cases of ignoratio elenchi.
A System of Logic: Ratiocinative and Inductive | John Stuart MillTo deny or ridicule any of these beliefs on physical grounds is to commit the fallacy of ignoratio elenchi.
On the Genesis of Species | St. George MivartFor ignoratio elenchi (ignorance of the refutation) see Fallacy.
Why does he immediately add that for the pluralist to plead the non-mutation of such abstractions would be an ignoratio elenchi?
Essays in Radical Empiricism | William JamesHis whole paper is an ignoratio elenchi, and he doesn't touch a single one of my positions.
The Letters of William James, Vol. II | William James
British Dictionary definitions for ignoratio elenchi
/ (ˌɪɡnəˈreɪʃɪəʊ ɪˈlɛŋkaɪ) /
a purported refutation of a proposition that does not in fact prove it false but merely establishes a related but strictly irrelevant proposition
the fallacy of arguing in this way
Origin of ignoratio elenchi
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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