Refuting

Cogito ergo sum Logic and rhetoric

Key articles

Logical fallacy Syllogism Argument

General logic

Syllogism Appeal to faith Courtier's Reply Pascal's wager Rapoport's Rules Rhetoric

Bad logic

God of the gaps Blaming the victim Moralistic fallacy Big words Appeal to ancient wisdom گزاره‌ی حمله‌ی شخصی v - t - e

Refuting means to disprove or debunk an assertion, by presentation of facts and/or logical analysis.

One of our delightful IP visitors, however, thinks this:

[Refuting:] To disagree, or assert the opposite.

The original meaning was to DISPROVE something, but no one uses that anymoer

A modern example is "The Prime Minister refuted the suggestion that he was a fool, by saying that he wasn't." (sic)

Probably because they disagree with something we said. Refutation of pseudoscience and illogic is an essential part of RationalWiki's mission.

See also[edit]

• Backfire effect