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> Argumentation > Moves and Tactics > arghXiv:2604.09000

A Note on the Fallacy Fallacy

Lionel Trask

Abstract: That an argument for a conclusion is fallacious does not establish that the conclusion is false. The point is elementary, is not disputed by anyone who has considered it, and is set aside routinely in the exchanges I have been party to. This note sets it out in full, with the standard treatment, and answers the four objections I have received to it. I do not argue here that any conclusion of mine is true. I argue only that the demonstrations offered against them do not establish that they are false, which is a weaker claim than the one my correspondents believe themselves to be answering, and is the only claim I have made.

Comments:
19 pages. The point is not original and the author does not claim it.
Subjects:
Moves and Tactics (argu.MOV) (primary class); Confidence and Calibration (epist.CONF); Verification and Provenance (epist.VER)
TDC classes:
0.01; 8.12
Cite as:
arghXiv:2604.09000v1 (BibTeX)
Submission history:
From: Lionel Trask [view email]
[v1] Tue, 28 Apr 2026