Refuting

Cogito ergo sum Logic and rhetoric

Key articles

Logical fallacy Syllogism Argument

General logic

Omnipotence paradox Appeal to ancient wisdom Heuristic Appeal to flattery Genuine but insignificant cause Viés de seleção

Bad logic

Courtier's Reply Gore's Law DARVO Regression fallacy Science doesn't know everything Not an argument 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

• Backfire effect