Question

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Is this a logical fallacy?

If the authority doesn't mention X then it must not be there.

Example : The medical expert doesn't mention that the Egyptian mummy was emblamed, therefore it must not be emblamed.

asked on Sunday, Jan 30, 2022 09:28:44 AM by

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Bo Bennett, PhD
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argument from ignorance- there is no evidence (against/for) X therefore X is (true/false)
answered on Sunday, Jan 30, 2022 09:43:33 AM by Bo Bennett, PhD

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Ed F writes:

I think the fallacy Lynx asks about is a little different than Argument From Ignorance (or at least is an interesting variant).

Argument From Ignorance is about evidence—if there’s no evidence for something then (in most cases) it’d be a fallacy to assume that it’s not true.   Lynx’s fallacy is dealing specifically with authorities.  If an authority doesn’t mention something, can we assume that the authority did so intentionally and (since they’re an authority), that therefore the fact is true.    This would seem to be a species of a more general fallacy—if someone avoids answering a question (e.g., fails to deny they committed a crime), can we draw a conclusion (guilt?) based on their silence on the issue?  Not sure what that fallacy is called (although such reasoning is not always fallacious). 

posted on Sunday, Jan 30, 2022 10:40:43 AM
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Ed F writes:
[To Ed F]

The fallacy I was trying to think of was argument from silence 

[ login to reply ] posted on Sunday, Jan 30, 2022 11:18:23 AM
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Bo Bennett, PhD writes:
[To Ed F]

I do agree that this is a better fit. The argument from ignorance is also about drawing conclusions where there is no evidence. Silence is a form of lack of evidence.

[ login to reply ] posted on Sunday, Jan 30, 2022 11:39:43 AM