The fallacy of Proving Too Much is when you challenge an argument because, in addition to proving its intended conclusion, it also proves obviously false conclusions. For example, if someone says “You can’t be an atheist, because it’s impossible to disprove the existence of God”, you can answer “That argument proves too much. If we accept it, we must also accept that you can’t disbelieve in Bigfoot, since it’s impossible to disprove his existence as well.”
Wow, I’ve been looking for a name for this thing for sooo long. Thanks so much. The phrasing here is a bit ambiguous, and can lead to confusion I think.
From the whole of the text, it seems that Scott’s view on this is that of the Wiki page, that the fallacy is committed when someone claims a conclusion that is a special case in some category of which there are obviously false instances that would be true if the reasoning was valid. Something like
A) You can (validly) argue that someone else is committing the Proving Too Much fallacy when their argument, were it valid, in addition to proving its intended conclusion, would also prove obviously false conclusions
But
The fallacy of Proving Too Much is when you challenge an argument because, in addition to proving its intended conclusion, it also proves obviously false conclusions
Can also read (my first understanding of it) as:
B) You commit the Proving Too Much fallacy when you (invalidly) challenge an argument because, in addition to proving its intended conclusion, it also proves obviously false conclusions.
I’m leaning towards A, but would appreciate more info on this. Again, I found this extremely useful.
Wow, I’ve been looking for a name for this thing for sooo long. Thanks so much. The phrasing here is a bit ambiguous, and can lead to confusion I think.
From the whole of the text, it seems that Scott’s view on this is that of the Wiki page, that the fallacy is committed when someone claims a conclusion that is a special case in some category of which there are obviously false instances that would be true if the reasoning was valid. Something like
A) You can (validly) argue that someone else is committing the Proving Too Much fallacy when their argument, were it valid, in addition to proving its intended conclusion, would also prove obviously false conclusions
But
Can also read (my first understanding of it) as:
B) You commit the Proving Too Much fallacy when you (invalidly) challenge an argument because, in addition to proving its intended conclusion, it also proves obviously false conclusions.
I’m leaning towards A, but would appreciate more info on this. Again, I found this extremely useful.