Name: A Celebrity must be a good person because there is no scandals! - Appeal to Ignorance fallacy
Uploaded: 2023-12-02T04:51:28.000Z
Duration: 1 min
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What is Appeal to Ignorance  (Argumentum ad Ignorantiam)?

The Appeal to Ignorance is a logical fallacy that  

Basic passive voice

occurs when a conclusion is drawn  based on the absence of evidence,  

rather than the presence of evidence. This  fallacy suggests that a claim is true because  

it has not been proven false or that a claim  is false because it has not been proven true.

It's problematic because the lack of  evidence is not a valid indicator of  

truth. In many cases, evidence may be undiscovered  or unobtainable, making such arguments baseless.

Imagine someone arguing that a certain  celebrity must be a good person because no  

scandals or negative stories have been reported  about them. This is an appeal to ignorance,  

as it assumes the individual's virtue based  on the absence of negative evidence. It fails  

to consider that lack of public scandal  does not inherently equate to proof of  

good character. Such an argument  overlooks other possibilities,  

like effective public relations management  or simply a lack of public scrutiny.