Comment

NBC Was Wrong: Federal Charges Have Not Been "Ruled Out" for Gov. Christie

291
Nyet9/20/2014 12:26:07 am PDT
No True Scotsman
This error is a kind of ad hoc rescue of one’s generalization in which the reasoner re-characterizes the situation solely in order to escape refutation of the generalization.

Example:

Smith: All Scotsmen are loyal and brave.
Jones: But McDougal over there is a Scotsman, and he was arrested by his commanding officer for running from the enemy.
Smith: Well, if that’s right, it just shows that McDougal wasn’t a TRUE Scotsman.