Fallacy fallacy

The fallacy fallacy is when you say that because someone's argument is fallacious or badly reasoned, their conclusion must be false. A bad argument for something doesn't by itself show the thing is wrong—they might be right for other reasons. We should reject the argument, not necessarily the conclusion. The fallacy is to infer "false conclusion" from "bad argument." The remedy is to evaluate the conclusion on its own merits or with better arguments.

Examples

• His argument for the policy was full of errors, so the policy must be wrong.

• She gave a terrible defence of her view, so her view is false.

• He used a fallacy, so we can ignore his conclusion.

• Their reasoning was flawed, so they're wrong.

• She appealed to authority—so her claim is false.