Moving the goalposts: Difference between revisions

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'''Moving the goalpost''', also known as '''raising the bar''' or '''the moving goalpost''', is an informal [[logical fallacy|logically fallacious]] argument in which evidence presented in response to a specific claim is dismissed and some other (often greater) evidence is demanded. Moving the goalpost can also take the form of reverse [[feature creep]], in which features are eliminated from a product, and the goal of the project is redefined in such a way as to exclude the eliminated features.
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'''Moving the goalpost''', also known as '''raising the bar''' or '''the moving goalpost''', is an informal [[logical fallacy|logically fallacious]] argument in which evidence presented in response to a specific claim is dismissed and some other (often greater) evidence is demanded. In other words, after an attempt has been made to score a goal, the goalposts are moved to exclude the attempt. This attempts to leave the impression that an argument had a fair hearing while actually reaching a preordained conclusion. Moving the goalpost can also take the form of reverse [[feature creep]], in which features are eliminated from a product, and the goal of the project is redefined in such a way as to exclude the eliminated features.
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Accusations of this form of abuse tend to occur when there are unstated assumptions that are obvious to one party but not to another. For example, killing all the [[Cat flea|flea]]s on a [[cat]] is very easy without the usually unstated condition that the cat remain alive and in good health.
   
 
==See also==
  
==See also==
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==Sources==
  
==Sources==
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*[http://www.theskepticsguide.org/logicalfallacies.asp]
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*http://www.theskepticsguide.org/logicalfallacies.asp
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*[http://www.don-lindsay-archive.org/skeptic/arguments.html#goalposts]
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*[http://www.don-lindsay-archive.org/skeptic/arguments.html#goalposts http://www.don-lindsay-archive.org/skeptic/arguments.html]
   
 
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Revision as of 04:18, 14 July 2008

Moving the goalpost, also known as raising the bar or the moving goalpost, is an informal logically fallacious argument in which evidence presented in response to a specific claim is dismissed and some other (often greater) evidence is demanded. In other words, after an attempt has been made to score a goal, the goalposts are moved to exclude the attempt. This attempts to leave the impression that an argument had a fair hearing while actually reaching a preordained conclusion. Moving the goalpost can also take the form of reverse feature creep, in which features are eliminated from a product, and the goal of the project is redefined in such a way as to exclude the eliminated features.

Accusations of this form of abuse tend to occur when there are unstated assumptions that are obvious to one party but not to another. For example, killing all the fleas on a cat is very easy without the usually unstated condition that the cat remain alive and in good health.

See also

Sources

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