Suppressed correlative - Definition

The logical fallacy of suppressed correlative is a type of argument which tries to redefine a correlative (two mutually exclusive options) so that one alternative encompasses the other, i.e. making one alternative impossible.

Examples:

Anne: "OK, I can prove that Ants are not small. To Bacteria they are large".

Bill: "OK, so Bacteria are small!".

Anne: "No, because to a virus they are large. Everything is large to something, so nothing is really small!"

• Well, I would give money to the poor, but I believe that the world is so wonderful and rich that nobody can really be poor.
• All dogs are black when it is dark. Therefore, Lassie is a black dog.

This type of fallacy is often used in conjunction with one of the fallacies of definition.

See Also

Correlative based fallacies