Denying the Antecedent Fallacy Examples in Media, Real Life, Politics, News & Ads

Denying the Antecedent Fallacy

Denying the Antecedent Fallacy Definition

 Denying the antecedent means that you are denying what was just said and instead of saying something else. The antecedent is the part of a sentence that comes before the “then” clause. Denying the antecedent means you’re saying that something is not true, even though it’s been stated to be true.

The antecedent fallacy is a logical error in which the consequent is denied, and the antecedent affirmed.  For example, if one were to say, “If it’s raining outside, then I’m wearing my raincoat,” when it’s not actually raining outside. This would be an example of denying the antecedent fallacy.

Another example of denying the antecedent would be if someone said: “I’m going out with my friends tonight.” And then they added on: “But I don’t like them.”The antecedent is the statement before “but.” Denying the antecedent means that you are saying that what comes after “but” does not follow logically from what came before it.

Denying the Antecedent Fallacy Examples

To deny the antecedent is to assert that if a statement is true, then it must be false.

“If you are wearing pants, then you are not wearing shorts.”

The antecedent of this sentence is “wearing pants,” and the consequent is “wearing shorts.” Therefore, by denying the antecedent, we would say that someone can wear both pants and shorts at once

The antecedent is the assumption that a statement or question is based on.

Denying the Antecedent Fallacy example in Philosophy

Examples of Denying the Antecedent Fallacy in Philosophy:

The antecedent fallacy is a logical error in which the denial of one premise implies that the conclusion must be false.

For example, if you say, “If it’s raining outside, then I’m wearing my raincoat,” and it turns out to not be raining outside, then your conclusion might not necessarily be true (you could have left your raincoat at home).

Denying the Antecedent Real-Life Examples

Denying the Antecedent Fallacy in Real Life:

For example, if someone says, “I’m going to eat a sandwich,” and then follows up with, “But I don’t like sandwiches,” they are denying their original statement.

Denying the Antecedent Examples in Media

Examples of Denying the Antecedent Fallacy in Media: 

The media often uses the “if you have one drink, then you’re likely to get drunk” fallacy.

This is an example of denying the antecedent because if someone does not drink alcohol, they will not become intoxicated.

If a person has two drinks and becomes drunk, this would be an example of affirming the consequent.

Denying the Antecedent Fallacy Examples in Advertising

Denying the Antecedent Fallacy in Advertising: 

The ad says that the product is “guaranteed to work,” but it doesn’t mention anything about how long it might take before you see results.

The ad claims that “everyone loves this new flavor,” even though there’s only one person in the picture.

The ad says that they have a “100% money-back guarantee”, but if you read the fine print, you’ll find out that they only give refunds for products purchased within 30 days.

Denying the Antecedent Fallacy in Politics

Examples of Denying the Antecedent Fallacy in Politics:

The antecedent fallacy is when someone assumes that if one thing is true, then another must be as well.

An example of denying the antecedent fallacy in politics would be a politician who says, “If you’re not with me, then you’re against me.” This statement does not account for those who are undecided or want to see what the other side has to offer before making up their minds.

Another Example: When a politician is asked about an issue, and they respond with something like “I don’t know anything about that.” When a politician says “no” to everything, even when it’s not true.

Denying the Antecedent Fallacy examples in Movies

Examples of Denying the Antecedent Fallacy in Movies:

When the protagonist is in a hospital, and they say, “I’m not sick.”

The protagonist says, “I’ll be back,” but then dies.

Denying the Antecedent Examples in Literature

Examples of Denying the Antecedent Fallacy in Literature:

The antecedent is the first part of a sentence that states what you are trying to prove. Denying the antecedent means reversing the order of two statements and then denying one statement in order to disprove it.

An example from literature would be:

The sentence “If you are not a cat, then you cannot be a dog” is an example of denying the antecedent.

This fallacy occurs when someone assumes that another thing must also be true because one thing is true.

In this case, it would mean that if something cannot be both a cat and a dog simultaneously, it can’t be either one.

Denying the Antecedent Examples in News

Examples of Denying the Antecedent Fallacy in News:

The antecedent fallacy is when someone denies the first part of a sentence and then makes an assumption about what was denied.

An example of this would be if someone said, “I’m going to buy milk,” and then you replied with, “You’re not buying milk because it’s expired.”.

This is denying the antecedent since they never actually said that they were going to buy expired milk.

Related Resources:

• 9 False Equivalence Fallacy Examples 

• Whataboutism Fallacy Definition | Whataboutism Fallacy Examples