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refute – The traditional meaning of refute is "disprove" or "dispel with reasoned arguments". It is now often used as a synonym for "deny". It is now often used as a synonym for "deny". The latter sense is listed without comment by M-W [ 110 ] and AHD4, [ 111 ] while CHAMBERS tags it as colloquial. [ 112 ]
Synonyms of counterargument may include rebuttal, reply, counterstatement, counterreason, comeback and response. An attempt to rebut an argument may involve generating a counterargument, or finding a counterexample .
Whataboutism or whataboutery (as in "what about ...?") is a pejorative for the strategy of responding to an accusation with a counter-accusation instead of a defense against the original accusation.
Accumulatio – the emphasis or summary of previously made points or inferences by excessive praise or accusation.; Actio – canon #5 in Cicero's list of rhetorical canons; traditionally linked to oral rhetoric, referring to how a speech is given (including tone of voice and nonverbal gestures, among others).
Definitions of objection vary in whether an objection is always an argument (or counterargument) or may include other moves such as questioning. [1] An objection to an objection is sometimes known as a rebuttal. [2] An objection can be issued against an argument retroactively from the point of reference of that argument.
During a typical Gish gallop, the galloper confronts an opponent with a rapid series of specious arguments, half-truths, misrepresentations and outright lies, making it impossible for the opponent to refute all of them within the format of the debate. [2] Each point raised by the Gish galloper takes considerably longer to refute than to assert.
A self-refuting idea or self-defeating idea is an idea or statement whose falsehood is a logical consequence of the act or situation of holding them to be true. Many ideas are called self-refuting by their detractors, and such accusations are therefore almost always controversial, with defenders stating that the idea is being misunderstood or that the argument is invalid.
In law, rebuttal is a form of evidence that is presented to contradict or nullify other evidence that has been presented by an adverse party. By analogy the same term is used in politics and public affairs to refer to the informal process by which statements, designed to refute or negate specific arguments (see Counterclaim) put forward by opponents, are deployed in the media.