elenchi

If only to illustrate that I am useful for more than lounge-lizard renditions of Mahler's 2nd, I will concur with Matthew that ignoration is in the OED and has a use fitting for most things that pass for political dialog these days: Ignoration of the Elench -- and anglicized version of ignoratio elenchi, which is the logical fallacy of refuting an argument that was not made or is irrelevant to its professed purpose.

Signal to noise Matthew Guerrieri 2007

A favorite ignoratio elenchi of Will and his climate-denier crowd is the following: the Earth's climate has changed in the past due to natural causes; and so the current warming trend in climate must be due to natural causes.

Bill Chameides: Red Herring Alert: Planet Earth Does Not Need a Care Package Bill Chameides 2010

A favorite ignoratio elenchi of Will and his climate-denier crowd is the following: the Earth's climate has changed in the past due to natural causes; and so the current warming trend in climate must be due to natural causes.

Bill Chameides: Red Herring Alert: Planet Earth Does Not Need a Care Package Bill Chameides 2010

A favorite ignoratio elenchi of Will and his climate-denier crowd is the following: the Earth's climate has changed in the past due to natural causes; and so the current warming trend in climate must be due to natural causes.

Bill Chameides: Red Herring Alert: Planet Earth Does Not Need a Care Package Bill Chameides 2010

At that point, your ignoratio elenchi radar should be going up.

Bill Chameides: Red Herring Alert: Planet Earth Does Not Need a Care Package Bill Chameides 2010

Or is that an example of an ignoratio elenchi on my part?

Bill Chameides: Red Herring Alert: Planet Earth Does Not Need a Care Package Bill Chameides 2010

Or is that an example of an ignoratio elenchi on my part?

Bill Chameides: Red Herring Alert: Planet Earth Does Not Need a Care Package Bill Chameides 2010

At that point, your ignoratio elenchi radar should be going up.

Bill Chameides: Red Herring Alert: Planet Earth Does Not Need a Care Package Bill Chameides 2010

Even a Nobel Prize winner can hatch an ignoratio elenchi, as evidenced by Laughlin's essential argument: because the climate has been and will continue to be controlled on geologic time scales by natural processes, such as changes in the Earth's orbit and cometary impacts, the climate is "beyond our control" and "the climate ought not concern us too much when we are gazing into the energy future."

Bill Chameides: Red Herring Alert: Planet Earth Does Not Need a Care Package Bill Chameides 2010

When it comes to issues like climate change, one of Will's favorite tactics is the ignoratio elenchi, also known in some circles as a red herring.

Bill Chameides: Red Herring Alert: Planet Earth Does Not Need a Care Package Bill Chameides 2010