Motte and Bailey

Motte-and-bailey fallacy

In postmodernist literature and other fields, a misleading and faulty type of argument called the “motte and bailey” fallacy has been identified (Boudry and Braeckman, 2011). In the “motte and bailey” style of argument, a proponent argues for a strong claim but then retreats to a much weaker claim under pressure form counterarguments. The weaker claim is then later conflated with the stronger one, sowing confusion and putting critics in a difficult position.

For instance, researchers may proclaim their work shows “structure change in cellular water” or that “hot water freezes faster than cold” but under pressure will retreat to a weaker and much less interesting claim such as “proteins can reorient waters near their surface affecting 1-3 layers of water” or “hot water sometimes is observed to supercool more than cold water.”