The exception that proves the rule 63
centuries. Now as even beginners to the study of UFOs know only too
well...
(By this time your schoolchildren and half-wits should have cleared
everyone else off the field.)Do beware of actual schoolboys though. If there is one in your
audience, the smart alec is quite likely to step forward and
contradict you with the facts. Some of them are too good.The exception that proves the rule
Exceptions, of course, disprove rules. Despite this, many people
confronted by a counter-example to their claim will dismiss it as
'the exception that proves the rule'. The fallacy consists in the
dismissal of a valid objection to the argument.
'You never find songs written about any towns in Britain apart from
London. '
'What about "Scarborough Fair?" '
'That's the exception that proves the rule. '
(If one leaves Liverpool and Old Durham Town out of it.)The origin of the fallacy lies in the changing uses of language.
The word 'prove', which is now taken to refer to establishing
something beyond doubt, used to mean 'test'. Something would
be 'proved' to establish its quality, and this is the sense which has
passed down to us in this fallacy. The exception puts the rule to
the test and, if it is found to be a valid exception, refutes it
instead of proving it in the modern sense of the word: