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Guilt By Association




Guilt by association, also known as the "bad company fallacy" or the "company that you keep fallacy," is the logical fallacy of claiming that something must be ''false'' because of the people or organizations who support it.
Some examples are:
  • ''Some charities have been fraudulant. Therefore, charities must be frauds.''

  • ''Anti-war activists have made statements critical of Israel. Neo-nazis have made similar statements. Therefore, opposing the war is equivalent to supporting Nazism.''

  • ''The Nazis supported Eugenics . Therefore eugenics must be evil.''

  • '' Adolf Hitler was a Vegetarian . Vegetarianism must be evil.''


The logical inverse of "guilt by association" is honor by association, where one claims that someone or something must be reputable because of the people or organisations who are related to it, or otherwise support it. For example:

  • ''Alice is a lawyer, and Alice thinks highly of Bob. Therefore, Bob must know the law.''

  • ''Aaron will make a good race car driver, because his friend is a good race car driver.''



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