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The logical fallacy of suppressed correlative is a type of argument which tries to redefine a correlative (two mutually exclusive options) so that one alternative encompasses the other, i.e. making one alternative impossible.

Examples:

Actor 1: "Ants are not small because they are larger than bacteria."

Actor 2: "However, bacteria are also small."

Actor 1: "No, bacteria are larger than viruses. Everything is larger than something, so nothing is really small."

• "I would give money to the poor, but I believe that the world is so wonderful and rich that nobody can really be poor."
• "All dogs are black when it is dark. Therefore, Lassie is a black dog because it is dark outside."

This type of fallacy is often used in conjunction with one of the fallacies of definition.

See also

• Correlative based fallacies