Argument from silence
Also called: Absence of evidence
Taking the lack of a record or mention as proof something didn't happen.
How to spot it
Would the thing have been recorded? Does the record even survive?
Example
“The diary doesn't mention rain, so it didn't rain.”
How to answer it
Ask whether the source would have mentioned it, and whether anything has been lost.
Related
- Shifting the burden of proof: Claiming something is true because it hasn't been disproved, and asking others to disprove it.
- Argument from incredulity: Concluding something is false because you can't imagine how it could be true.