No True Scotsman
Defending a generalization against a counterexample by redefining the category to exclude the counterexample — 'no true X would do that.'
Origin
Coined by philosopher Antony Flew in his 1975 book Thinking About Thinking. His example: 'No Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge.' 'But my uncle Angus, a Scotsman, does.' 'Then no true Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge.' The move retroactively narrows the category to keep the original claim intact, making it unfalsifiable.
Modern usage
Heavily invoked in arguments about political affiliations ('no true conservative supports tariffs'), religious identity ('no true Christian would say that'), and fan communities ('no real fan of the band would like the new album'). The phrase is now ordinary vocabulary in any forum where group identity gets argued about.
In the wild
No true democracy would do that — well, then there are no democracies.— common usage
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