Moving the goalposts

What it is

Changes the criteria for proof or success after the original demand has been met, so the claim can never be satisfied.

Related

• Cognitive dissonance bias
  Raising the bar after being proved wrong is a common way of reducing the discomfort of cognitive dissonance.
• Shifting the burden of proof fallacy
  Shifting the burden of proof and moving the goalposts both change what must be shown, so the claim is never satisfied.
• Motte-and-bailey fallacy
  Retreating from the bailey to the motte quietly changes what is being claimed, much like moving the goalposts.
• No true Scotsman fallacy
  No true Scotsman moves the goalposts of a category's definition after a counterexample appears.

References

• Wikipedia: Moving the goalposts en.wikipedia.org
• Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Fallacies iep.utm.edu
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Fallacies plato.stanford.edu
• Wikipedia: List of fallacies en.wikipedia.org
• Purdue OWL: Logical fallacies owl.purdue.edu

More in “Dodging or distorting the argument”