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Scope drift

Quietly expanding or changing what a claim covers during an argument.

Published 04 August 2026Updated 04 August 2026

Scope drift occurs when a discussion moves between narrower and broader claims as if they were the same. A useful repair is to specify the population, time period, conditions, and degree covered by each claim.

Sources

Fallacies (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy / 2024 / Website

Canonical philosophical treatment of fallacy types.