Steelman
Moving the goalposts
Also called shifting the goalposts, raising the bar.
Changing the standard of proof once it has been met.
What it is
Responding to evidence that meets the demanded standard by raising the standard or demanding different evidence, so the claim can never be satisfied.
The pattern
“I’ll accept X if you show E1.” E1 is shown. “Ah, but you need E2.”
An example
A: “If the app gets 1,000 users, I’ll admit it’s a success.”
B: “It has 5,000.” A: “Sure, but how many are paying users?”
Paying users may matter, but that wasn’t the test A agreed to. The bar moved after it was cleared.
Why it fails
If no evidence could ever be enough, the person isn’t really evaluating evidence. The original standard was met; changing it after the fact is a refusal to update, not a reason to doubt.
When it’s not a fallacy
Most lists skip this part. Calling a fair point a fallacy is a mistake too.
It can be fair when
- The standard changes for a reason learned along the way (for example, the first evidence turned out to be flawed) and the change is acknowledged openly.
- Higher standards are asked for higher stakes or extraordinary claims, stated up front.
Try one
A question from the app. The wrong answers are its usual look-alikes.
Andre: “LeBron’s never beaten a great team in the Finals. Show me that and we’ll talk.” Kev: “2016. The Warriors won 73 games, the most in history, and he came back from 3-1 down to beat them.” Andre: “One series. Jordan never let a single Finals go to seven games. Show me a run like that and we’ll talk. Six Finals, six rings, six Finals MVPs.”
What’s the flaw?
Andre set a clear test: beat a great team in the Finals. When Kev met it with the 73-win Warriors, Andre swapped in a much harder test instead of granting the point.
A fair reply
“You asked for a great team in the Finals and got the 73-win Warriors, so what would actually change your mind?”
Often confused with
- No true Scotsman
No True Scotsman changes the definition of a group. Moving the goalposts changes the evidence required.
Where the name comes from
Picture taking a shot at goal while someone drags the posts aside, so a kick that would have scored now misses. “Shifting the goalposts” is the same picture. “Raising the bar” borrows from the high jump and pole vault: clear the bar, and it goes up again.
The metaphor is British and comes from football (soccer) and other goal-based sports: changing the target after the game has started.
Sources
- Moving the goalposts, Wikipedia
- Fallacies, Bradley Dowden, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
In the app
Practice spotting it on arguments that sound real.
Steelman has more examples of moving the goalposts, how to answer it in a real conversation, and practice rounds that mix it with its look-alikes, so you learn the difference, not just the name. Coming soon to iPhone and Android.
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