In the commentary on a half dozen news stories this week I’ve read complaints that reason from theory. Theory is great but only if it’s predictive; it must be rooted in facts. It only takes a single fact to disprove a theory. No number of theories can disprove a fact.
I think that much of the inclination to argue this way is based on the fallacy of the appeal to consequences. If the theory is wrong, it calls every other conclusion based on the theory into question.
