Research & reasoning · Business & strategy · Writing & communication
Defeasible.
Reasonable to accept on current evidence, but open to revision when relevant new information appears.
Useful when a conclusion should remain conditional rather than absolute.
“Treat this recommendation as defeasible and list the new evidence that would overturn it.”
A closer look
Some conclusions are justified without being guaranteed. A recommendation based on today’s workload may change when traffic or costs change. State both the present reasons and the conditions under which they would no longer support the recommendation.
Put it to work
“Make the default rule defeasible: documented exceptions can outweigh it.”
A useful distinction
Defeasible does not mean arbitrary or unsupported. It means the support can be defeated by further reasons or evidence.