system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
What is the difference between refuting an argument and explaining away an argument?

I'm having trouble understanding this distinction. For ex, I'm reading a paper that says Dennett does not refute X, but explains it away.
gpt
For the purpose of the distinction, refuting an argument addresses the claim and its points, explains why they are wrong, and likely does so with some sort of counter-argument.

Explaining an argument away does not address the argument or its claims, instead it claims that the problem that the argument seeks to deal with is not really a problem and that we were mistaken to think it was.