Questions tagged [fallacies]
Concerns formal (syllogistic) fallacies, informal (rhetorical) fallacies, tactical misdirection, and errors in logic or reasoning more broadly put.
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Positive/negative connotation fallacy
This is a question about a certain kind of fallacy that for the time being I'll name (badly) the "positive/negative connotation fallacy." A person engages in this fallacy, when they refuse ...
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"can-do" vs. "can-explain" fallacy
Is there a name for the fallacy where, if someone is not able to explain how he or she does something, it is taken as a proof that he/she can't actually do it?
For example, I once claimed in an ...
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Looking for term for logical fallacy of answering two distinctive questions at once
Please help me finding the proper name for the following logical fallacy: one fuses together two distinctive questions into single one pretending the latter should be answered «Yes/no».
I read through ...
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The McDonald's Option
A group of co-workers at GeneraCorp Inc. have just finished their regular mandatory Thursday morning training session. This week featured a two-hour discussion on how to use the new printers, ...
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Isn't an appeal to emotions in fact necessary to validate our ethical decisions?
Isn't an appeal to emotions in fact necessary to validate our ethical decisions? On the one hand, it is an informal fallacy to appeal to emotion, but on the other hand ethics seems permanently ...
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What is the "opposite" of equivocation?
Simply put, the fallacy of equivocation involves mapping more than one concept to a single word, thereby causing ambiguity or confusion.
Is there a name for its opposite, where a single concept gets ...
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What fallacy is this inversion of Gambler's Fallacy?
I just found what I have forever considered to be "Gambler's fallacy fallacy" appears to be not it. It seems "Gambler's fallacy fallacy" is actually belief that probability of a ...
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What kind fallacy is involved in this dialogue?
I am not sure what kind of fallacy is involved in the last line of this dialogue:
"Will you go to the mall with me today?"
"Why should I?"
"Why shouldn't you?"
I think ...
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Is The Hard Problem Of Consciousness based on a fallacy?
From Wiki, random but structured exchanges online, I came to know of The Hard Problem Of Consciousness, which has been interpreted in multiple ways, one of which is, science is objective and ...
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What logical fallacy is an accusation of "ad hominem" attacks?
An "ad hominem" attack is a fallacious tactic of deflection and shifting the focus of the argument. Equally so is an accusation of "ad hominem" attacks, where the accuser perceives ...
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What's the term for "attributing to a subgroup what's true of the whole"?
I'm searching for a term or word that might not exist. Here's what I'm trying to label:
The tendency of us humans to attribute to a subgroup what's true of the whole. Or the act of doing so.
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Can informal fallacies be considered weak inductive arguments?
Can informal fallacies be considered (weak) inductive arguments?
If they can, then does not that mean they are actually not fallacies (because an inductive argument is a reliable form of reasoning)?
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Recommend an essay, article, entry, author, or branch of philosophy that addresses the futility of arguing for or against free will
I did first search this site, but I was not allowed to participate because I am new (I guess). There is a lot of great content here so I guess that is warranted (though it doesn't feel that way). That ...
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Is it a "shifting of the burden of proof" if I show evidence in favor of a position, and ask the audience to debate that evidence if they disagree?
As far as I know, the "fallacy of shifting the burden of proof" is to refuse to show any evidence for my position, demanding the opponent to show evidence against my position, and claiming ...
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Is there a fallacy for "A doesn't work very well, therefore B is better than A"?
Assuming that A can be objectively proven to not work very well, and no objective proof is available that B works well.
For example: Allopathic system of medicine has lots of problems, therefore ...
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Descartes Statement in Second Meditation is illogical?
In the second paragraph of Meditation Two: Concerning the Nature of the Human Mind: That it is better known than the Body, Descartes writes
“Therefore I suppose that everything I see is false. I ...
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How precisely is "Steel Man" different from "Iron Man" in a debate?
In a debate, Steel Man technique has been touted as the antidote of committing the Straw man fallacy. It doesn't appear to be a fallacy, but a virtue. Then I came across the Iron Man fallacy, ...
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How does Bias affect the reliability of a process?
So my attempt is to define a process and test it on its reliability.
In a discussion, an argument was made that a consensus on the reliability of the process is needed for a process to be reliable.
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Orderings in Philosophy
First of all, I’m a mathematician, not a philosopher, so I apologize in advance for any oversights or if my question maybe isn’t too relevant in philosophy.
When reading popular philosophical content, ...
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What kind of logical fallacy is the "Who are you?" scene from Anger Management?
I was wondering what kind of fallacy to attribute to an encounter I once had and, after writing for a bit, realized that I could literally sum it up by pointing to this scene from Anger Management: ...
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What would be the name for the fallacy leaving out important supporting evidence from an opponents argument?
I know if one misrepresents an opponents position to make it look weaker than it is that’s known as a straw-man fallacy. I’m not sure if leaving out important supporting evidence would qualify as a ...
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Are there any fallacies in Stephen C. Meyer's argument for classical theism from the Big Bang singularity?
Christian YouTuber and apologist Brandon McGuire recently shared a review of Piers Morgan's interview with Stephen C. Meyer, author of Return of the God Hypothesis, on his talk show Piers Morgan ...
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How can I justify trusting my own thoughts without begging the question?
Suppose I attempt to justify trusting my own thoughts with an argument. Suppose I read the argument and find it compelling. The very process of reading an argument (presumably written in English or ...
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Can you help me understand the masked man paradox?
The masked man fallacy (or paradox) is roughly:
Premise 1: I don't know who the man wearing the mask is.
Premise 2: The man wearing the mask is my father.
Premise 3: I know who my father is.
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What is the formal name of this logical fallacy?
The fallacy goes like this.
The drunkard drinks a bottle of tequila with ice on Monday and gets drunk. The drunkard drinks a bottle of vodka with ice on Tuesday and gets drunk. The drunkard drinks a ...
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Name for the fallacy where a person claims that bias always proves the opposite?
I'm unsure how to word this as usual. An example of what I'm talking about would be:
X claims that the dicerolls in a video game are biased.
Y claims it only appears so because of negativity bias, ...
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Does philosophy suffer from an ad populum bias?
It seems to me that positions in philosophy are taken more seriously depending on how many people believe in them. For example, someone who believes in a monotheistic God is taken a bit more seriously ...
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The implication if we discovered that natural abiogenesis is statistically nearly impossible
If we were to discover somehow that (sentient) life was so unlikely that it were almost impossible that it forms even once in the whole universe, does that imply anything about creation e.g.?
My logic ...
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Differentiating an argument from authority from expert testimony
Consider the following argument :
The mathematical theorem T is a true theorem, because person(s) P say so.
In a scientific context, it would be a fallacious argument from authority.
However, suppose ...
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Is there a name for the widespread logical fallacy in which you prove your point by 'eliminating' anyone who contradicts you?
I've encountered this relentlessly in my life. You offer proof that someone is wrong, or even simply state something more obvious than the sun that they don't like, they ban you or do something else ...
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Logical fallacy: no one would be so dumb to
Fact: the car peeling away from the robbed bank has Alice's license plate
Conclusion 1: suggests Alice might be involved in the bank robbery.
Conclusion 2: if Alice was involved in the robbery, she ...
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A question on contrapositives and predicates
So I am a freshman taking an intro class to logic. And the question started off from a class exercise we've got which asked us to identify the covering generalization for the following conditional ...
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Is the “no true Scotsman'” fallacy actually a fallacy?
I have trouble with many so-called 'fallacies', and the 'No True Scotsman' fallacy is no exception.
Let me quote a famous line from Game of Thrones:
Any man who must say "I am the King" is ...
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Is there a term for when one claims that something can't be true of the collective because it is not true of every individual within the collective?
Basically as the title says, I'm wondering if there is a term for when someone says that because there are some exceptions to the norm, that the norm cannot be considered as part or all of what ...
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Situation deemed as offensive, where offended party and/ or point of offense is not clear
In the past, medical literature noted that people suffering from trisomy 21 (Down's Syndrome) had Mongoloid features. This was later revised as it was deemed offensive. For this question, I assume the ...
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Is this comparison committing a fallacy? [closed]
I am trying to build an argument against a friend:
Me: "In your chess games against me, you never resign even when the conclusion is inevitable. I feel that this is a waste of time, and I object.&...
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Is a false dichotomy still a dichotomy?
Given that an [adjective] X is still an X, is a false dichotomy still a dichotomy?
This question is not exactly like asking one about a false belief, but it is similar as far as the wordplay is ...
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A priori argument fallacy
Considering the "A priori argument logical fallacy" (see https://utminers.utep.edu/omwilliamson/engl1311/fallacies.htm)
Is there a way to formalize it (technical expression) using the ...
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What's the name of the logical fallacy of when you answer a question with essentially something that doesn't mean anything?
I've been trying to search in Wikipedia's list of fallacies but didn't find one that seemed to quite fit this case.
Is there a name for the fallacy of when someone answers a question with essentially ...
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Is it "unscientific" to be sceptical without offering alternative explanations?
Alice has made some anecdotal observations. Through a process of elimination, she proposes a hypothesis to explain the phenomenon, as well as an experiment to validate (or otherwise) her hypothesis. ...
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Is this a fallacy, and if so, which?
P1: My opinions change as a result of brain function
P2: Brain function is caused by opinions stored within it (slightly dodgy premise but if you wouldn't mind assuming it to be true, whether it is ...
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Can reason be precisely defined?
Reason, or rationality, is classically defined as deriving a conclusion from observations. Again, classically this is achieved by the application of logic. Aristotle explained it in this way. There ...
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On Modus Ponens/Tollens Fallacies
Modus Ponens
IF p THEN q
p
Ergo,
q
Valid!
Modus Tollens
IF p THEN q
~q
Ergo,
~p
Valid!
Converse Fallacy
IF p THEN q
q
Ergo,
p
Invalid!
Inverse Fallacy
IF p THEN q
~p
Ergo,
~q
Invalid.
...
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Is modus ponens inherently circular?
Consider this simple argument for why Socrates is mortal:
All men are mortal.
Socrates is a man.
Thus, Socrates is mortal.
This argument can be roughly formalized as follows:
IF P THEN Q
R
R≡P
Q
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Category errors and positive properties
A category error is what you get when you assert of an object x a property p which makes no sense when applied to x. Examples:
The number two is red.
The number two was created at time t.
The dog is ...
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Is the principle of charity just confirmation bias?
The principle of charity seems absolutely integral to studying philosophy in any way at all.
How does an overlap of charity and confirmation bias work out, either in the class room or in philosophical ...
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What fallacy is it when someone accuses an entire group of hypocrisy, instead of taking into account individual opposing ideas?
For example -
"You all claim to want women's liberation, yet you bully women into shaving. Therefore you don't truly want women's liberation."
It's unlikely these contradictory actions/...
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What’s the logical fallacy that’s based on “what could have been” arguments?
I’ve recently become interested with religious philosophy, and when researching I often come across this line of thought: “it would’ve been better if life hadn’t been created at all, because living is ...
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Is it as fallacy to say that you misunderstand in some unspecifiable way?
Suppose I am presented with an argument, and respond that they have misunderstood something so badly that, while I am clear about what is being said, I cannot say what error the argument (or question) ...
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Fallacy of the Devil You Know
I just made up that name for the fallacy, but I'm wondering if there is a more common term for it. The fallacy is basically inferring from an inconclusive set of evidence to a particular explanation ...
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