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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Why is infinite regress commonly discussed in the context of theology or metaphysics, when it implies a rather peculiar model of the universe?
I have witnessed infinite regress being used to "prove God as impossible" with the following objections:
If god is the creator, who created god?
If the universe needs to be intelligently ...
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What logical fallacy is made in this argument that seems to prove that learning is futile?
To learn is to gain more knowledge.
Having more knowledge means having more that one can forget.
∴, the more one learns, the more one forgets.
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Is there a set of fallacies attributable to statistics and probability
The interpretation and use of statistics and probability appears to contain a variety of fallacies that allow the misuse of these tools. Has anyone come across a list of fallacies specific to these ...
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Is it ever rational to stumble onto the conjunction fallacy in probability?
The conjunction fallacy is the phenomenon where many people believe that the probability of the event (A AND B) is strictly greater than the probability of the event A. It is usually thought of as an ...
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What is the basis of the sunk cost fallacy?
Is the so called sunk cost fallacy truly a total fallacy, or does it have some kernel of truth? Certainly it is a widespread instinctive/impulsive form of reasoning. Presumably it must then have had ...
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What kind of fallacy is it to say if abolition of something isn't possible, we shouldn't attempt to address it at all?
I'm trying to figure out the exact fallacy (or if it even is one) that takes the form:
If abolition of x isn't possible, we shouldn't attempt to address x.
I see this quite often from radical second ...
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Can the "Appeal to the Authority" fallacy also be used when the authority is negative/disliked, or is that a different fallacy?
I was discussing politics with an elderly relative in my life and they mentioned that a thing that was occurring in the modern day was socialism. Without getting into the specifics of the claim I ...
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Is this a fallacy: "A woman is an adult who identifies as female in gender"? [closed]
The phrase tries to avoid the overt circular definition found in the variant, "a woman is anyone who identifies as a woman", by swapping woman with female in gender. But is that still a ...
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Is there a name for when someone asserts something can't happen because it hasn't happened to them?
Recently on Twitter someone posted CCTV footage of a man leaving a launderette then one second later a drier explodes taking out the front of the building and the door he just left by, followed by ...
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What are the ethics of limiting another's agency in the name of protection?
What are the ethics, if any, of limiting another person's agency and personal freedom in the name of mutual protection?
Consider the following example:
Alice and Bob are partners and both adults.
...
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Is it a fallacy to argue "Once a thief, always a thief"?
I was looking online to see if this argument was a fallacy, but I couldn't find anything. It reminds me of the problem of induction, whereby one cannot predict what the future holds based on past ...
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Is there a term for a fallacy in which one believes something to be divinely inspired due to being improbable?
Consider the following argument:
I have been born on Earth, during a time of relative prosperity. The probability that I was born at this moment, of all moments, is very small. Therefore, this is ...
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Are there any fallacies in this argument from unique characterization?
Suppose I have millions of events that I’ve come across in my life. One of those events seem unique in the sense that no other event seems similar to it. Every other event seems to have events similar ...
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Is probabilistic modus tollens a fallacy?
Modus tollens takes the form of "If P, then Q. Not Q. Therefore, not P."
A probabilistic version of Modus Tollens says "If P, then Q is very improbable. Q. Therefore, P is very ...
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Which philosophers have considered irrational conviction
It seems a characteristic of humans to be convinced about a matter in the absence of overwhelming evidence, even where logic suggests that are other valid alternative positions to take. We see this in ...
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What exactly is the difference between fallacy and sophistry?
I have read somewhere that sophistry is deliberate and fallacy is non-deliberate; is it correct?
I have also seen in some places that these two are used for the same purpose.
Finally, what is the ...
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Do use/mention errors actually happen?
It is commonplace to see warnings in introductory philosophy texts about not confusing use and mention, but I can't imagine how any reasonably analytical thinker could make such an error, so I've ...
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What is the name for the mistake wherein an ostensible explanation/cause fails to account for its own explanation/cause?
For example, describing the cause for life as aliens seeding it fails to account for the the cause of the aliens that did the seeding.
The explanation that something is "art" because it's ...
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Why do Western English-language philosophers(people*.) mostly present ideas(thoughts*) in a formal way? Linguistics, culture, thinking process, else?
By formal I mean, unable to understand an idea, because of mistakes or logical fallacies that don't truly reflect on the idea itself.
When someone talks to you, it's possible to look not at sentence ...
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What kind of a logical fallacy is giving an example from the past - in order to justify present unjustice?
I was wondering what kind of fallacy is giving an example that occurred in the past, and thus saying we don't need to worry about the present as the same or worse happened in the past. I would like to ...
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Cause-effect fallacy
Person A: "Why is 1 + 1 = 2?"
Person B: "Because if you collect one apple, and then collect
another apple, 1 apple + 1 apple = 2 apples, so you now have 2 apples
in total"
The ...
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Why is "appeal to nature" a fallacy?
Appeal to nature states that just because something is natural doesn't mean it is right (ethical). Morality is not objective but the existence of this fallacy attempts to objectively define morality ...
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The term "ad hominem" used as "appeal to authority", and tradition in argument classification
I saw the claim that an appeal to authority was an "ad hominem". This contradicts how I have always seen the two terms used. I am interested in if there is a tradition in "argument ...
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Identifying a Logical Fallacy (written by Bertrand Russell?)
I'm struggling and googled but cannot find something that's in the recesses of my mind.
Bertrand Russell (I think) described a logical fallacy where one could describe the same behavior / ...
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Why is a rare but unique kind of event seen as more surprising as a rare but common kind of event?
If the question sounds confusing, allow me to illustrate two examples of events.
First example: You think of a number between 1 and 1000. 1000 different people all guess it. One of them gets it right.
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Is the inverse gambler’s fallacy charge against the multiverse accurate?
A common reason for why people came up with the multiverse hypothesis was that they couldn’t fathom that a single universe, if it is all that exists, bears the constants necessary to eventually result ...
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What is the difference between appearing to be sentient and able to make personal subjective statements and being sentient
It is not long that some will suppose AI has become alive but we must question, what is the difference between appearing sentient and able to act out of one's own will and able to make personal ...
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Fallacy and Conclusion
Idk where else to ask so sorry if I am wrong to ask here...But this place seems fitting.
A Fallacy, both formal and informal is/are error in the reasoning to reach a conclusion for an argument/point/...
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What is this fallacy: Perfection is impossible, therefore imperfection should be overlooked
This is a pretty common fallacious statement that people make every now and then.
Point me to any software that has been released without bugs? I
think your expectations might be a tad high.
It's ...
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Is there a fallacy related to conceptual ambiguity?
Consider we have a statement that is perhaps true for one specific meaning of a particular word (or one particular conception of a concept) in its formulation. There may be consequences that flow ...
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How is this an example of a catch-22? [closed]
This was given as an example of a catch-22:
How is the graphic on the right an example of a catch-22? “If you don’t love yourself, how can you love anyone else?” “If no one loves you, how can you ...
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Does this argument qualify as whataboutism?
(Moved from Politics.SE)
Alice and Bob are two students who are habitual cheaters.
Alice to Bob: You really should stop cheating on your exams.
Bob to Alice: I'll stop cheating if you stop cheating ...
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What is the meaning of “to fight a Catch-22 is to accept it”?
From Wikipedia, it says “Catch-22s often result from rules, regulations, or procedures that an individual is subject to, but has no control over, because to fight the rule is to accept it.” What ...
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Invalidating argument by being unable to distinguish the basic terms
What is the exact name of the logical fallacy, where one invalidates the arguments by claiming that the terms on which the argument is built are indistinguishable, e.g.:
You have stated that politics ...
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Is butterfly effect always happening?
You are sitting at front of house with warm tea. Right when you drinking it with glass, there is vehicle accident at street of front house.
If you didn't drink it at that time before, will the ...
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If 75 degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature outside, and the temperature outside is rising, is 75 degrees Fahrenheit rising? [closed]
75 degrees Fahrenheit is static. It cannot rise or fall. The statement is valid since a=b and b=c so a=c. The premises can be true.
My friend asked me this question and I believe it's an association ...
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Is the implication that making consistently bad decisions must be intentional a logical fallacy?
This is the argument:
If someone makes consistently bad decisions, then it must be intentional, because if you were to make decisions at random, some of them would be good.
At first, I found this ...
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Is it irrational to care more about the last candy in the bag than the others, and if so, does the fallacy have a name?
I have a bag of candies. Someone else asks if they can have one. If the bag is still full, I have no issues, and tell them they are welcome to take one. If there is only one left in the bag, I am much ...
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Is there a logical fallacy for citing a single counter example which is not generally representative?
Example:
A: buildings in the US are generally safe. Structural engineers have to stamp the designs before a certificate of occupancy is issued so you can usually be assured that there won’t be any ...
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Probability based on insufficient data [closed]
The probability of some event is sometimes calculated or estimated based on insufficient empirical data, or scientific models that don't or can't take into account the major contributing factors.
The ...
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What do we explictly refer to in mathematical expressios
My friend has a theory about 'instantiation' of numbers, they believe that every time we think of a number we create an 'instance' of it in our own heads, it's the same idea, but each time we think, ...
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What is the relation between abductive reasoning and fallacy?
According to WP's article on abductive reasoning:
[A]bduction is formally equivalent to the logical fallacy of affirming the consequent [citation needed] because of multiple possible explanations for ...
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Difference between fallacies and biases
What is the basic difference between biases, such as confirmation bias, anchoring bias, etc., and fallacies such as argumentum ad antiquitatem, argumentum ad hominem, argumentum ad ignorantiam, etc.? ...
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Sunk cost fallacy without considering abandonment
I am looking for the term used to describe this scenario. It's similar to the cost sunk fallacy -I think-.
Let's say you have a bunch of teams going through some pain every day. There is a solution, ...
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What is the fallacy that claims a hypothesis/theory is false because we don't know something about it?
What is the fallacy called, when discussing two opposing points of view, where one person tries to exploit the gap the other person's knowledge to try and prove their own point?
i.e. When Zack and ...
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Is there a name for this fallacy when someone says something is good by only pointing out the good things?
A person says that a politician "Jane Doe" is good because he increased the education budget.
(but in reality, Jane doe is also corrupt & racist, whose bad policies lead to the downfall ...
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Does absence of evidence mean evidence of absence?
I've often heard a phrase used in argumentation, but I'm not sure what it means. Does absence of evidence mean evidence of absence in philosophy?
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Does this statement constitute various fallacies? Is my delineation correct?
Person 1:"Man, J____, M____, and L____ tend to work at a cumbersome pace."
Person 2:"Yeah, they're lazy, obviously"*
LJ, M & L share similar characteristics in terms of skin ...
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What type of fallacy is it when people in undeveloped countries claim something it's true, because developed countries do it?
A fallacy that we hear a lot here in undeveloped countries, and which is so deeply annoying, it's that something is true because the developed countries do it. It's particularly annoying because many ...
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Logical Fallacies: Difference between Appeal to popularity and Appeal to Authority
What is the difference between Ad populum and Ad Verecundiam? I googled a lot but didn't find any discrete difference between them.
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