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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Is this a fallacy, and if so which?
Recently, I had this conversation at the workplace:
me: I'm calling you because John needs access to this resource. I have access already and we need it to complete our work.
her: Why do you have ...
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Which fallacy? Explaining something based on a hypothesis
I am studying physics and have often come across the line of reasoning that goes like this:
"Phenomenon A is/happens this way because otherwise it would contradict the B principle."
Physics ...
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Is political equality meaningfully achievable as a political goal? [closed]
In a recently closed post Is equality as a political goal meaningless?, the OP posed this question [as edited by me]: Is the concept of political equality, itself, meaningless, without referencing ...
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Play by these rules, however broken, or create new ones
Example,
A: The rules are unfair, you see, only privileged few are getting the benefit.
B: I don't see anything wrong with that. Either create new rules, or hustle through these and be like them.
What ...
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H{+}: "absence of evidence = evidence of absence?" -- Is it necessarily informally logically fallacious to claim H{+}? Or are there exceptions? [duplicate]
Absence of Evidence =|= Evidence of Absence?
Absence of Evidence <=|=> Evidence of Absence?
Let: X0: = "The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"
Let: X+: = "The absence ...
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Help with Circular Reasoning example and whether this example is fallacious
I thought of a scenario that raised some question for me, consider you:
[A] Face prejudice because of X -->
[B] Makes you more inclined to assume the next person who mistreats you is doing so ...
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What is the name of this fallacy (if it is one)
So I stumbled on a discussion that went a little like this:
Person A: "Something has happened to a family member and has been hospitalized, please be aware so it does not happen to you"
...
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Logical fallacy for dismissing criticism due to past mistakes
Often it is claimed that a country or group can't judge others due to similar mistakes made in the past by the group which is criticizing.
For example, I have seen people claiming that the UK can't ...
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Is there a term for someone restricting a discussion to a group of people?
Is there a term for when someone in a discussion dismisses or excludes a group of people?
I think I've heard a term for "gating" the discussion but I can't find it.
For example:
"You ...
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What is the Texas sharpshooter fallacy?
Please note in the comments if the question is too long and should be rephrased more concise. I am happy to do so if so wished.
The story:
The name comes from a joke about a Texan who fires some ...
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Not the Texas sharpshooter fallacy?
I am writing a publication in which I mention the fallacy of of first executing a method and then claiming the results are what was aimed for (regardless of the results).
This sounds very much like ...
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Fallacy in the form of "You wouldn't say this if it happened to you"
Maybe the most famous example can be law discussions, yet it is commonly used in everything.
All rapists should be killed.
This works only for the purpose of vengeance, not justice.
You wouldn't say ...
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Is a fallacy involved in perceiving the solution to a long-standing problem as simple and straightforward?
In university (or, school) we're often presented with a problem, and directly afterwards, the solution is presented. Quite often, the solutions presented for a given problem seem painfully obvious, ...
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Is this reasoning correct? "My polluting is too low to make any difference. So, my polluting doesn't actually harm anyone."
Shelly Kagan (2011, "Do I Make a Difference?"):
a single molecule of the toxin makes no difference to anyone's health. To be sure, if enough molecules are taken in, the result is sickness ...
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What fallacy is this? “This happened, therefore there must be good reasons for it”
What fallacy is it when someone says "this is true/it happened, therefore there are good reasons for it"?
For example:
We drive on the left (or right, depending on country) side of the
road, ...
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What's the logical fallacy here?
Where is the logic fallacy here, and which is it?
A. Whatever is not normal is abnormal.
B. Sleeping is normal.
Conclusion: Being awake is abnormal.
Better example:
A. Whatever is not ...
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What fallacy or appeal occurs when one feigns to be more educated/knowledgeable in a matter being discussed?
"I've read about _________ for 10 years."
"I've [informally] studied _________ for the past 15 years."
I hear these statements from certain people (e.g., zealots and bigots). What is a name for them ...
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Difference between theory revision and ad hoc proposals?
What is the difference between revising a theory and creating an ad hoc explanation to save your theory? Furthermore, at what point is one forced to give up their original theory because it conflicts ...
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How is this specific type of argumentation called, is it a fallacy?
I often encounter this type of argumentation in discussions about scientific discoveries with layman. For example when discussing GMO (genetically modified organisms) an argument that is often made is ...
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Is this a fallacy? (Assuming some unusual events are common)
Person who win the jackpot in lottery will not go to work.
If everybody wins the jackpot, nobody will go to work.
If nobody goes to work, the society cannot function.
Therefore, the government should ...
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Hypothetical Condition Leading a Result
To me the language in the following statement suggest a logical fallacy of some sort. I am not skilled in such matters, so I thought that someone in this forum might provide some insight.
Thanks for ...
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Is there a logical fallacy for applying fallacies to everything?
Sometimes I'm looking at Twitter and seeing people reply to everything with "Thats a red herring", "Thats sealioning", "Thats fallacy xyz". Is there a fallacy for dismissing everything as a fallacy?
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Is political correctness a result of a more rational society?
Yes, I am aware of the insanity in the question. However, that is precisely why I am asking. The insanity stems from the popular idea, especially amongst academics or the type of people you might find ...
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Semantic dichotomy could validate denying antecedent?
We imagine a controversial political situation.
If the politician resigns from office (A), then they are doing the right thing (B)."
The politician does not resign from office (-A), therefore they ...
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Which fallacy was committed here?
In a discussion at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak there were people with the opinion that everyone was overreacting.
I'm sorry but this is a massive over reaction in my opinion. Pneumonia kills ...
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Is an "infinite regress of causation" a valid concept?
To my critical thinking, it is an invalid concept, why?
First, I divide concepts into valid or invalid kinds.
A valid concept is one that at least is possible to imagine a concrete event where the ...
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Is the "false cause defense" really flawed reasoning?
Is the "false cause defense" really flawed reasoning?
For example:
When it comes to large sums of money, a huge amount can cause any person to do things (including illegal acts) they would never do. ...
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Which fallacy is it to justify doing something because the effect of one's own actions is small?
I had a debate with a friend regarding his uprooting of interesting plants in a woodland.
He argued that it's a big forest and he only took a few plants, so doesn't cause much damage. He also ...
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Name of the argument fallacy when someone only attempts to refute one of your points?
I've never found out the name of this fallacy, or even if there is a name for it, but it seems to me it's the fallacy that occurs by far the most often. You are having a debate with someone and then ...
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Post hoc fallacy Vs. Slippery slope fallacy
What are the differences between Post hoc fallacy and Slippery slope fallacy? Why they are different?
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What is the logical fallacy called, that states "doing something is better than doing nothing"?
I think this just exists to ease our conscience to be able to say, well at least we tried something even though everyone knows it didn't change anything. Because just "standing by" fells wrong to us, ...
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Is this an ad hoc rescue, a red herring, or jumping back and forth between two different arguments?
A man owns two male pit bulls that have not been neutered. He tells a friend that he intends on leaving them unattended in his fenced in back yard while he is at work. His friend says "Wouldn't you ...
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Is there a name for the fallacy whereby the other party to the debate only suggests, does not articulate, what their point is?
Often, in a dispute, people only suggest their point without ever articulating it.
An awful lot of people actually do that. This makes any rational debate impossible (if you second guess, they can ...
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Is "democracy" a preferential system, even when everyone has "just one vote"?
Is "democracy" a preferential system, even when everyone has "just one vote"?
That is, does it prefer something? Is it more beneficial towards someone?
I've speculated that:
democracy and "one vote"...
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Logical fallacy: Person argues with wrong probability of event, without considering similar events
I know that this is a common error in argumentation that people make, but I don't know if there is a term for it. It's when people argue from an event being remarkable because of its low probability, ...
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Is it possible to determine if one's perceptions and logic are valid?
Let's say, for the sake of argument, that I live in a world divided into tribes with strongly-differing views. My tribe says that many of our opponent's values are immoral and much of their leadership ...
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Is this a logical fallacy: using your statement against you
Is there a logical fallacy in this situation? :
Person 1: This group is judgmental.
Person 2: Your saying the group is judgmental is judgmental.
I am not sure how to explain what appears off in ...
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Is reductio ad absurdum a fallacy?
If Miles told Frank: “Copying a DVD is stealing”
And Frank's response to Miles: “if copying a DVD is stealing, then, by that logic, taking a photo of someone is kidnapping”
And Miles Response is: “...
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Isn't the notion that everything will occur in an infinite timeline an example of the gambler's fallacy?
I've seen a few different formulations of this, but the most famous is "monkeys on a typewriter" - that if you put a team of monkeys on a typewriter, given infinite time, they will eventually produce ...
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Informal fallacies and their fallacious nature
What imparts to informal fallacies their fallacious nature?
I have been reading Wikipedia because of the ease of access, as well as some references listed there, like https://www.humanities.mcmaster....
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Paradox of compromise illustrated by neighbours painting houses
If I remember correctly, there was a problem illustrating the paradox of compromise (and to some extent democracy?) where there are two neighbours that want to paint their houses.
They both want ...
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Is accusing someone of discrimination by focusing on a minority ad hominem?
Suppose person a has a view that x is better than y. But person b thinks y is better than x for z group of people. Therefore person b decides that person a hates z group of people.
Example:
A: ...
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Do inconsistent premises in an argument hurt a person's case while they try to defend something they believe in?
Do inconsistent premises in an argument hurt a person's case while they try to defend something they believe in because their statements contradict each other?
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What fallacy is it to say all teenagers are bad, therefore all non-teenagers are not bad?
Suppose there is a non-empty subset A of U. Let A' denote the complement of A in U.
What is the name of this logical fallacy?
X is true for A
therefore
not X is true for A'
For ...
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Opposite of victim blaming?
If victim blaming is the fallacy of automatically assigning fault to the victim ("it's her fault because she was dressed that way"), what is the fallacy of exonerating a person simply by virtue of ...
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Is there a logical fallacy to identity politics?
My understanding of Identity Politics goes as follows:
A is a member of/identifies with group X
B is not a member of/does not identify with group X
A frames challenge S in terms of X
Because B doesn’...
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Is Aristotle's fallacy actually a fallacy?
In Indian syllabi, students of Physics are told that Aristotle wrongly believed that an external force was required to keep a body in motion. However, based on the little I've read on Aristotelian ...
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Wittgenstein and "linguistic trap"
In a book on philosophy I've lost by now I encounter an argument about "linguistic trap" idea attributed to Wittgenstein, that is, such a trap is supposed to be "taking linguistic convention or ...
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What is the fallacy in which a person adheres to an original idea, even after it has been proven wrong?
What is the fallacy in which a person adheres to an original idea, even after it has been proven wrong?
In other words, it is the inverse of hindsight bias. In hindsight bias, the person imagines ...
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Do HeLa cells prove immortality?
Does modern science, especially HeLa cells, prove that immortality (in the classic sense) is real (for these cells) or possible in the future?
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