Fallacy
Faulty reasoning that renders an argument logically unsound.
A fallacy is the use of invalid or otherwise faulty reasoning in the construction of an argument that may appear to be well-reasoned if unnoticed. The term was introduced in the Western intellectual tradition by the Aristotelian De Sophisticis Elenchis. Fallacies are commonly divided into formal and informal types, and they may be invoked intentionally to manipulate or unintentionally due to human limitations such as carelessness, cognitive biases, or ignorance.
- introduced_by
- Aristotle
- first_systematized_in
- De Sophisticis Elenchis
- primary_classifications
- Formal and informal
- subclassifications
- Linguistic, material, verbal, relevance-based
- other_classifiers
- Francis Bacon, J. S. Mill, Jeremy Bentham, Richard Whately
Lore & Background
The Greek philosopher Aristotle was the first to systematize logical errors into a list to make it easier to refute an opponent's thesis and thus win an argument. His Sophistical Refutations identifies thirteen fallacies, divided into linguistic (verbal) and non-linguistic (material) types. A material fallacy is an error in what the arguer is talking about, while a verbal fallacy is an error in how the arguer is talking. Indian logicians also took great pains to identify fallacies in arguments; the Nyāya Sūtras, attributed to Aksapada Gautama, lists five such reasons used in an argument, including asiddha (unproved reason) and viruddha (proving the opposite).
Reader's Guide
Fallacies are types of erroneous reasoning that render arguments logically unsound. Understanding fallacies may allow one to recognize them in either one's own or others' writing, and avoiding fallacies may help improve one's ability to produce sound arguments. Recognizing fallacies in everyday arguments may be difficult since arguments are often embedded in rhetorical patterns that obscure logical connections. Informal fallacies, in particular, are frequently found in mass media such as television and newspapers. Argumentation theory provides a different approach to understanding and classifying fallacies; in the pragma-dialectical theory, an argument is regarded as an interactive protocol between individuals who attempt to resolve their disagreement, and violations of normative rules are considered fallacies. Evaluating whether an argument is fallacious often depends on the content rather than the form, and fallacious arguments usually have the deceptive appearance of being good arguments.
Did You Know?
- A fallacy does not necessarily lead to a false conclusion; it may accidentally be a result of invalid reasoning.
- A special case is a mathematical fallacy, an intentionally invalid mathematical proof with a concealed error, often crafted for educational purposes.
- The Greek philosopher Aristotle identified thirteen fallacies in his Sophistical Refutations.
- Indian logicians, as in the Nyāya Sūtras, listed five fallacious reasons used in arguments.
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