essay like date April 2012 Unreferenced date April 2011 The fallacy of the singlecause , also known as causal oversimplification , is a fallacy of questionable cause that occurs when it is assumed that there is a single, simple cause of an outcome when in reality it may have been caused by a number of only jointly sufficient causes. Often after a tragedy it is asked, What was the cause of this? Such language implies that there is one cause, when instead there were probably a large number of contributing factors. However, having produced a list of several contributing factors, it may be worthwhile to look for the strongest of the factors, or a singlecause underlying several of them. A need for simplification may be perceived in order to make the explanation of the tragedy operational, so that responsible authorities can be seen to have taken action. For instance, after a school shooting , editorialists debate whether it was caused by the shooter s parents, media violence research violence in media , stress on students, or the accessibility of guns. In fact, many different causes including some of those may all have necessarily contributed. Similarly, the music industry might claim that peer to peer file sharing is the cause of a loss in profit whereas factors such as a growing videogame market and economic depression are also likely to be major factors. Causal oversimplification is a specific kind of false dilemma where conjoint possibilities are ignored. In other words, the possible causes are assumed to be A or B or C when A and B and C or A and B and not C etc. are not taken into consideration. A notable scientific example of what can happen when this kind of fallacy is identified and resolved is the development in economics of the Coase theorem . See also Spurious relationship Informal fallacy Category Causal fallacies he io Sofismo dil unika kauzo ... more details
Merge to Spurious relationship date April 2011 Refimprove date May 2009 The third causefallacy is a logical fallacy that asserts that X causes Y when, in reality, X and Y are both caused by Z. It is a variation on the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy and a member of the questionable cause group of fallacies. When third causes are ignored, it becomes possible to corral shocking statistical evidence in support of a nonexistent causality. For example It seems that every time empty beer cans are piled up in a car, an accident occurs. It seems that the excess weight and shape of the cans must cause other cars to want to crash into the victim s car. The fallacy in this situation would be the fact that the arguer focused on the first beer cans and second car crashes facts without looking for possible causes of both phenomena, such as drunk driving. Other names Ignoring a common cause ref name labossiere Labossiere, M.C., http www.opifexphoenix.com reasoning fallacies ignorecc.htm Dr. LaBossiere s Philosophy Pages ref Questionable cause ref name labossiere References reflist Category Logical fallacies logic stub ... more details
, a fallacy is usually an improper argumentation in reasoning often resulting in a misconception or presumption. Literally, a fallacy is an error in reasoning that renders an argument logically invalid . ref http www.thefreedictionary.com fallacy TheFreeDictionary.com Fallacy 4 ref By accident ... sequitur logic non sequitur , false cause and effect post hoc ergo propter hoc , Bandwagon effect bandwagoning everyone says so , the false dilemma or False dilemma either or fallacy in which the situation ... 2nd ref Fallacies can generally be classified as Informal fallacy informal premises fail to support the proposed conclusion, but the argument is structured properly or Formal fallacy formal logical ... Accident fallacyFallacy of accident or sweeping generalization Accident fallacyFallacy of accident ... an accountable exception is ignored . clarify date July 2011 Converse accident Converse fallacy of accident or hasty generalization Converse accident Converse fallacy of accident or hasty generalization ... discredits the claim itself genetic fallacy Also called Ignoratio Elenchi , a red herring Affirming ... is coughing. Therefore, Torres has the flu. Problem Other things, such as asthma, can cause someone .... A related fallacy is Circulus in Probando , arguing in a circle, or circular reasoning. This is when ... of them as true at the outset, there is no reason to accept the conclusions. Non sequitur logic Fallacy of false cause Non sequitur logic Fallacy of false cause or Non sequitur logic non sequitur incorrectly assumes one thing is the cause of another. Non Sequitur is Latin for It does not follow. Example ... be causing both, such as summer heat. Also called Causality causation versus correlation . Fallacy of many questions Fallacy of many questions or loaded question groups more than one question in the form of a single question. Example Argument Have you stopped beating your wife? Problem A yes or no answer ... man Straw man A straw man argument is an informal fallacy based on misrepresenting an opponent s position ... more details
Infobox Single See Wikipedia WikiProject Songs Name A cause Cover Acausesingle.jpg Artist Celine Dion C line Dion from Album D elles Released Start date 2008 1 21 Format Promotional recording Recorded Studio Hauts de Gamme Genre Pop music Pop Length 3 14 Label Columbia Records Columbia , Epic Records Epic Writer Fran oise Dorin, Jacques Veneruso Producer Jacques Veneruso, Thierry Blanchard Last single A World to Believe In br 2008 This single A cause br 2008 Next single Alone Heart song C line Dion version Alone br 2008 A cause meaning Because is the third and last Single music single released in France from Celine Dion C line Dion s French album D elles . It was sent to the radio stations on January 21, 2008. At the same time Alone Heart song C line Dion version Alone was released to promote ... included on the A cause promotional single. A cause was written by Fran oise Dorin Et s il n en restait ... TF1 TV special dedicated to the issue of her album D elles , in May 2007. She also performed A cause .... A cause was remixed by Dj Rien French producer, composer and remixer. There was no music video made for this track. D elles includes also another version of A cause, called On s est aim cause . It was recorded with music by Marc Dupr and Jean Fran ois Breau , and produced by Tino ... the danceable arrangement of A cause. In August 2007, On s est aim cause was released as a radio single in Quebec. Radio stations in France started to play it at the end of January 2008, together with A cause. Formats and track listings French promotional CD single A cause 3 14 A cause remix radio edit 3 14 Alone Heart song C line Dion version Alone 3 23 Official versions A cause remix radio edit 3 14 A cause remix 3 41 A cause album version 3 14 References reflist 2 Celine Dion Celine Dion French singles DEFAULTSORT Cause Category Celine Dion songs Category 2008 singles Category French language songs id A cause th ... more details
For the Cause may refer to For the Cause Star Trek Deep Space Nine For the Cause Star Trek Deep Space Nine , an episode of the TV series For the Cause film For the Cause film , a 2000 science fiction film starring Dean Cain disambig ... more details
The Cause may refer to A euphemism for Irish republicanism A euphemism for Loyalism in Ireland disambig Long comment to avoid being listed on short pages Category Euphemisms ... more details
disputed Questionable cause false cause? date September 2011 Fallacies of questionable cause , also known as causal fallacies , non causa pro causa non cause for cause in Latin or false cause , are informal fallacy fallacies where a causality cause is incorrectly identified. These include Correlation does not imply causation Correlation implies causation cum hoc, ergo propter hoc Fallacy of the singlecause Circular cause and consequence Spurious relationship Third causefallacy Post hoc ergo propter hoc Regression fallacy Texas sharpshooter fallacy Wrong direction Informal fallacy External links http www.fallacyfiles.org noncause.html Non causa pro causa in the Fallacy Files by Gary N. Curtis Category Causal fallacies Category Informal fallacies ca Causa q estionable es Falacia de causa cuestionable he ro Cauze ndoielnice ... more details
Unreferenced date December 2009 Infobox album See Wikipedia WikiProject Albums Name For This Cause Hillsong Church Album Type Live album Artist Hillsong Church Cover For This Cause.gif Released Flagicon Australia 2 July 2000 br Flagicon USA 17 October 2000 Recorded 5 March 2000, State Sports Centre , Sydney, Australia Genre Christian Contemporary Music Contemporary Christian Length 73 49 Label Hillsong Music Hillsong Music Australia Producer Russell Fragar and Darlene Zschech Reviews Chronology Hillsong Music Australia br Live praise & worship Last album By Your Side Hillsong album By Your Side br 1999 This album For This Cause br 2000 Next album You Are My World br 2001 Misc For This Cause is the ninth album in the live praise and worship series of Christian Contemporary music by Hillsong Church . Making of the album For This Cause was recorded live at the State Sports Centre in Sydney Olympic Park by Darlene Zschech and the Hillsong team, with a congregation of 5,000 people. Album Design The cover artwork of For This Cause , uses Charme STD as the font to display the title. This cover was designed by Chris Perry Graphic Design and Emma Schuberg the second to last album to be design by them . Track listing One Day Reuben Morgan Faith Reuben Morgan Awesome in This Place Ned Davies Dwell in Your House Paul Ewing You Are Near Reuben Morgan I Simply Live for You Russell Fragar Carry Me Marty Sampson Lifted Me High Again Reuben Morgan Here to Eternity Darlene Zschech & David Moyse For This Cause Joel Houston Reaching for You Raymond Badham It Is You Darlene Zschech Believe Donna Lasit Everyday Joel Houston Band Worship Pastor Darlene Zschech Producers Darlene Zschech & Russel Fraser Worship Leaders Darlene Zschech & Reuben Morgan Vocalists Gilbert Clarke, Erica Crocker, Jayne Denham, Robert Eastwood, Lucy Fisher, Scott Haslem, Donia Makedonez, Steve McPherson, Reuben Morgan, Katrina Peoples, Tanya Riches, Marty Sampson, Mark Stevens, Miriam Webster & Lisa Young Music Director ... more details
and other cognitive biases are the most commonly cited cause of the gambler s fallacy, research ...The Gambler s fallacy , also known as the Monte Carlo fallacy because its most famous example happened ... 0 618 62011 1 page 66 ref ref http www.fallacyfiles.org gamblers.html Blog Fallacy Files What happened at Monte Carlo in 1913. ref and also referred to as the fallacy of the maturity of chances , is the belief ... between red and blue does not systematically decrease to zero. The gambler s fallacy can be illustrated ... tosses are statistically independent and the probability of getting heads on a single toss is exactly ... is only frac 1 32 one in thirty two , a believer in the gambler s fallacy might believe that this next ... of the gambler s fallacy the event of 5 heads in a row and the event of first 4 heads, then a tails ... in the future, is the fallacy. Explaining why the probability is 1 2 for a fair coin We can see ... There is another way to emphasize the fallacy. As already mentioned, the fallacy is built on the notion ... to the fallacy, should have a higher chance of winning since one loss has occurred. His ... will again equal the probability of winning a single toss, when only one toss is left 6.25 in this instance .... A joke told among mathematicians demonstrates the nature of the fallacy. When flying on an aircraft ... dropped to zero. Reverse fallacy The reversal is also a fallacy not to be confused with the inverse gambler s fallacy in which a gambler may instead decide that tails are more likely out of some mystical ... to favor tails, the gambler sees no reason to change to heads. Again, the fallacy is the belief that the universe .... The conclusion of this reversed gambler s fallacy may be correct, however, if the empirical evidence ... ten times and lands heads ten times, the gambler s fallacy would suggest an even money bet on tails, while the reverse gambler s fallacy would suggest an even money bet on heads. In this case ... birth Instances of the gambler s fallacy when applied to childbirth can be traced all the way back ... more details
Refimprove date July 2010 The regression or regressive fallacy is an informal fallacy . It ascribes cause where none exists. The flaw is failing to account for natural fluctuations. It is frequently a special kind of the post hoc fallacy . Explanation Things like stock market prices, golf scores, the earth s temperature, and chronic back pain fluctuate naturally and usually regression toward the mean regress towards the mean . The logical flaw is to make predictions that expect exceptional results to continue as if they were average see Representativeness heuristic . People are most likely to take action when variance is at its peak. Then after results become more normal they believe that their action was the cause of the change when in fact it was not causal. This use of the word regression was coined by Sir Francis Galton in a study from 1885 called Regression Toward Mediocrity in Hereditary Stature . He showed that the height of children from very short or very tall parents would move towards the average. In fact, in any situation where two variables are less than perfectly correlated, an exceptional score on one variable may not be matched by an equally exceptional score on the other variable. The imperfect correlation between parents and children height is not entirely heritable ... of the parents and the average of the population as whole. Thus, any single child can be more ... of the regression fallacy. ref Schaffner, 1985 Gilovich, 1991 pp. 27 28 ref blockquote The frequency ... the regression fallacy. ref Gilovich, 1991 pp. 26 27 Plous, 1993 p. 118 ref Misapplication On the other ... , without cause or effect. Such misapplication takes as a premise that all events are random, as they must ... location New York year 1993 citation last Quah first Danny authorlink Danny Quah title Galton s Fallacy ... regressf.html Fallacy files Regression fallacy http www.newyorker.com reporting 2010 12 ... Fallacy Category Causal fallacies Category Cognitive biases Category Pseudoscience Category Logical ... more details
One source date September 2010 The animistic fallacy is the logical fallacy of arguing that an event or situation necessarily arose because someone intentionally acted to cause it. ref name Sowell cite book title Knowledge and decisions authorlink Thomas Sowell last Sowell first Thomas edition 3rd publisher Basic Books year 1996 isbn 9780465037384 pages 97 100 url http books.google.com books?id 4kqTMrEKWXoC&pg PA97 ref While it could be that someone set out to effect a specific goal, the fallacy appears in an argument that states this must be the case. ref name Sowell The name of the fallacy comes from the animism animistic belief that changes in the physical world are the work of conscious spirits. Citation needed date September 2010 Examples Thomas Sowell in his book Knowledge and Decisions presents several arguments as examples of the animistic fallacy ref name Sowell that people earn wealth always because of superior choices that central planning is necessary to prevent chaos in society Sowell repeatedly dismisses the necessity that order comes from design, and notes that fallacious animistic arguments tend to provide explanations that require comparatively little time to implement. In this light he contrasts the Genesis creation narrative six day creation of the world described in the Bible to the development of life over billions of years described by evolution . See also Argument from ignorance Pathetic fallacy Reification fallacy References Reflist Informal fallacy DEFAULTSORT Animistic Fallacy Category Causal fallacies philosophy stub he ... more details
The furtive fallacy is an informal fallacy of emphasis. Historian David Hackett Fischer identified it as the belief that significant facts of history are necessarily sinister, and that history itself is a story of causes mostly insidious and results mostly invidious. It is more than a conspiracy theory in that it does not merely consider the possibility of hidden motives and deeds, but insists on them. In its extreme form, the fallacy represents general paranoia . ref name fischer cite book first David Hackett last Fischer authorlink David Hackett Fischer year 1970 title Historians Fallacies ref Fischer identifies several examples of the fallacy, particularly the works of Charles A. Beard . In each case, Fischer shows that historians provided detailed portrayals of historical figures involved in off record meetings and exhibiting low morals, based on little or no evidence. He notes that the furtive fallacy does not necessarily imply deliberate falsification of history it can follow from a sincere but misguided belief that nothing happens by accident or mistake. ref name fischer Richard Hofstadter discussed the fallacy before Fischer, although not by name. In reviewing histories from the Progressive Era , Hofstadter noted that the progressive historians tended to assume that reality was always hidden and ignored, being determined by bribes, rebates, and secret business deals. ref name fischer ref name hofstadter cite book first Richard last Hofstadter authorlink Richard Hofstadter year 1955 title The Age of Reform ref A modification of the furtive fallacy holds that when the historical record provides no evidence explaining a particular set of events, this is itself evidence of a furtive cause. ref name davidson cite book first Ronald M. last Davidson year 2002 title Indian Esoteric Buddhism ref See also Conspiracy theory Notes Reflist Further reading cite book first Joseph last Roisman year 2003 title Brill s Companion to Alexander the Great Informal fallacy Category ... more details
Expert subject date March 2011 Hoyle s Fallacy , sometimes called the junkyard tornado , is a term for Fred Hoyle s statistical analysis applied to evolutionary origins, in which he compares the probability of cellular life evolving to the chance of a tornado sweeping through a junkyard and assembling a functional aeroplane. ref name Abiogenesis Calculations http www.talkorigins.org faqs abioprob abioprob.html Lies, Damned Lies, Statistics, and Probability of Abiogenesis Calculations An explanation at the TalkOrigins Archive by Ian Musgrave Last Update December 21, 1998 ref ref name NYTimes George Johnson, http www.nytimes.com 2007 10 28 weekinreview 28johnson.html Bright Scientists, Dim Notions ... Universe 1983 , ISBN 0 7181 2298 4 ref Details Hoyle s Fallacy derives from arguments most ... which is not contentious. Hoyle s Fallacy is to infer from the huge size of the phase space that the probability ... exhibiting Hoyle s Fallacy also invoke Borel s Law , which claims incorrectly that highly improbable ... . Hoyle s Fallacy is comparable to the older infinite monkey theorem , but applied to cellular biochemistry instead of the works of William Shakespeare . ref name Gatherer The fallacy claims that the probability ... Calculations Analysis Hoyle s fallacy derives from disregarding everything about sequence space other ... of a sequence space delimited by a single modern instance does not set an upper bound on the probability ... myoglobin cannot be calculated. Reception Hoyle s Fallacy is rejected by evolutionary biologists ... structures arise in a single step. ref name JMSmith John Maynard Smith , The Problems of Biology ... imagines that complex structures arise in a single step. ref The modern evolutionary synthesis explains ..., which is the cause of their over estimating of the improbability of the entire process. ref name Abiogenesis ... and other criticisms of evolution. It has been labeled a fallacy by Richard Dawkins in his two ... Part 2 Contains a number of Hoyle quotations on evolution. DEFAULTSORT Hoyle s Fallacy Category Biological ... more details
Syllogistic fallacies are logical fallacy logical fallacies that occur in syllogism s. They include Any syllogism type other than polysyllogism and disjunctive fallacy of four terms Occurring in categorical syllogism s related to affirmative or negative premises affirmative conclusion from a negative premise fallacy of exclusive premises negative conclusion from affirmative premises existential fallacyfallacy of the undistributed middle illicit major illicit minor fallacy of necessity Occurring in disjunctive syllogism s affirming a disjunct Occurring in statistical syllogism s dicto simpliciter fallacies accident fallacy accident converse accident External links http www.fallacyfiles.org syllfall.html Fallacy files Syllogistic fallacy Formal Fallacy logic stub Category Formal fallacies Category Syllogistic fallacies fa he ... more details
The fallacy of composition arises when one infers that something is true of the whole from the fact that it is true of some part of the whole or even of every proper part . For example This fragment of metal cannot be broken with a hammer, therefore the machine of which it is a part cannot be broken with a hammer. This is clearly fallacious, because many machines can be broken into their constituent parts without any of those parts being breakable. This fallacy is often confused with the fallacy of hasty generalization , in which an unwarranted inference is made from a statement about a sample to a statement about the population from which it is drawn. The fallacy of composition is the converse of the fallacy of division . Examples Human cells are invisible to the naked eye. Humans are made up of human cells. Therefore, humans are invisible to the naked eye. ref name FallacyFiles cite web url http www.fallacyfiles.org composit.html title Composition publisher The Fallacy Files ref In Keynesian macroeconomics , the paradox of thrift theory illustrates this fallacy increasing saving economics saving or thrift is obviously good for an individual, since it provides for retirement or a rainy day, but if everyone saves more, Keynesian economists argue that it may cause a recession by reducing .... ref name fast cite web url http fee.org articles not so fast the fallacy of composition title Not So Fast The Fallacy of Composition first William last Anderson date 22 January 2009 publisher Foundation for Economic Education accessdate 2010 11 10 ref Modo hoc fallacy The modo hoc or just this fallacy is the informal error of assessing meaning to an existent based on the constituent properties ... part of a whole has the property, then the whole will, too. In such instances, the fallacy of composition ... eemeren eemeren.ps Eemeren s Fallacy of Composition and Division ref The meanings of absolutes do ... 2011 Reflist Informal Fallacy DEFAULTSORT Composition Category Inductive fallacies Category Verbal fallacies ... more details
Unreferenced stub auto yes date December 2009 A fallacy of distribution is a logical fallacy occurring when an argument assumes there is no difference between a term in the distributive referring to every member of a class and collective referring to the class itself as a whole sense. There are two variations of this fallacyFallacy of composition assumes what is true of the parts is true of the whole. This fallacy is also known as arguing from the specific to the general Since Judy is so diligent in the workplace, this entire company must have an amazing work ethic. Fallacy of division assumes what is true of the whole is true of its parts or some subset of parts . Because this company is so corrupt, so must every employee within it be corrupt. While fallacious, arguments that make these assumptions may be persuasive because of the representativeness heuristic . See also Existential fallacy Ecological fallacyFallacy of the undistributed middle Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny Informal Fallacy DEFAULTSORT Fallacy Of Distribution Category Logical fallacies Logic stub he ... more details
The prosecutor s fallacy is a fallacy of statistical reasoning made in law. In this fallacy the context ... that evidence is. Not doing so is a base rate fallacy . This fallacy usually results in assuming .... One form of the fallacy results from misunderstanding conditional probability and neglecting the prior ... of finding this evidence if the accused were innocent is tiny, the fallacy occurs if it is concluded ... rate of offenders in the populace. The fallacy can arise from multiple testing , such as when ... a match by pure chance alone i.e., DNA evidence is soundest when a match is found after a single ... s fallacy and Defense attorney s fallacy defense attorney s fallacy were originated by William ... Trials, subtitled The Prosecutor s Fallacy and the Defense Attorney s Fallacy . ref name TS cite ... in Criminal Trials The Prosecutor s Fallacy and the Defense Attorney s Fallacy journal Law and Human ... would probably be matched in either case, it would be a fallacy to ignore the number of records searched ... impact In the courtroom, the prosecutor s fallacy typically happens by mistake, ref cite journal ... The prosecutor s fallacy is more insidious because it typically happens by mistake. ref but deliberate use of the prosecutor s fallacy is prosecutorial misconduct and can subject the prosecutor to official ... of the prosecutor s fallacy in expert witness testimony or in the Jury instructions judge s summation ... accessdate 2010 05 21 ref Defense attorney s fallacy Expert subject Philosophy Logic section date .... The defense fallacy would be to reason that 10 matches were expected, so the accused is no more ... title Interpretation of Statistical Evidence in Criminal Trials The Prosecutor s Fallacy and the Defense Attorney s Fallacy journal Law and Human Behavior volume II issue 3 page 167 publisher Springer ... ref A version of this fallacy arose in the O. J. Simpson murder case O. J. Simpson murder trial ... single SIDS death data, and the assumption that the probability of such deaths should be uncorrelated ... more details
Unreferenced date December 2009 The relativist fallacy , also known as the subjectivist fallacy , is claiming that something is true for one person but not true for someone else. The fallacy is supposed to rest on the law of non contradiction . The fallacy applies only to objective facts, or what are alleged ... relativist fallacy Begging the question begs the question against anyone who earnestly however mistakenly ... question begging way, to make it clear wherein, exactly, the fallacy lies. There are at least two ways to interpret the relativist fallacy either as identical to relativism generally , or as the ad hoc ... discussions of the relativist fallacy which make the fallacy out to be identical to relativism e.g. ... identified fallacy of informal logic, namely, Logical fallacy Begging the question begging the question against an earnest, intelligent, logically competent relativist. It is itself a fallacy to describe a controversial view as a fallacy not, at least, without arguing that it is a fallacy. In any ..., is to commit the relativist fallacy. If one commits a fallacy, one says something false or not worth ... . The second step includes an argument from fallacy . On the other hand, if someone adopts a simple ... having to mount any further defense of the position one might be said to have committed a fallacy. The accusation of having committed a fallacy might rest on either of two grounds 1 the relativism ... the Law of Non Contradiction or 2 the defense and thus the fallacy itself is an example of ad hoc reasoning ... is correct despite its failure to stand up to logic. On any interpretation of the fallacy, in determining whether the relativist fallacy has been committed, one should distinguish between things ... the fallacy. References Law, Stephen 2005 Thinking Tools The Relativist Fallacy, Think Philosophy for everyone A journal of the Royal Institute of Philosophy 3 57 58 y See also Formal fallacy Informal fallacy Informal fallacy DEFAULTSORT Relativist Fallacy Category Logical fallacies fi Itseen yleist minen ... more details
Refimprove date May 2010 Wiktionary fallacy A deductive fallacy is defined as a deductive argument that is invalid. The argument itself could have true premise s, but still have a false logical consequence conclusion . ref cite web url http www.nizkor.org features fallacies title Description of Fallacies last Labossiere first Michael year 1995 publisher The Nizkor Project accessdate 2008 09 09 ref Thus, a deductive fallacy is a fallacy where deduction goes wrong, and is no longer a logical process. Logical fallacy The standard Aristotelian logical fallacies are Fallacy of four terms Quaternio terminorum Fallacy of the undistributed middle Fallacy of illicit process of the illicit major major or the illicit minor minor term and Affirmative conclusion from a negative premise . Other logical fallacies include The begging the question self reliant fallacy In philosophy , the term logical fallacy properly refers to a formal fallacy a flaw in the structure of a deductive reasoning deductive logical ... encompasses informal fallacy informal fallacies as well as formal fallacies valid but soundness unsound claims or poor non deductive argumentation. The presence of a formal fallacy in a deductive argument does not imply anything about the argument s premises or its conclusion see fallacyfallacy . Both ... in the manner described. By extension, an argument can contain a formal fallacy even if the argument ... of probability or causality can be said to commit a formal fallacy. Example File Logical fallacy.svg thumb 250px A Venn diagram illustrating a fallacy br Statement 1 Most of the green is touching the red. br Statement 2 Most of the red is touching the blue. br Logical fallacy Since most of the green ..., is a false statement. In the strictest sense, a logical fallacy is the incorrect application ..., the deductive fallacy is formed by points that may individually appear logical, but when placed ... 2 relevance fallacies formal fallacy informal fallacy DEFAULTSORT Deductive Fallacy Category Deduction ... more details
The psychologist s fallacy is a fallacy that occurs when an observer presupposes the universality of his her own perspective when analyzing a behavioral event. The fallacy was named by William James in the 19th century. It is a specific form of the similar to me stereotype what is unknown about another person is assumed, for simplicity, using things the observer knows about himself or herself. Such a bias leads the observer to presuppose knowledge or skills, or lack of such, possessed by another person. For example, I or everyone I know or most people I know don t know very much about chemistry. Therefore I can assume that this other person knows very little about chemistry. This assumption may be true in any number of specific cases, making inductive reasoning based on this assumption cogent , but is not applicable in the general case there are many people who are very knowledgeable in the field of chemistry , and therefore deductive reasoning based on this assumption may be invalid. The great snare of the psychologist is the confusion of his own standpoint with that of the mental fact about which he is making his report. I shall hereafter call this the psychologist s fallacy par excellence. William James, Principles of Psychology volume I. chapter vii. p. 196, 1890 Psychologist s fallacy, the fallacy, to which the psychologist is peculiarly liable, of reading into the mind he is examining what is true of his own especially of reading into lower minds what is true of higher. James Mark Baldwin , Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology volume II. p. 382 2, 1902 A danger to be avoided known as the psychologist s fallacy . This arises from the fact that the experimenter is apt to suppose that the subject will respond to a stimulus or an order in the same way as he himself ... s fallacy is considered analogous to David Hackett Fischer s historian s fallacy . DEFAULTSORT Psychologist s Fallacy Category Logical fallacies ... more details
A fallacy of division occurs when one reasons logic ally that something true of a thing must also be true of all or some of its parts. An example A Boeing 747 can fly unaided across the ocean. A Boeing 747 has jet engines. Therefore, one of its jet engines can fly unaided across the ocean. The converse of this fallacy is called fallacy of composition , which arises when one fallaciously attributes a property of some part of a thing to the thing as a whole. Both fallacies were addressed by Aristotle in Sophistical Refutations . Another example Functioning brains think. Functioning brains are nothing but the neurons that they are composed of. If functioning brains think, then the individual neurons in them think. Individual neurons do not think. Functioning brains do not think. From 3 & 4 Functioning brains think and functioning brains do not think. From 1 & 5 Since the premises Entailment entail a contradiction 6 , at least one of the premises must be false. We may diagnose the problem as located in premise 3, which quite plausibly commits the fallacy of division. An application Famously and controversially, in the philosophy of the Greek Anaxagoras at least as it is discussed by the Roman Atomist Lucretius , it was assumed that the atoms constituting a substance must themselves have the salient observed properties of that substance so atoms of water would be wet, atoms of iron would be hard, atoms of wool would be soft, etc. This doctrine is called homeomeria , and it plainly depends on the fallacy of division. If a system as a whole has some property that none of its constituents has or perhaps, it has it but not as a result of some constituent having that property , this is sometimes called an Emergence emergent property of the system. See also Ecological fallacy External links http www.fallacyfiles.org division.html Logical Fallacy Division The Fallacy Files Informal Fallacy Category Verbal fallacies Division Category Relevance fallacies philo stub de Trugschluss ... more details
distinguish Historian s fallacy The Historical fallacy , also called the psychological fallacy , is a logical fallacy originally described by philosopher John Dewey in 1896. The historical fallacy occurs when a set of considerations which hold good only because a completed process is read into the content of the process which conditions this completed result. ref The Reflex Arc Concept in Psychology , John Dewey, 1896 ref More simply stated, one commits the historical fallacy when one reads into a process the results that occur because of that process. Example A person coming across a loaf of bread without knowing the process by which bread is made, might begin to try to understand how to make bread by analyzing only its ingredients. Finding that bread contains a large amount of gas, one might conclude that gas is an ingredient used in making bread. However, a baker does not add gas into bread. Rather yeast creates a chemical process that causes the bread to rise with bubbles of carbon dioxide gas. The fallacy is in not recognizing that the gas is a result of the process of making bread and not a preexisting ingredient used to make it. Completed results supervene upon processes that are not necessarily reducible to the parts of that process. Applications The historical fallacy has implication in analytic philosophy and metalogic . For instance many analytic philosophers apply logic to metaphysics metaphysical questions without inquiring into the metaphysical processes underlying logic. Thus many Process theory process theorists might contend that much of analytic philosophy is undermined by the historical fallacy. See also Process theory References references External links http psychclassics.yorku.ca Dewey reflex.htm The Reflex Arc Concept in Psychology 1896 Category Logical fallacies ... more details
Expert subject Philosophy Logic date September 2009 No footnotes date November 2010 The existential fallacy , or existential instantiation , is a logical fallacy in Boolean logic while it is not in Aristotelian logic . In an existential fallacy, we presuppose that a class has members even when we are not explicitly told so that is, we assume that the class has existential import . An existential fallacy committed in a categorical syllogism is validity invalid because it has two universal premises and a particular conclusion. In other words, for the conclusion to be true, at least one member of the class must exist, but the premises do not establish this. Boolean logic In modern times, presupposition that a class has members is seen as unacceptable. In 1905, Bertrand Russell wrote an essay entitled The Existential Import of Proposition , in which he called this Boolean approach Guiseppe Peano Peano s interpretation . The fallacy does not occur in enthymeme s, where hidden premises required to make the syllogism valid assume the existence of at least one member of the class. Examples First example Let S subject and P predicate. Consider the following two propositions A proposition says, All S is P. I proposition says, Some S is P. This is an existential fallacy of subalternation . However, in Aristotelian logic, this mode of reasoning is perfectly permissible. Let S soldiers and P heroes. We then have All S soldiers are P heroes . Some S is P. That is, if all soldiers are heroes ... Martian. This conclusion is an existential fallacy. The absurdity of the result becomes especially ... 2 to its subaltern 3 . The existential fallacy is a syllogistic fallacy . Modern logical ... References reflist External links http www.fallacyfiles.org existent.html Fallacy files existential fallacy http www.swif.uniba.it lei foldop foldoc.cgi?existential fallacy FOLDOC existential fallacy Formal Fallacy FOLDOC logic stub Category Syllogistic fallacies Category Quantificational fallacies ... more details
Refimprove date April 2009 Original research article date August 2009 The continuum fallacy also called the fallacy of the beard ref David Roberts http writing2.richmond.edu WRITING wweb reason2d.html Reasoning Other Fallacies ref , line drawing fallacy , bald man fallacy , fallacy of the heap , the fallacy of grey , the sorites fallacy is an informal logical fallacy closely related to the sorites paradox , or paradox of the heap. The fallacy causes one to erroneously reject a vagueness vague proposition claim simply because it is not as precise as one would like it to be. Vagueness alone does not necessarily imply invalidity. The fallacy appears to demonstrate that two states or conditions cannot be considered difference distinct or do not exist at all because between them there exists a continuum theory continuum of states. According to the fallacy, differences in Quality philosophy quality cannot result from differences in quantity . There are clearly reasonable and clearly unreasonable cases in which objects either belong or do not belong to a particular group of objects based on their properties. We are able to take them case by case and designate them as such even in the case of properties which may be vaguely defined. The existence of hard or controversial cases does not preclude ... fallacy refers to situations where there is or appears to be a continuum of states, such as temperature ... may, at base, simply be very many discrete states. For the purpose of the continuum fallacy, one ..., any argument against the sorites paradox can also be used against the continuum fallacy. One argument against the fallacy is based on the simple counterexample there do exist bald people and people who ... how much hair he loses, he can never be called bald. The heap The fallacy can be described in the form ... of wheat we add, we will never have a heap. Therefore, heaps don t exist Others Other uses of this fallacy ... Portal Thinking Imprecise language Fuzzy logic Closed concept Informal Fallacy Category Informal ... more details
For other uses of prescience, see precognition . The fallacy of prescience is a term used by Smith, DeShaye and Stoicheff ref http llc.oxfordjournals.org content 21 2 199.abstract ref to describe an erroneous exploratory research technique in which the experimental scaffolding embeds assumptions about what will be discovered. The example cited describes a common practice in Humanities Computing in which an XML database and schema are designed at the outset of a research project to annotate a document as a means of discovering the structural relationships within the subject text. The fallacy, they say, arises from the fact that some inferences must be made about the structures that will be discovered in order to construct the schema that will describe them. The fallacy of prescience can be viewed as a procedural manifestation of the informal fallacy of begging the question . External links Reflist http llc.oxfordjournals.org cgi content full 21 2 199 Callimachus Avoiding the Pitfalls of XML for Collaborative Text Analysis Category Causal fallacies Category Pseudoscience ... more details
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