fallacy fallacy

English

WOTD – 18 April 2021

Etymology

From the fact that assuming a conclusion is false because of a fallacy in the reasoning is itself a fallacy.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˌfæləsi ˈfæləsi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: fal‧la‧cy fal‧la‧cy

Noun

Example
“All cats are animals. Ginger is an animal. Therefore, Ginger is a cat.” Stating that the conclusion in this statement is false would be an example of the fallacy fallacy. Even though the reasoning in the statement is fallacious, Ginger may still be a cat (that is, the conclusion may still be true).

fallacy fallacy (plural fallacy fallacies)

1. (logic) The formal fallacy of inferring that if an argument contains a fallacy, its conclusion must be false.

   Synonyms: argument from fallacy, argument to logic, argumentum ad logicam, bad reasons fallacy, fallacist's fallacy

Translations

formal fallacy of inferring that if an argument contains a fallacy, its conclusion must be false

Chinese: Mandarin: 謬誤謬誤 / 谬误谬误 (miùwùmiùwù) Spanish: argumento desde la falacia

See also

• Appendix:Glossary of fallacies

Further reading

• argument from fallacy on Wikipedia.Wikipedia