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 resulting in a misconception ... s character, begging the question petito principi , the use of the non sequitor, false cause ... or fallacy in which the situation is oversimplified, card stacking or selective use of facts, and false ... 2003 edition 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 ... is as follows Accident fallacyFallacy of accident or sweeping generalization Accident fallacyFallacy of accident or sweeping generalization a generalization that disregards exceptions. Example ... fallacy of accident or hasty generalization Converse accident Converse fallacy of accident or hasty ... a perceived defect in the origin of a claim discredits the claim itself genetic fallacy Also called ... the flu. Problem Other things, such as asthma, can cause someone to cough. The argument treats having ... is incorrect, and it is not sufficient proof in and of itself. 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 Argument ... any evidence that the vaccine was the cause. The characteristics of autism may generally ... could be causing both, such as summer heat. Also called 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 ... Straw man A straw man argument is an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent s position ... the misrepresented version of the claim, rather than refuting A s original assertion. Same Team Fallacy Same Team Fallacy A case where an arguer knows the main criticisms of their argument, and then asserts ... 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
Unreferenced date December 2009 Infobox album See Wikipedia WikiProject Albums Name For This Cause 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 & Piano Russell ... 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 flawed 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 ... , The Intelligent Universe 1983 , ISBN 0 7181 2298 4 ref Details Hoyle s Fallacy derives from arguments ... which is not contentious. Hoyle s Fallacy is to infer from the huge size of the phase space ... arguments exhibiting Hoyle s Fallacy also invoke Borel s Law , which claims incorrectly that highly ... process are highly improbable, then a highly improbable outcome is certain. Hoyle s Fallacy ... of William Shakespeare . ref name Gatherer The fallacy claims that the probability that a protein ... s fallacy derives from disregarding everything about sequence space other than its size. Two factors ... delimited by a single modern instance does not set an upper bound on the probability of achieving a functional ... be calculated. Reception Hoyle s Fallacy is rejected by evolutionary biologists, ref name Gatherer ... in a single step. ref name JMSmith John Maynard Smith , The Problems of Biology , p.49. 1986 , ISBN ... structures arise in a single step. ref The modern evolutionary synthesis explains how complex Cell .... It is these intermediate steps that are omitted in creationist arguments, which is the cause of their over ... of evolution. It has been labeled a fallacy by Richard Dawkins in his two books The Blind Watchmaker ... of Hoyle quotations on evolution. DEFAULTSORT Hoyle s Fallacy Category Biological evolution es ... 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 External links http www.fallacyfiles.org regressf.html Fallacy files Regression fallacy http www.newyorker.com reporting 2010 12 13 101213fa fact lehrer The Truth Wears Off Is there something wrong with the scientific method? Informal Fallacy Category Causal fallacies Category ... 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
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
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 where the context in which ... is. Not doing so is a base rate fallacy . This fallacy usually results in assuming that the prior ... is Equality mathematics equal to the probability that it would implicate the defendant. One form of the fallacy ... this evidence if the accused were innocent is tiny, the fallacy occurs if it is concluded that the probability ... of offenders in the populace. The fallacy can arise from multiple testing , such as when evidence ... by pure chance alone i.e., DNA evidence is soundest when a match is found after a single directed ... quality common for recovered evidence is very likely by mere chance. The terms prosecutor s fallacy and Defense attorney s fallacy defense attorney s fallacy were originated by William C. Thompson ..., subtitled The Prosecutor s Fallacy and the Defense Attorney s Fallacy . ref name TS cite journal ... Trials The Prosecutor s Fallacy and the Defense Attorney s Fallacy journal Law and Human Behavior ... be matched in either case, it would be a fallacy to ignore the number of records searched when weighing ... In the courtroom, the prosecutor s fallacy typically happens by mistake, ref cite journal url http ... 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 ... s fallacy in expert witness testimony or in the Jury instructions judge s summation . ref ... 2010 05 21 ref Defense attorney s fallacy Expert subject Philosophy Logic section date September ... fallacy would be to reason that 10 matches were expected, so the accused is no more likely to be guilty ... 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 jstor 1393631 ... A version of this fallacy arose in the O. J. Simpson murder case O. J. Simpson murder trial crime ... more details
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 ... fallacy . It is also known colloquially as the law of averages . What is true instead are the law ... s fallacy implicitly involves an assertion of negative correlation between trials of the random ... probable or distributed in a known way . The reversal is also a fallacy, in which a gambler ...? Again, the fallacy is the belief that the universe somehow carries a memory of past results which ... gambler s fallacy may be correct, however, if the empirical evidence suggests that an initial ... ten times, the gambler s fallacy would suggest an even money bet on tails , while the reverse gambler s fallacy not to be confused with the inverse gambler s fallacy would suggest an even money bet ... 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 ... There is another way to emphasize the fallacy. As already mentioned, the fallacy is built on the notion ... and, according to the fallacy, should have a higher chance of winning since one loss has occurred ... will again equal the probability of winning a single toss, when only one toss is left 6.25 .... A joke told among mathematicians demonstrates the nature of the fallacy. When flying on an aircraft ... by a long streak of red. ref name lehrer Non examples of the fallacy There are many scenarios ... more details
The conjunction fallacy is a logical fallacy that occurs when it is assumed that specific conditions are more probable than a single general one. The most often cited example of this fallacy originated with Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman ref Tversky & Kahneman 1982, 1983 ref blockquote p Linda is 31 years old, single, outspoken, and very bright. She majored in philosophy. As a student, she was deeply concerned with issues of discrimination and social justice, and also participated in anti nuclear demonstrations. p p Which is more probable? p Linda is a bank teller. Linda is a bank teller and is active in the feminist movement. blockquote 85 of those asked chose option 2. ref Many variations of this experiment in wording effect wording and framing effect framing have been published. When Tversky and Kahneman 1983 changed the first option to Linda is a bank teller whether or not she is active in the feminist movement in the same experiment as described a majority of respondents still preferred the second option. ref However the probability of two events occurring together in conjunction is always less than or equal to the probability of either one occurring alone formally, for two events A and B this inequality could be written as math Pr A and B leq Pr A math , and math Pr A and B leq Pr B . math For example, even choosing a very low probability of Linda being a bank teller, say Pr Linda is a bank teller 0.05 and a high probability that she would be a feminist, say Pr Linda is a feminist ... a different take on the conjunction fallacy, ref See Gigerenzer, I Think Therefore I ERR ref ... reasoning The conjunction fallacy in probability judgment journal Psychological Review volume 90 issue ... conjunct.html Fallacy files Conjunction fallacy http www.overcomingbias.com 2007 09 conjunction fal.html Overcoming bias Conjunction fallacy http www.overcomingbias.com 2009 06 what conjunction fallacy.html Overcoming bias What Conjunction Fallacy? Informal Fallacy Category Logical ... 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
The psychologist s fallacy is a fallacy that occurs when an observer presupposes the objectivity of their 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 themselves. 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 ... in the circumstances. British Journal of Psychology . XXI. p. 243, 1931 The psychologist s fallacy is considered analogous to David Hackett Fischer s historian s fallacy . DEFAULTSORT Psychologist s Fallacy Category Logical fallacies ... 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
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 philo stub de Trugschluss der Division es Falacia de divisi n ... 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
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
The definist fallacy can refer to three logical fallacy logical fallacies related to how terms are defined in an argument. The first, coined by William Frankena in 1939, involves the definition of one property in terms of another. The second fallacy refers to the insisted use of a persuasive definition ref name IEP Fallacies cite encyclopedia title Fallacies encyclopedia Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy accessdate March 31, 2011 last Dowden first Bradley date December 31, 2010 url http www.iep.utm.edu fallacy Persuasive 20Definition ref in an argument. Finally, it can also refer to the Socratic fallacy in which terms are required to be defined before use. ref name Blackwell cite encyclopedia last Bunnin first Nicholas coauthors Jiyuan Yu encyclopedia The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy title Definist fallacy url year 2004 publisher Wiley Blackwell isbn 9781405106795 page 165 url http books.google.com books?id OskKWI1YA7AC&pg PA165 ref This article focuses on the first of these fallacies. The philosopher William Frankena first used the term definist fallacy in a paper published in the British analytic philosophy journal Mind journal Mind in 1939. ref name Frankena 1939 cite journal title The Naturalistic Fallacy first W. K. last Frankena work Mind volume 48 number 192 ... he generalized and critiqued G. E. Moore s naturalistic fallacy , which argued that good cannot be defined ... Preston first Aaron date December 30, 2005 ref Frankena argued that the naturalistic fallacy is a complete misnomer because it is neither limited to naturalistic properties nor necessarily a fallacy. On the first ...?id lxnsElfqa70C&pg PA94 year 1989 ref On the second word fallacy , Frankena rejected the idea that it represented an error in reasoning &ndash a fallacy as it is usually recognized &ndash rather than ... two things that may be identical in fact are. ref name Flew cite encyclopedia title Definist fallacy ... the fallacy of begging the question . ref name Ridge References Reflist Category Logical fallacies ... more details
An informal fallacy is an Logical argument argument whose stated premises fail to support their proposed conclusion. ref Kelly, D. 1994 The Art of Reasoning . W W Norton & Company, Inc. ISBN 0 393 96466 3 ref The deviation in an informal fallacy often stems from a flaw in the path of reason ing that links the premises to the conclusion. In contrast to a formal fallacy , the error has to do with issues of inference ratiocination manifest in natural language language used to state the propositions the range of elements that can be symbolized by language is broader than that which the symbolism of Mathematical logic formal logic can represent. Deductive and inductive informal fallacies Informal fallacies of deductive reasoning contain a fundamental disconnect between the premises and the conclusion that renders the argument validity invalid . This disconnect often stems from the presence of a hidden co premise that, if presented, would validate the argument. Inductive reasoning Inductive informal fallacies are slightly different from their deductive counterparts, as their merit rests in the Statistical inference inductive strength of the premise conclusion link rather than in the presence of hidden premises. For instance, the fallacy of hasty generalization , can be roughly stated as p A is an X p A is also a Y c therefore, all X s are also Y s If the populations X and Y are both too large to sample completely, then the statement is inductive. In such a case, a hasty generalization occurs when the number of X s and Y s is insufficient to represent the respective populations ... to Fallacy Free Arguments year 2009 edition 6E url http www.duxbury.com cengage instructor.do?product ... node 350 An Informal Fallacy Primer http www.fallacyfiles.org inforfal.html The Fallacy Files Informal Fallacy http www.appealtoauthority.info Appeal to Authority Appeal to Authority Logical Fallacy Informal Fallacy DEFAULTSORT Informal Fallacy Category Philosophical logic Category Informal ... more details
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