Fallacy
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Illustration: The Heart Has Its Reasons (c.1887) by Odilon Redon, a phrase from the Pensées by Blaise Pascal
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A fallacy is the use of invalid or otherwise faulty reasoning, or "wrong moves" in the construction of an argument. A fallacious argument may be deceptive by appearing to be better than it really is. Some fallacies are committed intentionally to manipulate or persuade by deception, while others are committed unintentionally due to carelessness or ignorance. The soundness of legal arguments depends on the context in which the arguments are made.
Fallacies are commonly divided into "formal" and "informal". A formal fallacy can be expressed neatly in a standard system of logic, such as propositional logic, while an informal fallacy originates in an error in reasoning other than an improper logical form. Arguments containing informal fallacies may be formally valid, but still fallacious.
A special case is a mathematical fallacy, an intentionally invalid mathematical proof, often with the error subtle and somehow concealed. Mathematical fallacies are typically crafted and exhibited for educational purposes, usually taking the form of spurious proofs of obvious contradictions.
See also
Lists
Concepts
- Aporia
- Anti-pattern
- Argumentation theory
- Argument map
- Association fallacy
- Cognitive bias
- Cognitive distortion
- Critical thinking
- Demagogue
- Evidence
- Fallacies of definition
- False premise
- False statement
- Illusion
- Inference objection
- Inquiry
- Jumping to conclusions
- Lemma
- Mathematical fallacy
- Paradox
- Prosecutor's fallacy
- Sophist
- Soundness
- Lies, damned lies, and statistics
- Truth
- Validity
- Victim blaming
See also
Lists
Concepts
- Association fallacy
- Cogency
- Cognitive bias
- Cognitive distortion
- Demagogy
- Evidence
- Fallacies of definition
- False premise
- False statement
- Invalid proof
- Mathematical fallacy
- Naturalistic fallacy
- Paradox
- Sophism
- Soundness
- Truth
- Validity
- Victim blaming
- Whig history
Works
