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Information about Formal Fallacy

In philosophy, a formal fallacy or a logical fallacy is a pattern of reasoning which is always wrong. This is due to a flaw in the structure of the argument which renders the argument invalid. A formal fallacy is contrasted with an informal fallacy, which may have a valid logical form, but be false due to the characteristics of its premises.

The term fallacy is often used more generally to mean an argument which is problematic for any reason, whether it be a formal or an informal fallacy.

The presence of a formal fallacy in a deductive argument does not imply anything about the argument's premises or its conclusion. Both may actually be true, or even more probable as a result of the argument (e.g. appeal to authority), but the deductive argument is still invalid because the conclusion does not follow from the premises in the manner described. By extension, an argument can contain a formal fallacy even if the argument is not a deductive one; for instance an inductive argument that incorrectly applies principles of probability or causality can be said to commit a formal fallacy.

Recognizing fallacies in everyday arguments may be difficult since arguments are often embedded in rhetorical patterns that obscure the logical connections between statements. Informal fallacies may also exploit the emotions or intellectual or psychological weaknesses of the audience. Having the capability to recognize fallacies in arguments is one way to reduce the likelihood of such occurrences.

A different approach to understanding and classifying fallacies is provided by argumentation theory; see for instance the van Eemeren, Grootendorst reference below. In this approach, an argument is regarded as an interactive protocol between individuals which attempts to resolve their disagreements. The protocol is regulated by certain rules of interaction and violations of these rules are fallacies. Many of the fallacies in the list below are best understood as being fallacies in this sense.

Such fallacies are used in many forms of modern communications where the intention is to influence behavior and change beliefs - examples in the mass media today include but are not limited to propaganda, advertisements, politics, newspaper editorials and opinion news shows.

Common examples

Main article: List of fallacies


For a list of types of formal and informal fallacy, as well as examples of fallacious arguments, see Fallacy. For a concise list of "appeal to" fallacies, see Appeal (disambiguation).

See also

 •  • [ e]
Formal fallacies
Argument from fallacy • Fallacy of modal logic • Masked man fallacy • Appeal to probability • Bare assertion fallacy
Fallacy of propositional logic:Affirming a disjunct • Affirming the consequent • Commutation of Conditionals • False dilemma • Denying the antecedent • Improper Transition
Fallacy of quantificational logic:Existential fallacy • Illicit Conversion • Quantifier shift • Unwarranted contrast
Syllogistic fallacy:Affirmative conclusion from a negative premise • Negative conclusion from an affirmative premise • Exclusive premises • Necessity • Four-term Fallacy • Illicit major • Illicit minor • Undistributed middle

References

External links

Philosophical logic is the study of the more specifically philosophical aspects of logic. The term contrasts with mathematical logic, and since the development of mathematical logic in the late nineteenth century, it has come to include most of those topics traditionally
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Only a valid argument with true premises must have a true conclusion.
The validity of an argument depends on its form, not on the truth or falsity of its premises and conclusions. Logic seeks to discover the forms of valid arguments.
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validity as it occurs in logic refers generally to a property of deductive arguments, although many logic texts apply the term to statements as well (a statement is a sentence that “has a truth value,” i.e., that is either true or false).
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An informal fallacy is an argument pattern that is wrong due to a mistake in its reasoning. In contrast to a formal fallacy, the error has to do with issues of rational inference that occur in natural language; which are broader than can be represented by the symbols used in formal
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In discourse, a premise (also "premiss" in British usage) is a claim that is a reason (or element of a set of reasons) for, or objection against, some other claim. In other words, it is a statement presumed true within the context of the discourse for the purposes of arguing
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A fallacy is a component of an argument that is demonstrably flawed in its logic or form, thus rendering the argument invalid in whole. In logical arguments, fallacies are either formal or informal.
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An appeal to authority or argument by authority is a type of argument in logic, consisting on basing the truth value of an assertion on the authority, knowledge or position of the person asserting it.
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Probability is the likelihood that something is the case or will happen. Probability theory is used extensively in areas such as statistics, mathematics, science and philosophy to draw conclusions about the likelihood of potential events and the underlying mechanics of
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Causality or causation denotes the relationship between one event (called cause) and another event (called effect) which is the consequence (result) of the first. [1]
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    Rhetoric (from Greek ῥήτωρ, rhêtôr, orator, teacher) is generally understood to be the art or technique of persuasion through the use of oral, visual, or written language; however, this definition of rhetoric
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    emotion is a "complex reaction pattern, involving experiential, behavioral, and physiological elements, by which the individual attempts to deal with a personally significant matter of event.
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    Psychology (from Greek: Literally "talk about the soul" (from logos)) is both an academic and applied discipline involving the scientific study of mental processes and behavior.
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    Argumentation theory, or argumentation, embraces the arts and sciences of civil debate, dialogue, conversation, and persuasion. It studies rules of inference, logic, and procedural rules in both artificial and real world settings.
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    protocol is the etiquette of diplomacy and affairs of state.

    A protocol is a which guides how an activity should be performed, especially in the field of diplomacy. In diplomatic services and governmental fields of endeavor protocols are often unwritten guidelines.
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    Mass media is a term used to denote a section of the media specifically envisioned and designed to reach a very large audience such as the population of a nation state. It was coined in the 1920s with the advent of nationwide radio networks, mass-circulation newspapers and
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    Propaganda [from modern Latin: 'propagare', literally "extending forth"] is a concerted set of messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviour of large numbers of people.
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    Advertising is paid, one-way communication through a medium in which the sponsor is identified and the message is controlled by the sponsor. Variations include publicity, public relations, etc..
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    Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. Although the term is generally applied to behavior within civil governments, politics is observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic, and religious
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    This is a list of fallacies.

    Formal fallacies

    Formal fallacies are arguments that are fallacious due to an error in their form or technical structure.
    • Argument from fallacy

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    A fallacy is a component of an argument that is demonstrably flawed in its logic or form, thus rendering the argument invalid in whole. In logical arguments, fallacies are either formal or informal.
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    Appeal may refer to:
    • Appeal - in law an appeal is a challenge of a judicial judgement to a higher authority, usually called an appellate court.
    • Various types of logical fallacy are described as an appeal to something

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    Anecdotal evidence is an informal account of evidence in the form of an anecdote or hearsay. The term is often used in contrast to scientific evidence, such as evidence-based medicine, which are types of formal accounts.
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    Apophasis (Late Latin, from Greek apophanai, "to say no" [1]) refers, in general, to "mentioning by not mentioning". Apophasis covers a wide variety of figures of speech.
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    An argumentum ad populum (Latin: "appeal to the people"), in logic, is a fallacious argument that concludes a proposition to be true because many or all people believe it; it alleges that "If many believe so, it is so.
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    An argument is cogent if and only if the truth of the argument's premises would render the truth of the conclusion probable (i.e., the argument is strong), and the argument's premises are, in fact, true.
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    A cognitive bias is any of a wide range of observer effects identified in cognitive science and social psychology including very basic statistical, social attribution, and memory errors that are common to all human beings.
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    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 oft-cited example of this fallacy originated with Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman:


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    Demagogy (Demagoguery) (Dema from Dímos, Greek δῆμος, "people"; and agogy from ägein, ἄγειν
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    A fallacy is a component of an argument that is demonstrably flawed in its logic or form, thus rendering the argument invalid in whole. In logical arguments, fallacies are either formal or informal.
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    Fallacies of definition refer to the various ways in which definitions can fail to have merit. The term is used to suggest analogy with the logical fallacies. This is a typical sort of list found in texts used in college logic courses.
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