use of invalid or otherwise faulty reasoning in the construction of an argument
Fallacy - Wikipedia
classification of fallacies: (1) material, (2) verbal, and (3) formal
A fallacy is the use of invalid or otherwise faulty reasoning in the construction of an argument that may appear to be well-reasoned if unnoticed. The term was introduced in the Western … Wikipedia
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Fallacy
Fallacy - Wikipedia
1 week ago - But "since deductive arguments depend on formal properties and inductive arguments don't, formal fallacies apply only to deductive arguments". A logical form such as "A and B" is independent of any particular conjunction of meaningful propositions. Logical form alone can guarantee that, given true premises, a true conclusion must follow.
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Cornell Law School
law.cornell.edu › lii › wex › logical fallacy
logical fallacy | Wex | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute
Logical fallacies are errors in reasoning that can undermine or distract from an argument. A logical fallacy can either be an illegitimate argument or an additional point which does not advance the strength of the argument.
Discussions

When is an appeal to authority not a logical fallacy?
Welcome to r/askphilosophy ! Please read our updated rules and guidelines before commenting. Currently, answers are only accepted by panelists (flaired users), whether those answers are posted as top-level comments or replies to other comments. Non-panelists can participate in subsequent discussion, but are not allowed to answer question(s). Want to become a panelist? Check out this post . Please note: this is a highly moderated academic Q&A subreddit and not an open discussion, debate, change-my-view, or test-my-theory subreddit. Answers from users who are not panelists will be automatically removed. I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns. More on reddit.com
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September 10, 2024
Law of Excluded Middle and the Meaning of Negation
Suppose that, in some silly world, being tall means you're over 1.8 meters in height, and being "not tall" means you're less than 1.6 meters in height. That may be normal in natural language, but logic is a formal system without such gaps. While there are some systems of formal reasoning called "fuzzy logic", they're incompatible with the law of excluded middle, you need a logic without fuzzy boundaries between terms. Once you say that "tall" means "over 1.8 m in height", then "not tall" must mean "less than or equal to 1.8 m in height" in such logic, and you can see that the law of excluded middle works under such requirements. You can have a separate term "short" that denotes someone under 1.6 m in height, in which case your Jack would be neither tall nor short, but then "short" and "not tall" have different meanings. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/logic
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December 1, 2024
No one is above the law is a fallacy perpetuated by those who are above the law
Laws that carry financial punishments are essentially only punishing the poor More on reddit.com
🌐 r/Showerthoughts
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November 26, 2023
[EMSK] The Law Of Averages - How To Be Successful In Anything You Do
If you came to the comments first, this video is just a drawn out version of "every failure is another step closer to success". More on reddit.com
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People also ask

What is a logical fallacy?
A logical fallacy is an argument that can be disproven through reasoning.
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grammarly.com
grammarly.com › blog › rhetorical-devices › logical-fallacies
What Is a Logical Fallacy? 15 Common Logical Fallacies | Grammarly
Why do people use logical fallacies?
People use logical fallacies for different reasons. In some cases, speakers and writers intentionally use logical fallacies in an effort to make their opposition look worse, to simplify an issue, or make their own position look superior. In other cases, people use them unintentionally, either because they haven’t thought their statements through or don’t understand why their arguments are logically flawed.
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grammarly.com
grammarly.com › blog › rhetorical-devices › logical-fallacies
What Is a Logical Fallacy? 15 Common Logical Fallacies | Grammarly
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › List_of_fallacies
List of fallacies - Wikipedia
6 days ago - Etymological fallacy – assuming that the original or historical meaning of a word or phrase is necessarily similar to its actual present-day usage. Fallacy of composition – assuming that something true of part of a whole must also be true of the whole. Fallacy of division – assuming that something true of a composite thing must also be true of all or some of its parts. False attribution – appealing to an irrelevant, unqualified, unidentified, biased or fabricated source in support of an argument.
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Katharine K. Baker
scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu › cgi › viewcontent.cgi pdf
Chicago-Kent Law Review Chicago-Kent Law Review Volume 68
arguments are fallacies. Philosophers usually reserve that term for a bad, false, or invalid argument that is plausible on its surface, an argument · that may persuade the gullible because, though faulty, it is attractive. 3 · The lawyer's fallacy arises when we incorrectly assume that people
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Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
plato.stanford.edu › entries › fallacies
Fallacies (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
May 29, 2015 - The abusive ad hominem fallacy involves saying that someone’s view should not be accepted because they have some unfavorable property. Thompson’s proposal for the wetlands may safely be rejected because last year she was arrested for hunting without a license. The hunter Thompson, although she broke the law, may nevertheless have a very good plan for the wetlands.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
britannica.com › philosophy & religion › philosophical issues
Fallacy | Logic, Definition & Examples | Britannica
February 13, 2026 - Fallacy, in logic, erroneous reasoning that has the appearance of soundness. In logic an argument consists of a set of statements, the premises, whose truth supposedly supports the truth of a single statement called the conclusion of the argument.
Find elsewhere
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Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
iep.utm.edu › fallacy
Fallacies | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
For an example of the Fallacy of Accent involving the accent of a syllable within a single word, consider the word “invalid” in the sentence, “Did you mean the invalid one?” When we accent the first syllable, we are speaking of a sick person, but when we accent the second syllable, we are speaking of an argument failing to meet the deductive standard of being valid.
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Grammarly
grammarly.com › blog › rhetorical-devices › logical-fallacies
What Is a Logical Fallacy? 15 Common Logical Fallacies | Grammarly
April 10, 2023 - Remember, using a logical fallacy doesn’t necessarily mean the idea being argued is incorrect—it could be an objective fact or a defendable opinion, but simply being presented in an illogical way.
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Fallacies_of_definition
Fallacies of definition - Wikipedia
July 24, 2025 - The definist fallacy is a logical fallacy, coined by William Frankena in 1939 in a critique of the "naturalistic fallacy", that involves the definition of one property in terms of a non-synonym. Equivocation – Misleading use of a term with multiple meanings
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Logical Fallacies
logicalfallacies.org › fallacy-fallacy.html
Fallacy Fallacy - Definition & Examples | LF
The Fallacy Fallacy, also known as the Argument from Fallacy, is a logical fallacy in which a conclusion is rejected solely because it has been derived from an argument that contains a fallacy. This type of fallacy is committed when someone concludes that a statement is false simply because ...
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StudioBinder
studiobinder.com › scriptwriting › what is a fallacy — definition, types, and examples
What is a Fallacy — Definition, Types, and Examples
November 22, 2025 - Let's start by formally introducing the term. A fallacy, as used in the realm of logic and argumentation, refers to a flawed argument or reasoning that appears superficially sound.
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Simple Book Publishing
open.library.okstate.edu › criticalthinking › chapter › __unknown__-3
Fallacies – Critical Thinking
September 1, 2019 - A simple obvious example of such fallacy is to argue that unicorns exist because there is no evidence against their existence. At first sight it seems that many theories that we describe as “scientific” involve such a fallacy. For example, the first law of thermodynamics holds because so far there has not been any negative instance that would serve as evidence against it.
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The Writing Center
writingcenter.unc.edu › home › tips & tools › fallacies
Fallacies – The Writing Center
December 29, 2011 - The handout provides definitions, examples, and tips on avoiding these fallacies. Most academic writing tasks require you to make an argument—that is, to present reasons for a particular claim or interpretation you are putting forward. You may have been told that you need to make your arguments more logical or stronger. And you may have worried that you simply aren’t a logical person or wondered what it means for an argument to be strong.
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Tutors.com
tutors.com › articles › logical fallacies
Logical Fallacies — Definition, Types, & Examples - Tutors
February 13, 2024 - You have to follow the law because if you don’t, you’re breaking the law. The speaker uses the point of laws to prove why they must be followed. Also known as the either-or fallacy ...
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Medium
medium.com › @3valuedlogic › what-is-a-fallacy-bb5bbbfcb397
What is a fallacy?
December 17, 2022 - A fallacy is an argument that is bad. In Mastering Logical Fallacies, Withey (p.11) writes “[w]hen an argument goes wrong, its because its proponent has committed a fallacy.” On this definition, an argument isn’t “bad” simply because ...
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Cambridge Dictionary
dictionary.cambridge.org › us › dictionary › english › fallacy
FALLACY | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary
FALLACY meaning: 1. an idea that a lot of people think is true but is in fact false: 2. an idea that a lot of…. Learn more.
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Merriam-Webster
merriam-webster.com › dictionary › fallacy
FALLACY Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
4 days ago - To save this word, you'll need to log in. ... The fallacy of their ideas about medicine soon became apparent. ... Philosophers are constantly using the word fallacy. For them, a fallacy is reasoning that comes to a conclusion without the evidence to support it. This may have to do with pure logic, with the assumptions that the argument is based on, or with the way words are used, especially if they don't keep exactly the same meaning throughout the argument.
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Your Logical Fallacy Is
yourlogicalfallacyis.com › the-fallacy-fallacy
Your logical fallacy is the fallacy fallacy
You presumed that because a claim has been poorly argued, or a fallacy has been made, that the claim itself must be wrong.
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University of North Carolina Wilmington
people.uncw.edu › kozloffm › logicalfallacies.html
Stephen's Guide to the Logical Fallacies
Fallacies involving statistical generalizations occur because the generalization is not always true. Thus, when an author treats a statistical generalization as though it were always true, the author commits a fallacy. ... Definition: A general rule is applied when circumstances suggest that an exception to the rule should apply. Examples: (i) The law says that you should not travel faster than 50 kph.