fallacy of equivocation
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In
logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...
, equivocation ("calling two different things by the same name") is an
informal fallacy Informal fallacies are a type of incorrect argument in natural language. The source of the error is not just due to the ''form'' of the argument, as is the case for formal fallacies, but can also be due to their ''content'' and ''context''. Fallac ...
resulting from the use of a particular word or expression in multiple
senses A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the surroundings through the detection of stimuli. Although, in some cultures, five human senses were traditionally identified as su ...
within an argument. It is a type of
ambiguity Ambiguity is the type of meaning (linguistics), meaning in which a phrase, statement, or resolution is not explicitly defined, making for several interpretations; others describe it as a concept or statement that has no real reference. A com ...
that stems from a phrase having two or more distinct meanings, not from the grammar or structure of the sentence.


Fallacy of four terms

Equivocation in a
syllogism A syllogism (, ''syllogismos'', 'conclusion, inference') is a kind of logical argument that applies deductive reasoning to arrive at a conclusion based on two propositions that are asserted or assumed to be true. In its earliest form (defin ...
(a chain of reasoning) produces a
fallacy of four terms The fallacy of four terms () is the formal fallacy that occurs when a syllogism has four (or more) terms rather than the requisite three, rendering it invalid. Definition Categorical syllogisms always have three terms: :Major premise: Weapons a ...
(). Below is an example: : Since only man
uman Uman (, , ) is a city in Cherkasy Oblast, central Ukraine. It is located to the east of Vinnytsia. Located in the east of the historical region of Podolia, the city rests on the banks of the Umanka River. Uman serves as the administrative c ...
is rational. : And no woman is a man
ale Ale is a style of beer, brewed using a warm fermentation method. In medieval England, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to balance the malt and act as a preservative. Ale ...
: Therefore, no woman is rational. The first instance of "man" implies the entire human species, while the second implies just those who are male.


Motte-and-bailey fallacy

Equivocation can also be used to conflate two positions which share similarities, one modest and easy to defend and one much more controversial. The arguer advances the controversial position, but when challenged, they insist that they are only advancing the more modest position.


See also

*
Antanaclasis In rhetoric, antanaclasis (; from the , ''antanáklasis'', meaning "reflection", from ἀντί ''anti'', "against", ἀνά ''ana'', "up" and κλάσις ''klásis'' "breaking") is the literary trope in which a single word or phrase is repeate ...
: A related purposeful rhetorical device *
Circumlocution Circumlocution (also called circumduction, circumvolution, periphrasis, kenning, or ambage) is the use of an unnecessarily large number of words to express an idea. It is sometimes necessary in communication (for example, to work around lexical ga ...
: Phrasing to explain something without saying it * Equivocality: Organizational information theory *
Etymological fallacy An etymological fallacy is an argument of equivocation, arguing that a word is defined by its etymology, and that its customary usage is therefore incorrect. History Ancient Greeks believed that there was a "true meaning" of a word, distinct ...
: A kind of linguistic misconception *
Evasion (ethics) In ethics, evasion is an act of deception where a true statement is irrelevant or leads to a false conclusion. For instance, a man knows that a woman is in a room in the building because he heard her, but in answer to a question as to whether s ...
: Tell the truth while deceiving *
False equivalence A false equivalence or false equivalency is an informal fallacy in which an equivalence is drawn between two subjects based on flawed, faulty, or false reasoning. This fallacy is categorized as a fallacy of inconsistency. Colloquially, a false ...
: Fallacy based on flawed reasoning *
If-by-whiskey Noah S. "Soggy" Sweat Jr. (October 2, 1922February 23, 1996) was an American judge, law professor, and state representative in Mississippi, notable for his 1952 speech on the floor of the Mississippi state legislature concerning whiskey. Report ...
: An example * Map-territory relation: Concept that words used to describe an underlying reality are arbitrary abstractions not to be confused with the reality itself *
Mental reservation Mental reservation (or mental equivocation) is an ethical theory and a doctrine in moral theology which recognizes the "lie of necessity", and holds that when there is a conflict between justice and veracity (ethics), telling the truth, it is jus ...
: A doctrine in moral theology * No true Scotsman: Changing a definition to exclude a counter-example *
Persuasive definition A persuasive definition is a form of stipulative definition which purports to describe the true or commonly accepted meaning of a term, while in reality stipulating an uncommon or altered use, usually to support an argument for some view, or to cr ...
: Skewed definition of term *
Plausible deniability Plausible deniability is the ability of people, typically senior officials in a formal or informal chain of command, to deny knowledge or responsibility for actions committed by or on behalf of members of their organizational hierarchy. They may ...
: A blame-shifting technique *
Polysemy Polysemy ( or ; ) is the capacity for a Sign (semiotics), sign (e.g. a symbol, morpheme, word, or phrase) to have multiple related meanings. For example, a word can have several word senses. Polysemy is distinct from ''monosemy'', where a word h ...
: The property of word or phrase having certain type of multiple meanings *
Principle of explosion In classical logic, intuitionistic logic, and similar logical systems, the principle of explosion is the law according to which any statement can be proven from a contradiction. That is, from a contradiction, any proposition (including its n ...
: One of the fundamental laws in logic *
Syntactic ambiguity Syntactic ambiguity, also known as structural ambiguity, amphiboly, or amphibology, is characterized by the potential for a sentence to yield multiple interpretations due to its ambiguous syntax. This form of ambiguity is not derived from the va ...
, Amphiboly, Amphibology: Ambiguity of a sentence by its grammatical structure *
When a white horse is not a horse The White Horse Dialogue in Chinese philosophy is a debate between two unnamed speakers on a proposition often translated as 'a white horse is not a horse'. It appears in the Warring States period text ''Gongsun Longzi'' attributed to Gongsun Lo ...
: An example


References


External links

* {{Fallacies Verbal fallacies Ambiguity