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Circular Reasoning
Circular reasoning (, "circle in proving"; also known as circular logic) is a fallacy, logical fallacy in which the reasoner begins with what they are trying to end with. Circular reasoning is not a formal logical fallacy, but a pragmatic defect in an argument whereby the premises are just as much in need of proof or evidence as the conclusion. As a consequence, the argument becomes a matter of faith and fails to persuade those who do not already accept it. Other ways to express this are that there is no reason to accept the premises unless one already believes the conclusion, or that the premises provide no independent ground or evidence for the conclusion. Circular reasoning is closely related to begging the question, and in modern usage the two generally refer to the same thing. Circular reasoning is often of the form: "A is true because B is true; B is true because A is true." Circularity can be difficult to detect if it involves a longer chain of propositions. An example of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Problem Of Induction
The problem of induction is a philosophical problem that questions the rationality of predictions about unobserved things based on previous observations. These inferences from the observed to the unobserved are known as "inductive inferences". David Hume, who first formulated the problem in 1739, argued that there is no non-circular way to justify inductive inferences, while he acknowledged that everyone does and must make such inferences. The traditional Inductivism, inductivist view is that all claimed Empirical evidence, empirical laws, either in everyday life or through the scientific method, can be justified through some form of reasoning. The problem is that many philosophers tried to find such a justification but their proposals were not accepted by others. Identifying the inductivist view as the scientific view, C. D. Broad once said that induction is "the glory of science and the scandal of philosophy". In contrast, Karl Popper's critical rationalism claimed that indu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polysyllogism
A polysyllogism is a complex argument (also known as ''chain arguments'' of which there are four kinds: polysyllogisms, sorites, epicheirema, and dilemmas) that strings together any number of propositions forming together a sequence of syllogisms such that the conclusion of each syllogism, together with the next proposition, is a premise for the next, and so on. Each constituent syllogism is called a prosyllogism except the last, because the conclusion of the last syllogism is not a premise for another syllogism. Example An example of a categorical polysyllogism is: :All good students will readily understand polysyllogisms :All students of logic are good students :Therefore, all students of logic will readily understand polysyllogisms :But all people who read this web page are students of logic :Therefore, all people who read this web page will readily understand polysyllogisms This argument has the following structure: :All A is B :All C is A :Therefore: all C is B :All D is C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paradox
A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true or apparently true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictory or a logically unacceptable conclusion. A paradox usually involves contradictory-yet-interrelated elements that exist simultaneously and persist over time. They result in "persistent contradiction between interdependent elements" leading to a lasting "unity of opposites". In logic, many paradoxes exist that are known to be invalid arguments, yet are nevertheless valuable in promoting critical thinking, while other paradoxes have revealed errors in definitions that were assumed to be rigorous, and have caused axioms of mathematics and logic to be re-examined. One example is Russell's paradox, which questions whether a "list of all lists that do not contain themselves" would include itself and showed that attempts to found set theory on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ringschluss
In mathematics, a Ringschluss () is a mathematical proof technique where the equivalence of several statements can be proven without having to prove all pairwise equivalences directly. In English it is also sometimes called a cycle of implications, closed chain inference, or circular implication; however, it should be distinguished from circular reasoning, a logical fallacy. In order to prove that the statements \varphi_1,\ldots,\varphi_n are each pairwise equivalent, proofs are given for the implications \varphi_1\Rightarrow\varphi_2, \varphi_2\Rightarrow\varphi_3, \dots, \varphi_\Rightarrow\varphi_n and \varphi_\Rightarrow\varphi_1. The pairwise equivalence of the statements then results from the transitivity of the material conditional The material conditional (also known as material implication) is a binary operation commonly used in logic. When the conditional symbol \to is interpreted as material implication, a formula P \to Q is true unless P is true and Q is false ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ipse Dixit
''Ipse dixit'' (Latin for "he said it himself") is an assertion without proof, or a dogmatic expression of opinion.Whitney, William Dwight (1906)"''Ipse dixit''" ''The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia''. Vol. 4. Century. pp. 379–380. The fallacy of defending a proposition by baldly asserting that it is "just how it is" distorts the argument by opting out of it entirely: the claimant declares an issue to be intrinsic and immutable.VanderMey, Randall; Meyer, Verne; Van Rys, John; Sebranek, Patrick (2012)''COMP'' Cengage. p. 183. "Bare assertion. The most basic way to distort an issue is to deny that it exists. This fallacy claims, 'That's just how it is. History The Latin form of the expression comes from the Roman orator and philosopher Cicero, Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC) in his theological studies ''De Natura Deorum'' (''On the Nature of the Gods'') and is his translation of the Greek expression (with the identical meaning) ''autòs épha'' (), an argument from auth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Formal Fallacy
In logic and philosophical logic, philosophy, a formal fallacy is a pattern of reasoning rendered validity (logic), invalid by a flaw in its logical structure. propositional calculus, Propositional logic, for example, is concerned with the meanings of sentences and the relationships between them. It focuses on the role of logical operators, called propositional connectives, in determining whether a sentence is true. An error in the sequence will result in a deductive argument that is invalid. The argument itself could have true premises, but still have a false logical consequence, conclusion. Thus, a formal fallacy is a fallacy in which deduction goes wrong, and is no longer a logical process. This may not affect the truth of the conclusion, since validity and truth are separate in formal logic. While a logical argument is a ''non sequitur'' if, and only if, it is invalid, the term "non sequitur" typically refers to those types of invalid arguments which do not constitute formal fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coherentism
In philosophical epistemology, there are two types of coherentism: the coherence theory of truth, and the coherence theory of justification (also known as epistemic coherentism). Coherent truth is divided between an anthropological approach, which applies only to localized networks ('true within a given sample of a population, given our understanding of the population'), and an approach that is judged on the basis of universals, such as categorical sets. The anthropological approach belongs more properly to the correspondence theory of truth, while the universal theories are a small development within analytic philosophy. The coherentist theory of justification, which may be interpreted as relating to either theory of coherent truth, characterizes epistemic justification as a property of a belief only if that belief is a member of a coherent set. What distinguishes coherentism from other theories of justification is that the set is the primary bearer of justification. As an e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Circular Reporting
Circular reporting, or false confirmation, is a situation in source criticism where a piece of information appears to come from multiple independent sources, but in reality comes from only one source. In many cases, the problem happens mistakenly through sloppy reporting or intelligence-gathering. However, the situation can also be intentionally contrived by the source or reporter as a way of reinforcing the widespread belief in its information. Circular reporting occurs in a variety of fields, including intelligence gathering, journalism, and scholarly research. It is of particular concern in military intelligence because the original source has a higher likelihood of wanting to pass on misinformation, and because the chain of reporting is more prone to being obscured. It is also a problem in journalism and the development of conspiracy theories, in which the primary goal of a source spreading unlikely or hard-to-believe information is to make it appear to be widely known. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Circular Reference
A circular reference (or reference cycle) is a series of references where the last object references the first, resulting in a closed loop. Simple example A newcomer asks a local where the town library is. "Just in front of the post office," says the local. The newcomer nods, and follows up: "But where is the post office?" "Why, that's simple," replies the local. "It's just behind the library!" In language A circular reference is not to be confused with the logical fallacy of a circular argument. Although a circular reference will often be unhelpful and reveal no information, such as two entries in a book index referring to each other, it is not necessarily so that a circular reference is of no use. Dictionaries, for instance, must always ultimately be a circular reference since all words in a dictionary are defined in terms of other words, but a dictionary nevertheless remains a useful reference. Sentences containing circular references can still be meaningful: :''Her b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Circular Definition
A circular definition is a type of definition that uses the term(s) being defined as part of the description or assumes that the term(s) being described are already known. There are several kinds of circular definition, and several ways of characterising the term: pragmatic, lexicographic and linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds .... Circular definitions are related to circular reasoning in that they both involve a self-referential approach. Circular definitions may be unhelpful if the audience must either already know the meaning of the key term, or if the term to be defined is used in the definition itself. In linguistics, a circular definition is a description of the meaning of a lexeme that is constructed using one or more synonymous lexemes that are al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catch-22 (logic)
A catch-22 is a paradoxical situation from which an individual cannot escape because of contradictory rules or limitations. The term was first used by Joseph Heller in his 1961 novel '' Catch-22''. Catch-22s often result from rules, regulations, or procedures that an individual is subject to, but has no control over, because to fight the rule is to accept it. Another example is a situation in which someone is in need of something that can only be had by not being in need of it (e.g. the only way to qualify for a loan is to prove to the bank that you do not need a loan). One connotation of the term is that the creators of the "catch-22" situation have created arbitrary rules in order to justify and conceal their own abuse of power. Origin and meaning Joseph Heller coined the term in his 1961 novel '' Catch-22'', which describes absurd bureaucratic constraints on soldiers in World War II. The term is introduced by the character Doc Daneeka, an army surgeon who invokes "Catch-22" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
