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Everything about Fallacy
Argument that uses faulty reasoning
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 intellectual tradition by the Aristotelian De Sophisticis Elenchis. Wikipedia →
🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path
- Read the overview: FallacyA 5-minute orientation
- Skim a recent paper: Anthropomorphism in AI: hype and fallacyInfluential work since 2022
- Pick up a classic book: OrganonThe most-reprinted book on the subject
- Read the landmark paper: Extensional versus intuitive reasoning: The conjunction fallacy in probability judgment.Cited 2,703 times
- Go sideways: Formal fallacyA closely related topic
- Go sideways: Informal fallacyA closely related topic
📖 Definitions
Noun Deceptive or false appearance; that which misleads the eye or the mind.
Noun An argument, or apparent argument, which professes to be decisive of the matter at issue, while in reality it is not; a specious argument.
🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)
Extensional versus intuitive reasoning: The conjunction fallacy in probability judgment.
Imperfect Information, Dividend Policy, and "The Bird in the Hand" Fallacy
The language-as-fixed-effect fallacy: A critique of language statistics in psychological research
Measuring User Influence in Twitter: The Million Follower Fallacy
The Table 2 Fallacy: Presenting and Interpreting Confounder and Modifier Coefficients
Galton's Fallacy and Tests of the Convergence Hypothesis
Toward Evidence-Based Medical Statistics. 1: The P Value Fallacy
EPR: Evidence and fallacy
🆕 Influential since 2022
Anthropomorphism in AI: hype and fallacy
Strategy Can No Longer Ignore Planetary Boundaries: A Call for Tackling Strategy's Ecological Fallacy
Rethinking urban utopianism: The fallacy of social mix in the 15-minute city
Comparisons of quantitative approaches for assessing microglial morphology reveal inconsistencies, ecological fallacy, and a need for standardization
Moving Beyond the Planning Fallacy: The Emergence of a New Principle of Project Behavior
📚 Books worth reading
OrganonAristotle · 1481
Logic and contemporary rhetoricHoward Kahane, Nancy M. Cavender · 1971
In the Name of ScienceMartin Gardner · 1952
Attacking faulty reasoningT. Edward Damer · 1980
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of CrowdsCharles MacKay · 2003
With good reasonS. Morris Engel · 1976
ArgumentationJames A. Herrick, Robert S. Iltis · 1994
A field guide to liesDaniel J. Levitin · 2016
Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.
🔗 Related topics
- Formal fallacy In logic and philosophy, a formal fallacy is a pattern of reasoning with a flaw in its logical structure (the logical relationship between the premises…
- Informal fallacy Informal fallacies are a type of incorrect argument in natural language. The source of the error is not necessarily due to the form of the argument, as…
- Deductive reasoning Deductive reasoning is the process of drawing valid inferences. An inference is valid if its conclusion follows logically from its premises, meaning that…
- Logical reasoning Logical reasoning is a form of thinking or information processing that aims to arrive at a conclusion in a rigorous way. It happens in the form of inferences…
- Argument An argument is one or more premises—sentences, statements, or propositions—directed towards arriving at a logical conclusion. The purpose of an argument…
- 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…
- False dilemma A false dilemma, also referred to as false dichotomy or false binary, is an informal fallacy based on a premise that erroneously limits what options are…
- List of fallacies A fallacy is an error in reasoning that undermines an argument's support for its conclusion. In academic usage, the term usually applies to arguments,…