Correlative-based fallacies

Short description: Informal fallacies based on correlative conjunctions

In philosophy, correlative-based fallacies are informal fallacies based on correlative conjunctions.

Correlative conjunctions

A correlative conjunction is a relationship between two statements where one must be false and the other true. In formal logic this is known as the exclusive or relationship; traditionally, terms between which this relationship exists have been called contradictories.

Examples

In the following example, statement b explicitly negates statement a:

Fido is a dog.
Fido is not a dog.

Statements can also be mutually exclusive, without explicitly negating each other as in the following example:

Object one is larger than object two.
Object one is smaller or the same size as object two.

Fallacies

Fallacies based on correlatives include:

False dilemma or false correlative.: Here something which is not a correlative is treated as a correlative, excluding some other possibility.
Denying the correlative: where an attempt is made to introduce another option into a true correlative.
Suppressed correlative: where the definitions of a correlative are changed so that one of the options includes the other, making one option impossible.

Correlative-based fallacies

Topic: Philosophy

Contents

Correlative conjunctions

Examples

Fallacies

See also