Location
University of Windsor
Document Type
Paper
Keywords
Fallacy, sophism, fallacious argument
Start Date
18-5-2016 9:00 AM
End Date
21-5-2016 5:00 PM
Abstract
The translation into French of the English word “fallacy” opens a discussion on the difference between fallacy and sophism in English. The two words are sometimes synonyms, but a difference is sometimes made on the ground that a sophism is deliberate and a fallacy is non-deliberate. In a second part of the paper this distinctive criterion is taken seriously to discuss the relative frequency of sophisms and of fallacies for a typical kind of fallacious argument. I claim that this aspect should be taken into account by a theory of fallacious argument.
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Reader's Reactions
Erik C. W. Krabbe, Commentary on Michel Dufour's "On the difference between fallacy and sophism" (May 2016)
Included in
On the difference between fallacy and sophism
University of Windsor
The translation into French of the English word “fallacy” opens a discussion on the difference between fallacy and sophism in English. The two words are sometimes synonyms, but a difference is sometimes made on the ground that a sophism is deliberate and a fallacy is non-deliberate. In a second part of the paper this distinctive criterion is taken seriously to discuss the relative frequency of sophisms and of fallacies for a typical kind of fallacious argument. I claim that this aspect should be taken into account by a theory of fallacious argument.
