Films/DVD Asylum

Equivocation or Ambiguity

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In Reply to: RE: Best tweets to a Hollywood socialist . . . posted by Billy Wonka on February 07, 2021 at 14:48:49

Philosopher Larry Powers published an interesting paper in 1995 arguing that there's only one logical fallacy which arises when terms are used to mean more than one thing.

IMHO, people almost always are arguing apples and oranges. The article is attached.

The One Fallacy Theory
Lawrence H. Powers
Informal Logic 17 (2) (1995)

"My One Fallacy theory says there is only one fallacy: equivocation, or playing on an ambiguity. In this paper I explain how this theory arose from metaphilosophical concerns. And I contrast this theory with purely logical, dialectical, and psychological notions of fallacy."

"Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people. "
― W.C. Fields

The One Fallacy Theory (Open in New Window)

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