An irrelevant conclusion,[1] also known as ignoratio elenchi (Latin for 'ignoring refutation') and under other names, is the informal fallacy of presenting an argument whose conclusion fails to address the issue in question. It falls into the broad class of relevance fallacies.[2]

The irrelevant conclusion should not be confused with formal fallacy, an argument whose conclusion does not follow from its premises; instead, it is that despite its formal consistency it is not relevant to the subject being talked about.

Overview

Ignoratio elenchi is one of the fallacies identified by Aristotle in his Organon. In a broader sense he asserted that all fallacies are a form of ignoratio elenchi.[3][4]

Etymology

The phrase ignoratio elenchi is from Latin 'an ignoring of a refutation'. Here elenchi is the genitive singular of the Latin noun elenchus, which is from Ancient Greek ἔλεγχος (elenchos) 'an argument of disproof or refutation'.[9] The translation in English of the Latin expression has varied somewhat. Hamblin proposed "misconception of refutation" or "ignorance of refutation" as a literal translation;[10] John Arthur Oesterle preferred "ignoring the issue",[10] while Irving Copi, Christopher Tindale and others used "irrelevant conclusion".[10][11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bishop Whately, cited by John Stuart Mill: A System of Logic. London Colchester 1959 (first: 1843), pp. 542.
  2. 1 2 3 Patrick J. Hurley (2011). A Concise Introduction to Logic. Cengage Learning. pp. 131–133. ISBN 978-0-8400-3417-5.
  3. ↑ Aristotle (1878). The Organon, or Logical treatises, of Aristotle (PDF). Vol. 2. Translated by Octavius Freire Owen. Covent Garden: George Bell and Sons. pp. 548–553. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  4. ↑ "Ignoratio Elenchi". Introduction to Logic. 24 September 2009.
  5. ↑ Davies, Arthur Ernest (1915). A Text-Book of Logic. R. G. Adams and company. pp. 569–576. LCCN 15027713.
  6. ↑ Bate 1977, p. 316
  7. ↑ Bagnall, Nicholas. Books: Paperbacks, The Sunday Telegraph 3 March 1996
  8. ↑ Boswell 1986, p. 122
  9. ↑ Liddell–Scott–Jones. A Greek-English Lexicon.
  10. 1 2 3 Charles Leonard Hamblin (1970). Fallacies. Methuen & Co. Ltd. p. 31.
  11. ↑ Christopher W. Tindale (2007). Fallacies and Argument Appraisal. Cambridge University Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-521-84208-2.

Works cited

  • Bate, Walter Jackson (1977). Samuel Johnson. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. ISBN 978-0-15-179260-3.
  • Boswell, James (1986). Hibbert, Christopher (ed.). The Life of Samuel Johnson. New York: Penguin Classics. ISBN 978-0-14-043116-2.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irrelevant_conclusion