figure-of-speech fallacy
Quick Summary
A figure-of-speech fallacy is a type of verbal fallacy that occurs when reasoning is flawed due to the ambiguous or improper use of words. This can happen when the metaphorical or figurative meaning of a word is confused with its literal meaning.12
For example, if someone says, "The market is crashing," they are using a figure of speech. The market isn't literally falling apart, but rather its prices are rapidly declining. A figure-of-speech fallacy would occur if someone misinterpreted this literally and concluded that the stock exchange building was physically collapsing.
These fallacies, along with others like equivocation and amphiboly, are classified as informal fallacies because they relate to the wording of an argument rather than its logical structure.2
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- fallacyVerbal fallacies
The figure-of-speech fallacy is the special case arising from confusion between the ordinary sense of a word and its metaphorical, figurative, or technical employment (example: “For the past week Joan has been living on the heights of ecstasy.” “And what is her address there?”). (2) Amphiboly…
Read MoreThe figure-of-speech fallacy is the special case arising from confusion between the ordinary sense of a word and its metaphorical, figurative, or technical employment (example: “For the past week Joan has been living on the heights of ecstasy.” “And what is her address there?”). (2) Amphiboly…
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applied logicVerbal fallacies…an expression (or the “figure of speech”), Aristotle apparently meant mistakes concerning a linguistic form. An example might be to take “inflammable” to mean “not flammable,” in analogy with “insecure” or “infrequent.”
Read More…an expression (or the “figure of speech”), Aristotle apparently meant mistakes concerning a linguistic form. An example might be to take “inflammable” to mean “not flammable,” in analogy with “insecure” or “infrequent.”
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