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Illicit Minor
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Logical Fallacy of Illicit MinorIllicit minor is a formal fallacy that covers up the problem when reasoning is based on one of the three fallacies of Agrippa's trilemma. Whenever a logical fallacy is committed, the fallacy has its roots in Agrippa's trilemma. All human thought (without Divine revelation) is based on one of three unhappy possibilities. These three possibilities are infinite regress, circular reasoning, or axiomatic thinking. This problem is known as Agrippa's trilemma. Some have claimed that only logic and math can be known without Divine revelation; however, that is not true. There is no reason to trust either logic or math without Divine revelation. Science is also limited to the pragmatic because of the weakness on human reasoning, which is known as Agrippa's trilemma. The logical fallacy of illicit minor occurs when the the minor term of any form of categorical syllogism is distributed in the conclusion, but not in the minor premise. Invalid FormS=subject, P=predicate, M=middle term "All S are P" "All P are M" "Therefore, all M are S" Examples of the Logical Fallacy of Illicit Minor"All Catholics are Christian." "All Christians are supposed to follow Jesus." "Therefore, all who are supposed to follow Jesus are Catholic." Subject = Catholics, Predicate = Christian, Minor Term = those supposed to follow Jesus The minor term is the term that appears in the minor premise as the predicate. If it appears in the conclusion as the subject, it is undistributed. If we were to write the conclusion as, “Therefore, all S are M (Therefore, all Catholics are supposed to follow Jesus) then it would not be a fallacy. "All Christians are human beings." "All people in this church are human beings." "Therefore, all people in this church are Christians." This reasoning is invalid because the form is backwards.
"All human beings are people who have committed sins and need to be forgiven." "Therefore, all people who have committed sins and need to be forgiven are Christians." 
How can we know anything about anything? That’s the real question |
Other Pages in this sectionFormally Correct Fallacy Affirming the Consequent Commutation of Conditionals Affirming a Disjunct Denying the Antecedent Illicit Process Illicit Major Invalid form using All Invalid form using \"Some\" Unwarranted Contrast Denying a Conjunct Positive Conclusion from Negative Premises Illicit Affirmative Existential Instantiation Exclusive Premises Fallacy of Four Terms Fallacy of Necessity Fallacy of False Conversion Illicit Contraposition Hooded Man Fallacy Confusing \"if\" with \"if and only if\" Improper Transposition Invalid form using \"OR\" Confusion of \"Necessary\" with a \"Sufficient\" Condition Galileo Argument (Formal) Four Terms Fallacy Recently Viewed |
