| Misuse of Etymology |
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Misuse of Etymology
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Logical Fallacy of Misuse of EtymologyMisuse of etymology is one of the many smokescreens that are used to cover the fact that the 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. This is a fallacy that superimposes another level of fallacy on top or one or more of the three fallacies of Agrippa's trilemma. The Logical Fallacy of Misuse of Etymology occurs when it is assumed that the oldest or original meaning of a word is its true of proper meaning. Another way to state this is that it is believed that the present-day meaning of the word should be the same as the original meaning of the word. This is a form of appeal to definition. It is also a kind of genetic fallacy. If we are trying to find out the intent of the original author, then the definition that the original author used would be important. For instance, pursuit of happiness, in the philosophy of the period when the U.S, Declaration of Independence was written would have meant pursuit of wisdom. Another example would be in understanding Scripture, it is sometimes good to look up the word in the original language and find out what it means, since the translations are often inaccurate and conflicting. However, the fallacy of misuse of etymology is in insisting that the meaning for present-day use must be the same as the oldest meaning known. Examples of the Logical Fallacy of Misuse of EtymologyA politician used the word, "hysterical," to describe the woman against whom he was running. The news media immediately attacked him for the sexist remark. You might ask how would that be sexist? It turns out that the word, "hysterical," once meant "of the womb." Who knew? 
How can we know anything about anything? That’s the real question |
Other Pages in this sectionAmbiguity Barnum Effect Ambiguous Assertion Innuendo Sly Suggestion Syntactic Ambiguity Lexical Ambiguity Homonymy Shingle Speech Use-Mention Error Double Entendre Garden Path Ambiguity Squinting Modifier Quantifier Shift Illicit Observation Metaphorical Ambiguity Euphemism Equivocation Redefinition Middle Puzzle Part Idiosyncratic Language Type-Token Ambiguity Misconditionalization Modal Scope Fallacy Scope Fallacy Ambiguous Middle Hypnotic Bait and Switch Definist Fallacy Defining a Word in Terms of Itself Socratic Fallacy Defining Terms Too Broadly Defining Terms Too Narrowly Failure to Elucidate Persuasive Definition Composition / Exception Fallacy Division Etymological Fallacy Nominalization Inference from a Label Pigeonholing Fallacy Category Mistake Conjunction Fallacy Disjunction Fallacy Information Overload Proof by Verbosity Argument by Gibberish Confusing Contradiction with Contrariety Type-Token Ambiguity Conceptual Fallacy Mistaking an Entity for a Theory Butterfly Logic Process-Product Ambiguity Recently Viewed |
