# What is the word for this logic term?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-word-for-this-logic-term/50375>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 16, 2001, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-word-for-this-logic-term/50375 "2001-01-16T19:49:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [January 16, 2001, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-word-for-this-logic-term/50375/1 "2001-01-16T19:49:54Z")

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The definition, IIRC, was “an incorrect conclusion resulting from a faulty premise.” I seem to recall stumbling upon it while looking for something else, but now I don’t recall the word, and it seemed like one that I could use once in a while.

Any ideas???

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**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\
**Post date:** [January 16, 2001, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-word-for-this-logic-term/50375/2 "2001-01-16T19:57:21Z")

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It wouldn’t simply be “fallacy,” would it? I’m not sure.

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**Author:** ![muppetsoup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aca169/32.png) [@muppetsoup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muppetsoup)\
**Post date:** [January 16, 2001, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-word-for-this-logic-term/50375/3 "2001-01-16T21:30:00Z")

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How about this one?

Petitio principii / Begging the question  
This fallacy occurs when the premises are at least as questionable as the conclusion reached. Typically the premises of the argument implicitly assume the result which the argument purports to prove, in a disguised form.

I got that from [here](http://www.infidels.org/news/atheism/logic.html) by the way.

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**Author:** ![2planka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/a8b319/32.png) [@2planka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2planka)\
**Post date:** [January 16, 2001, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-word-for-this-logic-term/50375/4 "2001-01-16T21:43:52Z")

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Fallacy n. - an often plausible argument using false or invalid inference.

- Webster’s 10th ed.

Looks good to me.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [January 16, 2001, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-word-for-this-logic-term/50375/5 "2001-01-16T21:52:16Z")

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Thanks, **muppetsoup**. It’s worded slightly differently in my dictionary (MW’s New Collegiate Dictionary, Eighth Edition, 1980), but it is exactly the one I remember.

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**Author:** ![muppetsoup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aca169/32.png) [@muppetsoup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muppetsoup)\
**Post date:** [January 16, 2001, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-word-for-this-logic-term/50375/6 "2001-01-16T21:59:39Z")

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No problem. I’ve had that page bookmarked forever, comes in handy more often than I thought.