paralogism
Americannoun
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argument violating principles of valid reasoning.
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a conclusion reached through such argument.
noun
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logic psychol an argument that is unintentionally invalid Compare sophism
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any invalid argument or conclusion
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of paralogism
1555–65; < Late Latin paralogismus < Greek paralogismós. See para- 1, logo-, -ism
Explanation
A paralogism is an unintentionally misleading argument. Even if your friend has convinced himself it's true, you'll still be frustrated by his paralogism, "I never wash my hands because germs are actually good for you!" The Greek root of paralogism is paralogismos, "reason falsely," and it's where people end up when they base a belief or statement on false reasoning. It's mainly used in rhetoric and philosophy for a fallacy the speaker believes is true, rather than one deliberately meant to deceive someone. It's a paralogism to conclude that because your plane flight went smoothly when you wore your lucky socks, you won't be safe on airplanes without them.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I certainly agree to all the rest with you, but Aristotle's law I think involves a paralogism, for by this argument the heavens should be immobile since they are in a place fitting their nature.
From The gradual acceptance of the Copernican theory of the universe by Dorothy Stimson
But even that pleasing paralogism did not suffice for the appetite of tariffism in the way of fallacy.
From Essays in Liberalism Being the Lectures and Papers Which Were Delivered at the Liberal Summer School at Oxford, 1922 by Various
He's quiet enough now, but you just wait till he gets another paralogism.
From Cobwebs from an Empty Skull by Ambrose Bierce
The logical paralogism consists in the falsity of an argument in respect of its form, be the content what it may.
From The Critique of Pure Reason by John Miller Dow Meiklejohn
But a transcendental paralogism has a transcendental foundation, and concludes falsely, while the form is correct and unexceptionable.
From The Critique of Pure Reason by John Miller Dow Meiklejohn
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
