post hoc, ergo propter hoc

American  

[pohst hohk, er-goh prohp-ter hohk, pohst hok, er-goh prop-ter hok] / ˈpoʊst ˈhoʊk, ˈɛr goʊ ˈproʊp tɛr ˌhoʊk, ˈpoʊst ˈhɒk, ˈɛr goʊ ˈprɒp tər ˌhɒk /

Latin.

1. after this, therefore because of it: a formula designating an error in logic that accepts as a cause something that merely occurred earlier in time.

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Example Sentences

Me: You’ve stumbled into post hoc ergo propter hoc there, buddy, and that hasn’t worked since the second century.

From Slate • Oct. 7, 2015

McManus argues that Sanders will push Mrs. Clinton to the left, though that sounds to us like post hoc ergo propter hoc reasoning.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 15, 2015

This is what Nassim Taleb rightly condemned in The Black Swan as “the narrative fallacy”: the construction of psychologically satisfying stories on the principle of post hoc, ergo propter hoc.

From Forbes • Nov. 25, 2014

I am aware of the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy that just because something happens after something else does not mean that is why it happened.

From Salon • Jun. 2, 2013

Asserting that De Soto’s visit caused the subsequent collapse of the Caddo and Coosa may be only the old logical fallacy of post hoc ergo propter hoc.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann