what does ''post hoc ergo propter hoc'' mean?

Answer 1

The Latin translates as "After this, therefore because of this". People can wrongly assume that because event B happens after event A, B was in fact caused by A. Sequence in time does not necessarily imply cause, though it could, as in the light coming on when you flick the switch, but by no means always, for B could have have been caused by something quite other than A, which happened to precede it. Someone goes out and it starts raining; unless he is deluded or is too full of his own importance, he will not conclude that his going out caused the rain. In science, history, and many other matters, we need to resist this logical fallacy if we are to find the true cause of something.

Answer 2

"After this, therefore because of this." This is considered a common logical fallacy. The idea is that Event A occurs first and Event B occurs second, so someone claims that A necessarily caused B. A classic example of this fallacy concerns the 1929 stock market crash and the Great Depression. Some people say that because the crash occurred first and the Depression occurred second, the Crash must have caused the Depression. This is not true, and is an example of post hoc, ergo propter hoc. The first thing (the Crash) did not cause the second thing (the Depression). Rather, both were caused by bad government policy, and were effects of the same set of underlying causes. Another example might be the claim that because George W. Bush was elected President in 2000, and then 9/11 occurred in 2001, that the election of Bush caused the attack. However, the attack was caused by the decision of Al-Qaeda, and that decision might or might have had anything to do with the results of the 2000 election. So if someone claimed that the election of Bush in 2000 caused the attack in 2001, they are engaged in post hoc, ergo propter hoc fallacy.

Answer 3

The post hoc ergo propter hoc (after this therefore because of this) fallacy is based upon the mistaken notion that simply because one thing happens after another, the first event was a cause of the second event. Post hoc reasoning is the basis for many superstitions and erroneous beliefs.

Answer 4

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what does ''post hoc ergo propter hoc'' mean?