What's a fallacy?

Question

I searched it on yahoo! but I didn't understand the answers I got.

So if I'm in a arguement and someone says false info like lets say arguing legalizing Marijuana and the person i'm debating this with says Marijuana is not bad for you at all if I replyed by saing thats a fallacy would i be making a idiot of myself and not making sence or would that work if not then please give me a example of how the word shoudl be used.

thank you

Answer 1

1 a obsolete : GUILE, TRICKERY b : deceptive appearance : DECEPTION
2 a : a false or mistaken idea b : erroneous character : ERRONEOUSNESS

Answer 2

No you would not be making an idiot of yourself.

From Dictionary.com:
6 results for: fallacy

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source
fal·la·cy /ˈfæləsi/ Spelled Pronunciation[fal-uh-see]
–noun, plural -cies.
1. a deceptive, misleading, or false notion, belief, etc.: That the world is flat was at one time a popular fallacy.
2. a misleading or unsound argument.
3. deceptive, misleading, or false nature; erroneousness.
4. Logic. any of various types of erroneous reasoning that render arguments logically unsound.
5. Obsolete. deception.
[Origin: 1350–1400; < L fallācia a trick, deceit, equiv. to fallāc- (s. of fallāx) deceitful, fallacious + -ia -y3; r. ME fallace < MF]

—Synonyms 1. misconception, delusion, misapprehension.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary
fal·la·cy (fāl'ə-sē)
n. pl. fal·la·cies

1. A false notion.
2. A statement or an argument based on a false or invalid inference.
3. Incorrectness of reasoning or belief; erroneousness.
4. The quality of being deceptive.

[Alteration of Middle English fallace, from Old French, from Latin fallācia, deceit, from fallāx, fallāc-, deceitful, from fallere, to deceive.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary
fallacy
1481, "deception, false statement," from L. fallacia "deception," from fallax (gen. fallacis) "deceptive," from fallere "deceive." Specific sense in logic dates from 1552.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet
fallacy

noun
a misconception resulting from incorrect reasoning

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version)
fallacy [ˈfӕləsi] noun — plural ˈfallacies
a wrong idea or belief, usually one that is generally believed to be true; false reasoning
Example: That belief is just a fallacy.

Arabic: مَظْهَر خادِع، مُغالَطَه
Chinese (Simplified): 谬误
miu4 wu4
Chinese (Traditional): 謬誤
ㄇㄧㄡˋ ㄨˋ
Czech: omyl, klam, blud
Danish: vildfarelse; fejlslutning
Dutch: misvatting
Estonian: eksikujutelm
Finnish: harhakuvitelma
French: sophisme
German: der Trugschluß
Greek: πλάνη
Hungarian: téveszme
Icelandic: röng hugmynd, villa
Indonesian: kekeliruan
Italian: sofisma
Japanese: 誤った考え ayamattakangae
Latvian: kļūda; maldi
Lithuanian: klaidinga nuomonė, klaidingas įsitikinimas
Norwegian: feilslutning, villfarelse
Polish: błędna wiara
Portuguese (Brazil): falácia, sofisma
Portuguese (Portugal): falácia
Romanian: sofism
Russian: заблуждение
Slovak: klam
Slovenian: zmota, zabloda
Spanish: falacia, sofisma
Swedish: vanföreställning, villfarelse
Turkish: yanılgı
See also: fallacious

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version), © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd.
American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
fallacy

A false or mistaken idea based on faulty knowledge or reasoning. For example, kings who have divorced their wives for failing to produce a son have held to the fallacy that a mother determines the sex of a child, when actually the father does.

[Chapter:] Conventions of Written English

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Answer 3

a fallacy is a statement or an argument based on a false or invalid inference. no you're right because there is proof that marijuana has negative effects to your lungs. Ex. "Joe the QB failed his chem test, all jocks are dumb".this is a fallacy because Joe the QB is not every jock and maybe chem is just not his subject but he is smart in every other subject or maybe Joe had to drop but didn't tell the teacher so the grade was still given. there are false assumptions in the quote.

Answer 4

A fallacy is a component of an argument that is demonstrably flawed in its logic or form, thus rendering the argument invalid in whole. In logical arguments, fallacies are either formal or informal. Because the validity of a deductive argument depends on its form, a formal fallacy is a deductive argument that has an invalid form, whereas an informal fallacy is any other invalid mode of reasoning whose flaw is not in the form of the argument.

Beginning with Aristotle, informal fallacies have generally been placed in one of several categories, depending on the source of the fallacy. There are fallacies of relevance, fallacies involving causal reasoning, and fallacies resulting from ambiguities.

Recognizing fallacies in actual arguments may be difficult since arguments are often structured using rhetorical patterns that obscure the logical connections between assertions. Fallacies may also exploit the emotional or intellectual weaknesses of the interlocutor. Having the capability of recognizing logical fallacies in arguments reduces the likelihood of such an occurrence. [However, if you do recognize and point this out to your opponent, and if they are looking to 'win at all cost' and not interested in working toward a resolution of the problem, they most likely would rely on a raised tone of voice to try to extend their position, or they would attempt to ‘Muddy the Water’ with additional non-sequiturs. You will get blue in the face attempting to point out the inconsistency of such an illogical argument.]

A different approach to understanding and classifying fallacies is provided by argumentation theory; see for instance the van Eemeren, Grootendorst reference below. In this approach, an argument is regarded as an interactive protocol between individuals which attempts to resolve a disagreement. The protocol is regulated by certain rules of interaction and violations of these rules are fallacies. Many of the fallacies in the list below are best understood as being fallacies in this sense.

So, that being said, you'd only look like an idiot if you hadn't checked your facts.

Answer 5

Here is what the Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary says about Fallacy:

1. a deceptive, misleading, or false notion, belief, etc.:
'That the world is flat was at one time a popular fallacy.'
2. a misleading or unsound argument.
3. deceptive, misleading, or false nature; erroneousness.
4. Logic. any of various types of erroneous reasoning that render arguments logically unsound.

Answer 6

A fallacy is when one's logic has a hole in it. If your friend was to say that marijuana should be illegal because it is bad for one's lungs, but cigarettes should be legal because they really aren't that bad (very basic example. sorry), he has created a logical fallacy; one of his statements forms an argument that is not supported by the rest of his position on the subject.

Answer 7

Fallacy means an statement or argument based on incorrect or invalid information.
So in your example, using the word "fallacy" is appropriate.
But in a debate you have to prove that their assumption or statement was incorrect in the first place.

Answer 8

many users of marijuana argue that legalising pot would be good for every one this is a fallacy as i live in a hippy village and have seen the mass effects on many different facets of our community including my own family a fallacy appears to be a mass perpetrated lie don't buy it

Answer 9

Definitions of fallacy on the Web:

* a misconception resulting from incorrect reasoning

Answer 10

In order for something to be a fallacy, you have to bring up arguments that PROVE it to be false.

What you say instead is that there is evidence that the statement may not be fully correct

Answer 11

a fallacy is an error in logic.

"Marijuana is not bad for you" is not a fallacy. it is a claim.

you will sound like an idiot if you call it a fallacy. you should just present a counter-claim such as : "Marijuana is bad for you."