Etymological Fallacy
The etymological fallacy is one of the many smokescreens that are used to cover the fact that the reasoning is based on one of the three fallacies of Agrippa's trilemma. Whenever a logical fallacy is committed, the fallacy has its roots in Agrippa's trilemma. All human thought (without Divine revelation) is based on one of three unhappy possibilities. These three possibilities are infinite regress, circular reasoning, or axiomatic thinking. This problem is known as Agrippa's trilemma. Some have claimed that only logic and math can be known without Divine revelation; however, that is not true. There is no reason to trust either logic or math without Divine revelation. Science is also limited to the pragmatic because of the weakness on human reasoning, which is known as Agrippa's trilemma. This is a fallacy that superimposes another level of fallacy on top or one or more of the three fallacies of Agrippa's trilemma.
The fallacy that occurs when someone fails to realize that the meaning of a certain word has changed. This is sometimes confused with the fact that those people who have the power to do so may begin to deliberately change the meanings of words for their purposes. They may then accuse any opposition to their power of committing the etymological fallacy because they are using the older meaning of the word in question. Sometimes, they will even go into older writings of those opposed to do this and use it for an ad hominem attack.
Examples of the Etymological Fallacy
Attacks against the Bible because something in an older translation uses a word that has changed meaning since the translation was made.
"That sexist idiot said that I was hysterical. I can’t believe anyone would be so boldy anti-woman."
This concern over the word, hysterical, actually comes up from time to time. In fact, it was used once in a political attack against a man who used the word as it is used today. You have to dig a bit to get the etymology, but the word comes from a Greek word that means suffering in the womb, so it’s sexist. Watch what you say.
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Last updated: Sep, 2014
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Logical Fallacy of Ambiguity
Logical Fallacy of the Barnum Effect / P. T. Barnum Effect / The Fallacy of Personal Validation / The Forer Effect
Logical Fallacy of Ambiguous Assertion
Logical Fallacy of Innuendo
Sly Suggestion Fallacy
Syntactic Ambiguity Fallacy / Structural Ambiguity / Grammatical Ambiguity / Amphiboly / Semantic Ambiguity / Semantical Ambiguity Fallacy
The Logical Fallacy Lexical Ambiguity
Homonymy
Shingle Speech
Use-Mention Error / UME
Double Entendre
Logical Fallacy of Misuse of Etymology
Logical Fallacy of Garden Path Ambiguity
Squinting Modifier Fallacy
Quantifier Fallacy / Quantifier Shift Fallacy
Illicit Observation Fallacy
Metaphorical Ambiguity Fallacy
Euphemism
Logical Fallacy of Equivocation / Bait and Switch / Amphiboly / Semantic Ambiguity / Type-Token Ambiguity / Vagueness
Redefinition Fallacy
Middle Puzzle Part Fallacy
Idiosyncratic Language Fallacy
Type-Token Ambiguity Fallacy
Fallacy of Modal Logic / Modal Scope Fallacy / Misconditionalization
Modal Fallacy / Modal Scope Fallacy
Scope Fallacy
Ambiguous Middle / Ambiguous Middle Term
Logical Fallacy of Hypnotic Bait and Switch
Definist Fallacy
Logical Fallacy of Defining a Word in Terms of Itself
Socratic Fallacy
Logical Fallacy of Defining Terms Too Broadly
Logical Fallacy of Defining Terms Too Narrowly
Logical Fallacy of Failure to Elucidate
Logical Fallacy of Persuasive Definition / Appeal to Definition / Appeal to the Dictionary / Definist Fallacy (type of) / Rhetorical Definition
Logical Fallacy of Composition / Exception Fallacy
Logical Fallacy of Division / False Division / Ecological Fallacy / Ecological Inference Fallacy
Etymological Fallacy
Logical Fallacy of Nominalization, Misnomer, Labeling
Logical Fallacy of Inference from a Label
Pigeonholing Fallacy / Ahistoric Fallacy
Category Mistake / Category Error
Logical Fallacy of the Conjunction Effect / Conjunction Fallacy
Disjunction Fallacy
Logical Fallacy of Argument by Fast Talking / Information Overload / Bang-Bang-Bang
Logical Fallacy of Proof by Verbosity / Argumentum Verbosium
Logical Fallacy of Argument by Gibberish / Bafflement / Prestigious Jargon
Logical Fallacy of Confusing Contradiction with Contrariety
Logical Fallacy of Ambiguous Collective / Type-Token Ambiguity
Conceptual Fallacy
Anti-Concreteness Mentality Fallacy / Attributing Abstractness to the Concrete / Mistaking an Entity for a Theory / Mistaking Reality for an Assumptions
Butterfly Logic
The Logical Fallacy of Process-Product Ambiguity / Act-Object Ambiguity
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