Logical Fallacy of Existential Instantiation / Existential Fallacy

Existential instantiation is a formal fallacy that covers up the problem when 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.

The existential fallacy occurs when a conclusion that is known to be in existence is drawn from premises that cannot be shown to be part of reality. This is a little complex to understand, and the fact that some textbooks get it wrong doesn’t help. This is talking about something called categorical form of a categorical proposition. A categorical proposition is made up of a subject and a predicate that are joined by a verb. Here are some examples:

"All S are P."

"No S are P."

"Some S are P."

"Some S are not P."

They don’t include a verb that indicates existence. If you want to talk about existence, you must put it into the predicate. For instance, “All real things are in existence.”

Logical Form of the Existential Fallacy:

"All X are Y.

All Z are Y (not able to establish the existence of any Z)

Therefore, some Z are X."

This is only an existential fallacy if the word, some, is understood to mean at least 1. If we have not established that even one Z exists, then we cannot conclude that some Z exist.

Examples of the Logical Fallacy of Existential Instantiation / Existential Fallacy

"All fossils are the remains of dead things that once lived.

All transitional forms are fossils. (None have been confirmed to exist.)

Therefore, some transitional forms are the remains of dead things that once lived."

This conclusion implies that there is at least one instance of a transitional form, but, while at any point in time, there are several claimed instances, over time, these claimed instances are abandoned as mistakes and new ones are claimed.

"All universal information follows the description of universal information from the scientific Law of Universal Information.

All universal information that is added to cells through duplication, mutation, and natural selection follows the description of universal information from the scientific Law of Universal Information. (The problem is that no universal information is added by these means.)

Therefore, some of the information that is added to the cells through duplication, mutation, and natural selection is universal information."

The problem is that information being added to cells through duplication, mutation, and natural selection is not observed. In fact, the Law of Universal Information, states that it has never been observed. The conclusion, however, implies that it has existence without proving its existence.