Use-Mention Error / UME
Use-mention error 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.
Use-Mention Error / UME occurs when the word that is used to describe an entity is confused with the entity itself. In writing, it is common to put the word in quotes when it is being used to mean the word rather than the entity. This fallacy becomes very deceptive when thinking about God. God is an entity. He is three in one, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The Son, Jesus Christ, is the Word. When God spoke, the Universe came into existence. It is impossible to read the Bible without experiencing the Spirit of Jesus Christ, since the words of the text are infused with His Presence. However, UME is committed when the Spirit is resisted and an attempt is made to give an interpretation of what God is saying through the Bible without listening to the Voice of God through the Bible. God speaks through the Bible; yet, it is possible for human beings to refuse to acknowledge Him and to depend on their own understandings.
Example of Use-Mention Error / UME
The person of Jesus Christ is often confused with theologies, theories, or concepts by believers and unbelievers alike. For instance, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” and “the Mind of Christ” are sometimes thought to be creations of humanity in the human mind rather than the Essence of the Living God abiding within. Thinking about God as a concept creates a block to understanding that God speaks to His people. This makes real faith impossible, since faith comes by hearing the utterance of God. When UME is in play, all that is left is a rationalized faith that is powerless.
Sandra: “There is no 'god' [meaning a word to describe an entity].
Roxanne: “I actually know God [meaning the person of God, not the word, 'god'] personally. Jesus Christ [meaning His person] leads me and guides me daily, moment by moment.”
Sandra: “That can’t be true. 'God' [meaning the use of the word, “god”] has changed over history.”
Roxanne and Sandra think they are having a conversation. Sandra thinks she is trying to win an argument. Roxanne is trying to tell about her ongoing experience. They are actually talking past each other because Sandra is talking about “god” [mention], while Roxanne it talking about God [use]. The book, “A History of God,” describes various definitions people have had for the word, “god.” It is not a history of God, the Almighty Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. It is the history of the word, "god."
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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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