Illicit Minor
From EvoWiki
|
This page is part of the EvoWiki encyclopedia of fallacies. |
Contents |
Explanation
An Illicit Minor is an Illicit Process where the premise in which the problematic term is not distributed is the minor premise, but is distributed in the conclusion.
Common Form:
- All A are B.
- All A are C.
- Therefore, all C are B.
Example:
- All cats are felines.
- All cats are mammals.
- Therefore, all mammals are felines.
The minor term here is mammal, which is not distributed in the minor premise "All cats are mammals," because this premise is only defining a property of possibly some mammals (i.e., that they're cats.) However, in the conclusion "All mammals are felines," mammal is distributed (it is talking about all mammals being felines). It is shown to be false by any mammal that is not a feline; for example, a dog.
