Undistributed middle

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Revision as of 15:21, 23 February 2011 by Arensb (talk | contribs) (Cleaned up a bit.)

The Undistributed middle is a fallacy similar to to Equivocation, except that instead of conflating definitions, two different things are equated due to a common middle ground that is misused. The argument is assuming that the set of Object-A that has the middle ground intersects with the set of Object-B that has the same middle ground.

Examples

  • Example 1
  1. All cats use air.
  2. All gasoline engines use air.
  3. Therefore, all cats are gasoline engines.
  • Example 2
  1. Science uses the word Theory.
  2. Creationism uses the word Theory.
  3. Thus, Creationism is science.
  • Example 3
  1. All fish swim in the ocean.
  2. All whales swim in the ocean.
  3. Therefore, all whales are fish (They're not - they're mammals)