Fallacy of ambiguity

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A fallacy of ambiguity occurs when a conclusion is drawn from premises that are unclear. When an unclear premise is used, it may not support the conclusion.

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  1. Premises are presented that are unclear enough to allow for more than one conclusion.[1]
  2. A single conclusion is drawn from these premises.

[edit] Types

  • Quote mining, where context is removed to make a point (which the context may disprove, downplay, or explain)
  • Equivocation, where one word has two or more separate meanings that are switched between in the course of a sentence
  • Fallacy of amphiboly, where grammatical uncertainty makes the meaning of a sentence unclear
  • Fallacy of accent, where the stress or a word or words is unclear and makes the meaning unclear

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[edit] Footnotes

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