Fallacy of ambiguity

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Part of the series on Logic and rhetoric

Key articles
Logical fallacy Syllogism Argument
General logic
Argumentum ad nauseam (français) Fallacy of accent Gish Gallop Handwave Pascal's wager Word magic
Bad logic
Appeal to probability Chewbacca Defense Ecological fallacy Logical fallacy Silent Majority Sunk cost v - t - e

“”Claim X is made. Y is concluded based on an ambiguous understanding of X.

—Logically Fallacious^[1]

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.

Alternate names[edit]

Several names exist, including:^[1]

Vagueness
Amphiboly
Semantical ambiguity
Type-token ambiguity

Form[edit]

In essence, the fallacy involves two steps:^[2]

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

Examples[edit]

Here are two examples:^[1]

P. It is said that we have a good understanding of our universe.
C. Therefore, we know exactly how it began and exactly when.

P. All living beings come from other living beings.
C1. Therefore, the first forms of life must have come from a living being.
C2. That living being is God.

Types[edit]

Fallacy of accent, where the stress or a word or words is unclear and makes the meaning unclear
Fallacy of amphiboly, where grammatical uncertainty makes the meaning of a sentence unclear
Equivocation, where one word has two or more separate meanings that are switched between in the course of a sentence
Quote mining, where context is removed to make a point (which the context may disprove, downplay, or explain)
Phantom distinction, where two functionally synonymous terms are treated as separate
Moral equivalence, where two distinct moral/immoral ideas are treated as the equally moral/immoral
Wronger than wrong, where two partially false ideas are treated as equally false

External links[edit]

See the Wikipedia article on extraneous and missing solutions.
Fallacies of Ambiguity, Philosophy Pages
Ambiguity, Vagueness, Fallacy Files
Fallacies of Ambiguity, About.com
Attacking Faulty Reasoning, T. Damer
Your logical fallacy is ambiguity, YLFI

References[edit]

v - t - e Articles about logical fallacies
Informal fallacies:			Ad iram • Appeal to ancient wisdom • Appeal to bias • Appeal to confidence • Appeal to consequences • Appeal to emotion • Appeal to faith • Appeal to fear • Appeal to flattery • Appeal to gravity • Appeal to hate • Appeal to mystery • Appeal to nature • Appeal to novelty • Appeal to probability • Appeal to tradition • Argument from incredulity • Argument from morality • Argument from oh bloody hell that was years ago • Argument from omniscience • Argument from silence • Argumentum ad baculum • Argumentum ad fastidium • Argumentum ad lunam • Argumentum ad martyrdom • Argumentum ad package insert • Association fallacy • Balance fallacy • Big words • Broken window fallacy • Category mistake • Certum est quia impossibile est • Circular reasoning • Common sense • Confounding factor • Counterfactual fallacy • Courtier's Reply • Damning with faint praise • Danth's Law • Definitional fallacies • Due diligence • Equivocation • Escape to the future • Exception that proves the rule • Extended analogy • Fallacy of accent • Fallacy of accident • Fallacy of amphiboly • Flying carpet fallacy • Friend argument • Gambler's fallacy • Genuine but insignificant cause • Gish Gallop • Golden hammer • Good old days • Gore's Law • Greece-baiting • Ham Hightail • Hindsight bias • Hyperbole • Imprecision fallacy • Infinite regress • Informal fallacy • Is–ought problem • Just asking questions • Loaded question • Media was wrong before • Mistaking the map for the territory • Moralistic fallacy • Morton's fork • Moving the goalposts • My enemy's enemy • Nazi analogies • Nirvana fallacy • One single proof • Overprecision • Pathos gambit • Phantom distinction • Pink-baiting • Post-designation • Pragmatic fallacy • Presentism • Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur • Quote mining • Race card • Red-baiting • Red herring • Relativist fallacy • Release the data • Sanctioning the devil • Science doesn't know everything • Slothful induction • Spider-Man fallacy • Spotlight fallacy • Straw man • Style over substance • Sunk cost • Terrorism-baiting • Toupee fallacy • Two wrongs make a right • Uncertainty tactic • Word magic • تقلیل به هیتلر • دوگانگی مرتن • سفسطه‌ی حد وسط • پاسخ کورتیر • کلمات قلمبه سلمبه • 稻草人谬误 •
	Ad hoc:		Ad hoc • Escape hatch • God of the gaps • Handwave • Moving the goalposts • Nirvana fallacy • No True Scotsman • PIDOOMA • Slothful induction • Special pleading • Tone argument •
	Arguments from ignorance:		Appeal to censorship • Argument from ignorance • Argument from incredulity • Argument from omniscience • Argument from silence • Holmesian fallacy • Science doesn't know everything • Science was wrong before • Toupee fallacy • Willful ignorance •
	Causation fallacies:		Correlation does not imply causation • Counterfactual fallacy • Denying the antecedent • Gambler's fallacy • Genuine but insignificant cause • Post hoc, ergo propter hoc • Post hoc, ergo propter hoc (español) • Regression fallacy • Wrong direction •
	Circular reasoning:		Appeal to faith • Argument by assertion • Argumentum ad dictionarium • Circular reasoning • Infinite regress • Self-refuting idea •
	Emotional appeals:		Appeal to confidence • Appeal to consequences • Appeal to emotion • Appeal to fear • Appeal to flattery • Appeal to gravity • Appeal to hate • Appeal to money • Appeal to pity • Appeal to shame • Argumentum ad baculum • Argumentum ad fastidium • Deepity • Loaded language • Pathos gambit • Style over substance • Tone argument •
	Fallacies of ambiguity:		Continuum fallacy • Definitional fallacies • Equivocation • Etymology • Fallacy of accent • Fallacy of amphiboly • Moral equivalence • Not as bad as • Phantom distinction • Quote mining • Scope fallacy • Suppressed correlative • Wronger than wrong •
Formal fallacies:			Affirmative conclusion from a negative premise • Affirming a disjunct • Affirming the consequent • Argument by gibberish • Chewbacca Defense • Confusion of the inverse • Denying the antecedent • Enthymeme • Existential assumption • Fallacy fallacy • False dilemma • Formal fallacy • Four-term fallacy • Illicit process • Masked man fallacy • Negative conclusion from affirmative premises • Nemmeno sbagliato • Non sequitur • Not even wrong • Self-refuting idea • Substituting explanation for premise • Syllogism • دوراهی اشتباهی •
Fallacious argument styles:
Conditional fallacies:			Appeal to the minority • Argumentum ad populum • Conditional fallacy • Galileo gambit • On the spot fallacy • Professor of nothing • Slippery slope • Special pleading • What's the harm •
	Genetic fallacies:		Genetic fallacy •
		Appeals to authority:	Appeal to celebrity • Appeal to confidence • Appeal to identity • Appeal to the minority • Argument from authority • Argumentum ad populum • Galileo gambit • Invincible authority • Ipse dixit • Linking to authority • Professor of nothing • Silent Majority • Ultracrepidarianism • Weasel word •
		Ad hominem:	Ad iram • Appeal to bias • Appeal to identity • Argumentum ad cellarium • Argumentum ad hominem • Argumentum ad hominem (français) • Association fallacy • Blaming the victim • Bulverism • Damning with faint praise • Demonization • Fallacy of opposition • Jonanism • Nazi analogies • Not an argument • Nothing to hide • Nutpicking • Pathos gambit • Poisoning the well • Scapegoat • Shill gambit • Tu quoque • Whataboutism • گزاره‌ی حمله‌ی شخصی •
	Imprecision fallacies:		Anecdotal evidence • Apex fallacy • Appeal to fiction • Category mistake • Cherry picking • Confounding factor • Fallacy of accident • False analogy • Imprecision fallacy • Nutpicking • Overgeneralization • Overprecision • Pragmatic fallacy • Selection bias • Spotlight fallacy • Texas sharpshooter fallacy •
Valid logical methods:			Logical validity • Negative evidence • Rapoport's Rules •
Fallacy collections:			Fallacy Files • Logically Fallacious • Nizkor Project • SeekFind • Your Logical Fallacy Is •

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Fallacy of ambiguity

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