Talk:Fallacy of the undistributed middle
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Is there an example of an undistributed middle fallacy that doesn't result in affirming the consequent? kostmo 01:25, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Erasmus Montanus
In the comedy Erasmus Montanus by Norwegian/Danish playwright Ludvig Holberg, the farmer's son Erasmus visits his parent's farm while studying Latin and stuff at the university. To his mother: A stone cannot fly. Little mother cannot fly. Ergo, little mother is a stone. His mother, unhappy with the outcome, starts to cry. - To me (as a Dane), this is the obvious example of the fallacy. If someone not Danish likes it too, please add it to the article...--Niels Ø 20:18, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Examples
Does the example mentioning Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold seem verbose and even disconnected to anyone else? Further, isn't there a name other than "John Doe" that more appropriately fits there? 64.90.198.6 00:08, 13 December 2006 (UTC)
- Kimveer Gill? V-Man737 08:02, 14 December 2006 (UTC)
I think this and Undistributed middle can be merged.
Alparsla 09:00, 16 April 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Fallacy of the undistributed middle for dummies
This article (what with all it's logicianese) seems unnecessarily complex. In the simplest possible terms, is not the fallacy of the undistributed middle the mistake of failing to account for exceptions to the general premise of a syllogism, of which the minor premise is one such exception, leading to a false conclusion?
In the example:
Ostriches have two legs. I have two legs. I am an ostrich.
The general premise implied is: All two-legged things are ostriches. One overlooked exception (the second premise: a man) leads to the false conclusion. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.62.255.251 (talk • contribs)
It is hard to believe that this is still regarded as a fallacy for the reason stated: that the middle term is 'undistributed'.
I'd have thought that Geach's writings on this subject would have laid this haory old logical error to rest by now.
Geach, P. (1972), Logic Matters (Blackwell).
Geach, P. (1980), Reference And Generality (Cornell University Press, 3rd ed.).
Rosa Lichtenstein (talk) 21:58, 24 February 2008 (UTC)
