Appeal to probability

An appeal to probability (or appeal to possibility) is the logical fallacy of taking something for granted because it would probably be the case (or might possibly be the case).^[1] Inductive arguments lack deductive validity and must therefore be asserted or denied in the premises.

Example

A fallacious appeal to possibility:

Something can go wrong (premise).

Therefore, something will go wrong (invalid conclusion).

If I do not bring my umbrella (premise)

It will rain. (invalid conclusion).

Murphy's law is a (typically deliberate, tongue-in-cheek) invocation of the fallacy.

References

Notes

↑ Bennett.

Bibliography

Bennett, Bo, "Appeal to possibility", Logically Fallacious, retrieved October 2014 Check date values in: |access-date= (help)

Formal fallacies

Masked man fallacy

In propositional logic	Affirming a disjunct Affirming the consequent Denying the antecedent Argument from fallacy False dilemma

In quantificational logic	Existential fallacy Illicit conversion Proof by example Quantifier shift

Syllogistic fallacy	Affirmative conclusion from a negative premise Exclusive premises Existential Necessity Four-term fallacy Illicit major Illicit minor Negative conclusion from affirmative premises Undistributed middle

Other types of formal fallacy List of fallacies

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