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: ''Adapted from a discussion on [[CreationWiki]], which is under GNU Free Documentation License''--[[User:TerryH|TerryH]] 23:46, 5 March 2007 (EST)
[[Non sequitur]] is a [[Latin]] word meaning "It does not follow". It is argument which moves from a premise to a conclusion with insufficient or no connection between the two.
The most common example of ''non sequitur'' is any attempt to infer causation from correlation alone. An argument of causality--that is, that X caused Y--is always subject to weakening if one can show that:
# Y could have occurred with or without X.
# Another event, Z, actually caused Y.
# Y caused X rather than X causing Y.
The usual way to weaken a ''non sequitur'' is simply to show that two facts, that might happen to correlate, are in fact not mutually relevant. Of course, showing that the chain of implication is reversed--meaning that the first named fact actually follows from the second, rather than the second from the first--will cast even more serious doubt on the argument.
== See Also ==
<table style="border:1px solid #AAAAAA; background: #EDF1F1; float:right; width:100px; margin-left:15px;">
<tr><td>{{fallacy|Non sequitur}}
<tr><td>Use the <nowiki>{{fallacy|Non sequitur}}</nowiki> template to insert the above warning on a page containing a ''Non sequitur''. The template links the warning label to this page.
</table>
* [[Logical fallacy]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]
: ''Adapted from a discussion on [[CreationWiki]], which is under GNU Free Documentation License''--[[User:TerryH|TerryH]] 23:46, 5 March 2007 (EST)
[[Non sequitur]] is a [[Latin]] word meaning "It does not follow". It is argument which moves from a premise to a conclusion with insufficient or no connection between the two.
The most common example of ''non sequitur'' is any attempt to infer causation from correlation alone. An argument of causality--that is, that X caused Y--is always subject to weakening if one can show that:
# Y could have occurred with or without X.
# Another event, Z, actually caused Y.
# Y caused X rather than X causing Y.
The usual way to weaken a ''non sequitur'' is simply to show that two facts, that might happen to correlate, are in fact not mutually relevant. Of course, showing that the chain of implication is reversed--meaning that the first named fact actually follows from the second, rather than the second from the first--will cast even more serious doubt on the argument.
== See Also ==
<table style="border:1px solid #AAAAAA; background: #EDF1F1; float:right; width:100px; margin-left:15px;">
<tr><td>{{fallacy|Non sequitur}}
<tr><td>Use the <nowiki>{{fallacy|Non sequitur}}</nowiki> template to insert the above warning on a page containing a ''Non sequitur''. The template links the warning label to this page.
</table>
* [[Logical fallacy]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]