post hoc ergo propter hoc
(Latin, after this, so because of this) The fallacy of arguing that because one event happened after another, it happened because of it.
post hoc, ergo propter hoc Reference library
Garner's Modern English Usage (5 ed.)
... hoc, ergo propter hoc (L. “after this, therefore because of this”) denotes the fallacy of confusing sequence with consequence. E.g.: “The Feb. 5 Dispatch editorial linking the major decrease in the number of licensed gun dealers with a minor decrease in homicides illustrates the first fallacy taught in any logic course: post hoc, ergo propter hoc (after this, therefore because of this). The rooster’s crow does not cause the sun to rise.” Letter of Kevin Cantos , “Licensing Unrelated to Drop in Slayings,” Columbus Dispatch , 22 Feb. 1997 , at A11. ...
consequent Reference library
Garner's Modern English Usage (5 ed.)
... Paul Donohue , “First Step for Stroke,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch , 11 Dec. 1996 , Everyday Mag. §, at E2. • “Health professionals also are questioning the closure of the state’s mental health hospital and the consequent impact on both patients and mainstream health services.” Greg Hall , “Closure of Ashley May Prove Costly,” Mercury (Hobart, Aus.), 28 Sept. 2021 , 15. Consequent is sometimes misused for subsequent , perhaps partly because of the logical fallacy post hoc, ergo propter hoc (“after this, therefore because of this”)—a trap for...
Fallacies Reference library
Encyclopedia of Rhetoric
...known as begging the question or circular reasoning ). Aristotle's Prior Analytics contains additional remarks, and in Rhetoric , Aristotle discusses a selection from the fallacies compiled in Sophistical Refutations , referring also to the fallacy now known as post hoc ergo propter hoc (“after this, therefore on account of this”). [ See Dialectic .] In Sophistical Refutations , Aristotle distinguishes thirteen different types of incorrect refutations and indicates how these false moves can be parried. He divides the dialectical fallacies into two...
Fallacy Quick reference
The Oxford Companion to the English Language (2 ed.)
... Argumentum ad populum [Latin: argument directed at the people]. An appeal to popular opinion, bias, and inclination. (4) Non sequitur [Latin: it does not follow]. A statement in which the premisses of an argument do not lead to the conclusion provided. (5) Post hoc ergo propter hoc [Latin: after this therefore because of this]. Asserting that because A came before B, A caused B. ...
Post 1 Reference library
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable (19 ed.)
... 1 (Latin, ‘after’) Post factum (Latin) After the act has been committed. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc (Latin) After this, therefore because of this. The phrase is expressive of the fallacy that because one thing follows another, the former is the cause of the latter. Because a man drinks a glass of beer and then falls over it does not follow that the beer was the cause of his fall. He may have tripped or slipped. Post-Impressionism The name applied to the phase of painting that followed impressionism . The chief exponents were Paul Cézanne ( 1839–1906 ), ...
post hoc Reference library
Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage (4 ed.)
...post hoc , ergo propter hoc , from Latin, ‘after this, therefore due to this’: a common logical fallacy of confusing consequence with sequence. On Sunday we prayed for rain; on Monday it rained; therefore the prayers caused the rain. Post hoc by itself means ‘after the event’ and is printed in roman type: this rhetoric offers a post hoc justification for the changes...
post hoc Quick reference
Fowler’s Concise Dictionary of Modern English Usage (3 ed.)
... hoc , ergo propter hoc means ‘after it and therefore because of it’, and refers to the fallacy of assuming that if event A is followed by event B, event B is caused by event A. (On Sunday we prayed for rain, and on Monday it rained. Therefore our prayers were answered.) It is printed in italic type. Post hoc by itself means ‘after the event’ (in Latin literally ‘after this’) and is printed in roman...
non sequitur Reference library
Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage (4 ed.)
...premises (from Latin, literally ‘it does not follow’) is written as two separate words, unhyphenated, and printed in roman. Thus: It will be a hard winter, for holly-berries [which are meant as provision for birds in hard weather] are abundant. The reasoning called post hoc, ergo propter hoc is a form of non...
foreign words and phrases Quick reference
Fowler’s Concise Dictionary of Modern English Usage (3 ed.)
... détente ; double entendre ; ex officio ; fait accompli ; faux pas ; ibid .; ingénue ; inter alia ; jeu d’esprit ; laissez-faire ; materiel ; modus operandi ; modus vivendi ; petitio principii ; pièce de résistance ; pied-à-terre ; pietà ; pis aller ; post hoc, ergo propter hoc ; raison d’être ; reductio ad absurdum ; sine qua non ; ultra vires...
post hoc adverb & adjective phrase Reference library
The Oxford Essential Dictionary of Foreign Terms in English
... hoc adverb & adjective phrase M19 Latin . After this; after the event; consequent(ly). Chiefly with reference to the fallacy post hoc , ergo propter hoc ‘after this, therefore because of...
