power of words

Denying the Antecedent

A logical fallacy that states, 'If X, then Y; Not X, therefore not Y.'

Affirming the Consequent

A logical fallacy that states, 'If X, then Y; Y, therefore X.'

Appeal to Ignorance

Assuming a claim is true because it has not been proven false.

Post hoc ergo propter hoc

Assuming that because B follows A, A caused B.

Mistaken Correlation

Confusing correlation with causation.

Arguments from Analogy

Assuming that two things that are similar in one respect are similar in others.

Red Herring

Introducing irrelevant material to distract from the argument.

Lexical Ambiguity

A word or phrase that has multiple meanings.

Structural Ambiguity

A sentence that can be interpreted in multiple ways due to its structure.

Straw Man Fallacy

Misrepresenting someone's argument to make it easier to attack.

Begging the Question

A circular argument where the conclusion is included in the premise.

Inference

Drawing conclusions based on what is said or seen.

Entailments

Literal meanings derived from statements based on semantics.

Implicature

Implied meaning based on pragmatics in communication.

Conventional Implicatures

Implicatures that are understood but not part of the truth conditions of an item.

Conversational Implicature

Implicature that relies on shared knowledge and conversational norms, implying something beyond what is explicitly stated.

Maxims of Conversation

Grice's rules for cooperation in communication: Quantity, Quality, Manner, Relation.

Maxim Violation

When a speaker does not fulfill one of Grice's maxims.

Conversational Implicature

An implication derived from a conversation that isn't explicitly stated.

Computability

The ability to explain something using Gricean reasoning.

Cancelability

The ability to negate an implication without contradiction.

Non-Detachability

changing the phrasing does not remove the meaning of the implicature

Speech Act

An utterance that performs an action, not just conveying information.

Constative Utterances

Statements that describe and can be true or false.

Performative Utterances

Statements that perform an action and cannot be classified as true or false.

The Verification Principle

A statement is meaningful only if it can be empirically verified or is tautological.

Felicity Conditions

Conditions under which a performative utterance is effective.

Searle's Speech Act Categories

Types include Directives, Commissives, Assertives, Expressives, and Declarations.

Directives

Attempts to get the hearer to do something.

Commissives

Commitments made by the speaker for future actions.

Assertives/Representatives

Committing to the truth of an expressed proposition.

Expressives

Communicating the speaker's psychological state or feelings.

Declarations

Bringing about immediate changes in a state of affairs.

Multiliteracy

The ability to comprehend different modes of communication.

Commitments

A speaker's obligation to their own assertions.

Commitments de lingua

Commitments made based on lexical choices.

Dog Whistles

Utterances with two interpretations: one understood widely and one private.

Figleaves

Statements that prevent a bigoted remark from being interpreted as such.

Framing

Evoking certain associations through lexical choices.

Idiolect

The unique speech habits of a particular person.

Familect

The set of invented words or phrases understood within a family.

Ideological Squaring

Presenting 'us' versus 'them' in discourse.