In logic

Logic

In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...

, correlative-based fallacies, also known as fallacies of distraction, are logical fallacies based on correlative conjunctions.

Correlative conjunctions

A correlative conjunction is a relationship between two statements where one must be false and the other true. In formal logic this is known as the exclusive or relationship; traditionally, terms between which this relationship exists have been called contradictories.

Examples

In the following example, statement b explicitly negates statement a:

1. Fido is a dog.


2. Fido is not a dog.

Statements can also be mutually exclusive

Mutually exclusive

In layman's terms, two events are mutually exclusive if they cannot occur at the same time. An example is tossing a coin once, which can result in either heads or tails, but not both....

, without explicitly negating each other as in the following example:

1. Object one is larger than object two.


2. Object one is smaller or the same size as object two.

Fallacies

Fallacies based on correlatives include:

False dilemma

False dilemma

A false dilemma is a type of logical fallacy that involves a situation in which only two alternatives are considered, when in fact there are additional options...

 or false correlative.

Here something which is not a correlative is treated as a correlative, excluding some other possibility.

Denying the correlative

Denying the correlative

The logical fallacy of denying the correlative is an attempt made at introducing alternatives where there are none. In a way, it is the opposite of the false dilemma, which is denying other alternatives.For example:...

where an attempt is made to introduce another option into a true correlative.

Suppressed correlative

Suppressed correlative

The fallacy of suppressed correlative is a type of argument that tries to redefine a correlative so that one alternative encompasses the other, i.e. making one alternative impossible...

where the definitions of a correlative are changed so that one of the options includes the other, making one option impossible.